Editorials category, Page 15
Editorial: Will Westmoreland County finally hire an elections director?
Westmoreland County Director of County Operations Greg McCloskey has retired. People do this every day. Yahoo Finance reports an estimated 6.1 million Americans have retired this year — or will in the next 10 days. McCloskey is 61 — a hair short of the traditional 65 but definitely in the...
Laurels & lances: Taxes & sentencing
Laurel: To taking action. Tarentum property owners will feel an extra pinch in their tax bill next year, but it might be a better benefit in the long run. Council passed a 9% tax increase that will take the cost for an average homeowner from $219 to $239. So what...
Editorial: Irwin makes itself the Scrooge in a Christmas landlord story
In his famous story “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens makes his main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, an unlikable character on many fronts. While it’s his miserly ways and dislike of Christmas that get most of the attention, let’s not forget that Scrooge is also an unscrupulous landlord. Whether renting or holding...
Editorial: Monroeville Mall should be on someone’s shopping list
There’s a sale at Monroeville Mall. Everything must go. That’s not unusual in December. Sales are everywhere. But this time, it isn’t just sweaters and toys and candles with a price tag. The big “SALE” sign is on the 187-acre location itself as CBL Properties, the Tennessee owner of the...
Editorial: Pennsylvania should better regulate the products already available before legalizing more
Marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania. Kind of. Except not really. The twisting vines of what is and isn’t OK in the Keystone State have been growing like weeds since 2016. That was when the state legalized medical marijuana. It was broadly bipartisan. In a senate that has been solidly in...
Editorial: AI is ‘helping’ with your online holiday shopping, whether you like it or not
The holiday shopping season has started fast, especially online, and those automated chatbots are working overtime. Artificial intelligence is increasingly finding its way into decisions that once were purely human, like whether or not to buy a sweater. This year, more than ever, smart computer programs are stepping between customers...
Editorial: Post-traumatic stress is a shock to the system for first responders
At any emergency, there is a concern beyond bandages and oxygen. The victims of a car crash, fire or other event are observed and kept calm. An emergency medical technician may wrap in a blanket someone who doesn’t have any outward signs of injury. It is more than about keeping...
Editorial: There is no justice in Biden’s commutation of Kids for Cash judge
Michael Conahan should be familiar with what goes into difficult decisions about crime and punishment and their effect on a person’s life. Conahan was a Temple-trained lawyer who spent 13 years as a Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge. For four years, he was the county’s president judge —...
Laurels & lances: Rescue & ratings
Laurel: To those who helped. Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was last seen Dec. 2, looking for her missing cat near Monday’s Union Restaurant near the village of Marguerite in Unity. About 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, a search began for Pollard, centered around a sinkhole into an abandoned mine nearby. The search went...
Editorial: Recommendations in wake of Trump Butler rally shooting fall short
The U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump has released recommendations in a 180-page report. The task force, chaired by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, was authorized in the aftermath of the July 13 shooting at Trump’s political rally at the Butler...
Editorial: Social media needs regulation, not one company ban
A federal appeals court Friday upheld a controversial law banning the U.S. operations of TikTok — the popular video-based social networking app owned by Chinese company ByteDance — unless it finds a U.S. buyer. That gives the company six weeks to keep fighting before the ax falls. This impacts a...
Editorial: How should police respond to mental health calls?
On Jan. 7, Susan Shepherd called the police. Her son Christopher Shepherd, 48, was in the grip of a psychiatric crisis. He had a kitchen knife. He barricaded himself in his Upper St. Clair home. It wasn’t the first time. Christopher Shepherd was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder....
Editorial: Biden’s pardon of his son betrays those who stand for the rule of law
When it comes to his son Hunter, Joe Biden is always a father first, a president second. Last Sunday, at the close of the Thanksgiving weekend and the warmth of family gatherings, Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon for his son’s convictions on tax evasion and gun-related charges. As...
Editorial: The terrible cost of an unknown mine
Pennsylvania often is split into its major parts. It is Pittsburgh to the west, Philadelphia to the east and everything else in the middle. Aside from the handful of cities, it is filled with almost 17 million acres of forest and more than 7 million acres of farmland. It is...
Editorial: Are Westmoreland County elected officials’ pay raises fair?
How much should an elected official be paid? It’s not a simple question. There are a variety of positions filled by election. Some are jobs that require a meeting or two a month — perhaps an overall investment of two to four hours. Depending on the city or borough, a...
Laurels & lances: Convention, collection & Christmas
Laurel: To looking ahead. The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce announced Monday the launch of a $25,000 study to explore construction of a convention center. “We feel the time is right to move forward with this next step,” Chamber President Dan DeBone said. The preferred location would be somewhere along...
Editorial: Why is Trump’s opposition to U.S. Steel sale a ‘gut punch?’
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump took to social media to make a statement about his feelings on an issue of domestic economy and foreign relations. “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” he...
Editorial: A small but important win for FDA under fire
Given how the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority is better known for limiting the authority of federal regulatory agencies than supporting them, last week’s small victory for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is an especially welcome one. The justices served the nation’s interest by essentially doing nothing — declining...
Editorial: Is a social media ban here possible?
Social media is everywhere. It’s on the desktop computer that might be used for gaming. It’s on the laptop your teenager uses for homework. It’s on the tablet your kindergartner uses for videos. It’s on the smartwatch that counts steps. It’s on the phone tucked in every back pocket or...
Editorial: With 5 words, Trump kills a free-press measure that had bipartisan support
The apparent death of the PRESS Act in Congress should alarm Americans on two levels. After this bill unanimously passed a Republican-controlled House — a testament to its commonsense defense of First Amendment principles that protect Americans of all political persuasions — all it took to ensure its demise in...
Editorial: A month after election, still no answers on Marc Fogel’s detention
For three years, TribLive has periodically contacted the U.S. State Department. We ask the same questions, sometimes tweaked to reflect national or world events. We ask for the most recent information on Marc Fogel. The Butler native and Oakmont teacher has been held in a Russian prison since 2021, when...
Editorial: When should Pennsylvania deer season start?
In Pennsylvania, the national holiday of Thanksgiving and the retail festivities of Black Friday are quickly followed by the state’s own seasonal celebration. Bust out your camouflage and fluorescent orange. It’s deer season. Since 2019, the first day of regular firearm hunting for antlered and antlerless deer has come on...
Laurels & lances: Social media & bad sports
Laurel: To accessibility. Many people don’t have much contact with their local governments. If you are a renter, for instance, any contact with your municipality might be between your landlord and officials. You might not even know where the local government offices are. So what is the best way for...
Editorial: Break bread, not hearts, this Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not the same from one house to the next. Some families spend all day with relatives coming and going, talking and laughing and eating from an endless buffet. Some gather around an elegantly laid out table for a formal dinner. Some hold hands as they say grace. Some...
Editorial: Offer of fire station dorm room benefits college students and community
You can learn a lot of things in college. You can study the law. You can explore history. You can become an artist, a scientist, an engineer or a teacher. Most college students also learn a lot about debt. The average cost of a year’s in-state public university tuition in...
