Opinion category, Page 718
Letter to the editor: Pharmacists good resource for vaccine information
As you point out in your recent editorial, “Vaccination info should be epidemic” (Aug. 24, TribLIVE), the safety of life-saving vaccines is backed by science, and it is essential that the public receives accurate information about the value of receiving immunizations. Each year, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 U.S. adults...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Time is ripe for action on climate, guns, opioids
“There is no fruit that is not bitter before it is ripe,” according to Publilius Syrus, a Latin moralist in the century before Christ. It seems that we have always known that everything has its season. And in the last days of summer, we can relish those things that have...
Dani Ritchie: Raise the Wage Act will hurt tipped workers
I’m worried that some Pennsylvania representatives want to reduce my ability to earn a living. When House Democrats voted in July to pass House Resolution 582, the Raise the Wage Act — a bill that would not only raise the federal minimum wage to $15 but would also eliminate the...
Bill Godsey: From Pennsylvania to Texas, energy fuels economic growth
President Trump’s visit last month to an ethane cracker plant in Western Pennsylvania underscored a key fact that both political parties should be able to agree on: America’s remarkable shale renaissance is securing our country’s energy independence and bolstering industries throughout the economy. It’s hard to argue that Royal Dutch...
Bob Cranmer: For Catholics’ sake, Vatican must institute serious reforms
Although I was raised in the Catholic Church, for the majority of my adult life I was a conservative evangelical Christian. In 2005, after a 25-year absence, I returned to the Catholic Church during a time of crisis. I came to better understand and appreciate the historic position of the...
Editorial: Vaping epidemic can be stopped
Just stop the vaping. Take the little electronic device that you are using to inhale vaporized liquids and put it down. It might not be smoking, but you’re playing with fire. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the latest ugly numbers about the health impacts of...
Sounding off: Heed musical wisdom, turn off your screens
In 1973, there were three TV channels and the average “screens” per household were rarely more than one. That same year, Frank Zappa released “I’m The Slime,” prophetically warning about “vile and pernicious slime oozin’ out from your TV set.” By 1979, average screens per household had doubled, and The...
Letter to the editor: This country belongs to all of us
On Aug. 27, the Trump reelection campaign sent this message to its supporters in a fundraising email: “The President is calling on you at this critical time to remind (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and Democrats that this is our country, not theirs.” This cannot — and should not — be dismissed as...
Letter to the editor: Allegheny County police review board just politics
The proposed Allegheny County Police Review Board (“County council votes down Allegheny police review board, supporters vow to keep pushing,” Aug. 27, TribLIVE) is appropriate for the Allegheny County Police Department. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald supports this legislation, which is nothing more than a politically expedient gesture in the wake...
Sister Sharon Costello: On immigrants, hateful rhetoric must stop
Inside a converted former nightclub steps away from the bus station in the border town of McAllen, Texas, Sister Janice Vanderneck touches the scarred, small hand of a 6-year-old Guatemalan boy who explains he was with his father that frightening day when someone burned down the family’s store. She listens...
Walter Williams: Biased liberal criminologists mislead us
John Paul Wright, professor at University of Cincinnati, and Matthew DeLisi professor at Iowa State University, penned a powerful article titled “What Criminologists Don’t Say, and Why,” in the summer 2017 edition of City Journal. There is significant bias among criminologists. The reason for that bias is that political leanings...
John Stossel: Recovering from labor
On Labor Day, did you celebrate workers? More likely, you made it a day of rest. Fine. It’s good to have a choice. I didn’t have a choice about joining a union when I was hired by CBS and then ABC. They told me that if I wanted to work,...
Editorial: Firefighter support is priceless
Putting out a fire isn’t cheap. According to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, that iconic helmet is $350. Goggles are $75. The hood that goes under the hat is $45, and that’s the cheapest thing they wear. The jacket and pants are $1,800, gloves are $75 and boots are...
Letter to the editor: Brighton Heights rat infestation must be addressed
I would like to comment on a dangerous condition for some residents living in Brighton Heights. I grew up in this area and lived there for over 30 years. It was always a nice area, but after marrying, I moved away. I was amazed to see residents of McClure Avenue...
Letter to the editor: Idea of reparations absurd
Many Democratic presidential hopefuls are advocating reparations for either or both African-American and LGBTQ communities. Their reasoning includes slavery compensation for the former and historical tax inequities for the latter. As a full-blooded Italian- American, I propose that individuals of my nationality also deserve similar consideration. In the late 1800s, Italians...
Letter to the editor: Elm Street paving
Elm Street paving On Aug. 12 South Greensburg borough council voted to pave the brick hill on the 1600 block of Elm Street. The brick street was built in the 1930s and has required minimal repair. I understand a grant will pay for it, but most of the residents like...
Donald Boudreaux: Three critical economic realities
Although research on its frontiers is often expressed in dense mathematics and murky jargon, economics’ core is quite straightforward. And it’s as important as ever for public policy. Here are three keys for doing practical economics well. First: recognize that many economic “problems” or “failures” are not real; they are...
Lori Falce: The real magic in the library
The magic of Harry Potter is very real. The words that are inked onto the pages of four-inch thick books? They have power. They just don’t have it the way the Rev. Dan Reehill of St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville thinks they do. Reehill had the books pulled out...
Laurels & lances: Soldiers, screens and schools
Laurel: To telling the stories of heroes. Sutersville fire Chief Mark Ghion conducted countless hours of research into the lives and deaths of 14 soldiers from that borough who were killed while serving their country in World Wars I and II and Korea. His work, “14 Sons of Sutersville,” has...
Letter to the editor: New Kensington water charges & bills
After a price adjustment in 2018, the Municipal Authority of New Kensington notified customers about another increase in 2019. The authority stated in January that the water rate hike would be 12%. Bills will increase more than that. The authority previously itemized water bills, showing the actual usage cost and...
Letter to the editor: Trump alienating our allies
I think it’s time for the “chosen one,” the “King of Israel,” the “Messiah,” to admit he’s lost the trade war with China and put his ego aside and start concentrating on doing the work of the people of this great country. And really, fighting with Denmark? What in the...
Letter to the editor: Was Trump divine intervention?
We came together as a nation only after a ragtag militia made up of farmers, shopkeepers and the like defeated the greatest standing army in the world at the time. And men the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Franklin and Adams, et al. were brought together at the same...
Jennifer Elliott: Pennsylvania school screenings missing vital asthma test
With students back in class, schools across the state are providing annual vision and hearing screenings to help ensure student well-being. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not mandate a screening for the most common chronic childhood disease: asthma. Such screenings should be required in Pennsylvania, which has the second highest percentage of...
Timothy L. O’Brien: Mike Pence’s Doonbeg visit proves he’s a giver
Go ahead and forgive yourself if you find some details of Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Ireland confusing. Although Pence has official meetings in Dublin (on Ireland’s east coast) he and his federal entourage have found lodging in Doonbeg (on Ireland’s west coast). Why Doonbeg? Well, Pence has ancestral...
Editorial: Threats aren’t pranks
It’s not funny. You can call it a prank or a practical joke. You can say it was all in good fun or that no harm was meant. You can say whatever you want but it doesn’t make it true. The fact is that there is nothing amusing about telling...
