Opinion category, Page 588
Robert Lysek: Schools should work together to solve covid-19 problems
When the pandemic upended our lives, it was common to hear “We are all in this together.” It was an attempt to acknowledge that things may be different, but we can work together to find the answers. Public charter schools rose to that challenge. Charter schools quickly adapted innovative solutions...
Alison Grass: Cracking through Trump’s fracking claims
The road to the White House once again runs through Pennsylvania, which explains the campaign photo ops and nonstop TV ads. It also means we’ll be treated to a lot of claims about fracking. Unfortunately, much of what we’re hearing about drilling is not rooted in the facts. The stories...
Lori Falce: Supreme Court hearing needs more listening
“I did it!” my kid said to his screen. The answer sounded approving, but I couldn’t really tell what she was saying. My son is taking a computer coding class. His teacher is a delightful woman from India who is encouraging and supportive. Neither of them really understand a word...
Letter to the editor: Done with college, pro football
I tried to watch college and pro football on TV, and I was appalled at what I saw. A few years ago, I witnessed the NFL permit its employees to, in my opinion, disrespect the men and women who have fought and died for our country, our flag and their...
Letter to the editor: Stacy Garrity best choice for treasurer
Elections are about choices, and I see the biggest contrast in the Pennsylvania state treasurer race. Our current treasurer, Joe Torsella, is a member of the Philadelphia elite. I don’t think he has any idea how middle-class, hard-working Pennsylvania families in the center of the state struggle to make ends...
Laurels & lances: Honors, arts and marts
Laurel: To honoring service. James Wilson of Herminie was a U.S. Marine and a World War II veteran, but he was more than that, too. He fought another battle as one of the first Black men to serve in the Marine Corps. In 2011, President Obama signed the legislation that...
Letter to the editor: Marxists have succeeded in influencing Western civilization
In the 1940s and early 1950s, Russian communist agents Manning Johnson, Bella Dodd, Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley defected and exposed the massive communist undertaking that was formulated in the 1930s, detailing the steps Marxists must take in order to successfully drive their communist agenda in subverting Western civilization. To...
Paul Kengor: Why did steelworkers union ditch Donald Trump?
I wrote here two weeks ago about the steelworkers union’s unique form of political campaigning for the Biden-Harris ticket. It was a shocking display whereby the union leadership ran a so-called “batlight campaign” illuminating Pittsburgh landmarks with massive “Biden-Harris 2020” images, from Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning to other spots, including...
Matthew Galluzzo: As life moves outdoors during covid-19, lean on Pa.’s special strength
Earlier this summer, The New York Times explored a fascinating chapter in American history. In 1907, at the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, doctors and educators tasked with preventing the spread of the disease in schoolchildren experimented by opening wide schools’ classroom windows. In some instances, they moved classes outdoors...
Geraldine Jones: Cal U-Clarion-Edinboro merger will empower students
More opportunities for students. That’s the driving force that propels California University of Pennsylvania toward a proposed integration with Clarion and Edinboro universities. With the initial financial review completed and the initiative affirmed unanimously on Wednesday by the Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, the trio...
Letter to the editor: Trump is right pro-life choice
Regarding the article “Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik issues letter as pundits call Catholic vote ‘crucial’ to presidential race” (Sept. 24, TribLIVE), Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik mentions a problem with each candidate. President Trump is for the death penalty. Joe Biden is pro-choice. Since Trump has been in office, 84 convicted criminals...
Letter to the editor: Trump hasn’t made America great
I have been around since the time of Harry S. Truman, and I have voted in many presidential elections. I have voted either Democrat or Republican, depending on the candidate. I have seen good and bad presidents. However, I don’t believe any one of them has been as incompetent as...
Letter to the editor: Trump on white supremacy
In an Oct. 1 White House briefing, reporters John Roberts (Fox) and Paula Reid (CBS), in an apparent coordinated effort, turned the event into a circus by badgering press secretary Kayleigh McEnany with their claim “the president hasn’t denounced white supremacy,” despite him having done so numerous times. I think...
Letter to the editor: PetFax act will protect animals
With his introduction of the PetFax Act, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, is leading a bill in Congress to protect animals from cruelty. This bipartisan legislation will not only help dogs, but improve transparency in the puppy-selling business by requiring pet stores to disclose where a puppy was bred, the puppy’s...
Editorial: Election vendor problems demand solutions
The other day, we said that the various hurdles this year’s voting has been experiencing aren’t reasons to give up but challenges to overcome leading toward the 2020 elections. We stand by that — even though additional problems have cropped up since then. We already knew Westmoreland County was having...
Rod Chandler: Informed voters are smart voters
As a Republican former member of Congress and member of Republicans for Integrity, I have been through many political campaigns, and I believe most Americans of all political views would agree that campaign rhetoric gets lower and lower every day. Now, as election ads dominate the airwaves, unbiased, factual information...
Josh Freed and Jackie Toth: What Biden gets right about energy in Pa.
Pennsylvania has always been an energy state. In fact, it ranks third in power production nationwide. It’s the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer and generates the second-most carbon-free nuclear power in the country. The state’s nuclear energy is a clean energy asset for Pennsylvanians. Unfortunately, the largesse of its other,...
Letter to the editor: SNAP increase much needed
The Westmoreland County Food Bank strongly supports the 15% benefit increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) included in the updated HEROES Act introduced in the House of Representatives. This past year, the Westmoreland County Food Bank and the rest of Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks have served...
Editorial: The triumph of a healthy Kiski River, bulging with mussels
Is anything ever too far gone to be redeemed? A freshwater shellfish says no. The Kiski River was so polluted for so long with the runoff from mining and the discharge from industry, it seemed too far gone to ever be home to life again. In 1909, A.E. Ortmann, curator...
Letter to the editor: Virtual Race for Grace a success
On Oct. 3, we hosted the long- anticipated 13th annual Race for Grace — our first virtual 5K and 1-mile walk. Six months after the original event was to take place on April 4, we were excited that race day had come, regardless of the modified format. In 31 states and...
Letter to the editor: Plot to take down Trump?
Money is power. The fat cats running the Democratic Party and the Chinese Communist Party both are taking heavy financial losses. President Trump is taking a big chunk of power away from them by reducing the amount of money that was flowing before his election via tariffs. The Democratic business...
Letter to the editor: Service members, prisoners of war are heroes
President Trump, regarding what you supposedly said about service members, that they are “losers” and “suckers”: Sen. John McCain was a hero, but to you, I guess he meant nothing. It’s only because of the service members who gave their lives that you have your freedom. You seem to not...
Pat Buchanan: Is war with China becoming inevitable?
“The Indians are seeing 60,000 Chinese soldiers on their northern border,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ominously warned Friday. He spelled out what he meant to commentator Larry O’Connor: “The Chinese have now begun to amass huge forces against India in the north. … They absolutely need the United States...
Dr. Jim Lando: Leadership matters in healing a sick nation
The lack of leadership by President Trump has set the stage for the unprecedented public health crisis, economic ruin and social turmoil that Americans face today. Our country was founded as the United States of America. Yet the divisiveness and cynicism emanating from the White House for almost four years...
Brittany Smalls: Pittsburgh’s Black voters using power at polls
With Election Day less than three weeks away, nowhere is more representative of Black voters’ excitement than right here in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. Last month, hundreds of Black voters joined local and national voter engagement activists at a tailgate for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Homewood. Organizers passed out food and...
