Editorials category, Page 29
Editorial: Why should the DA have to approve body camera video release?
The things we can see make a huge difference in the things we can understand. We show pictures not only because they add interest to a story but also because they can give as much information as the words. In addition, they can provide context. Pictures can help us not...
Laurels & lances: Highs and lows of 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, we look back on some of the highs and lows of the past 12 months. Laurel: To healing wounds. Five years after the deadliest antisemetic attack in U.S. history, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting finally had its day in court. Shooter Robert Bowers was convicted...
Editorial: Personal finance class long overdue for Pennsylvania students
William Penn opened schools when Pennsylvania was just a colony. Public schools in the state were put in place constitutionally in 1789. The Free Public Schools Act passed 45 years later, formalizing a public education system in the Keystone State. Education represents about 39% of the state’s budget, according to...
Editorial: What mattered to readers in 2023?
Every day in this space, we try to open a conversation. The idea isn’t to tell you how to think or what to think. It’s to take the stories that are breaking across the other pages and explore them. Are there questions you want answered? Are there angles that should...
Editorial: Why Biden can’t convince voters he has beaten inflation
Economic happy talk doesn’t lower mortgage payments. It’s one reason Bidenomics remains deeply unpopular. President Joe Biden wants the public to believe the economy is doing great. At a recent campaign event, Biden bragged that he had overseen “record job creation, historic economic growth (and) among the lowest inflation rates...
Editorial: We wish you a merry Christmas
What is your Christmas tradition? Do you open presents on Christmas Eve? Is that the night you finally decorate the tree? Do you eat homemade candy and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Do you dress in matching pajamas? Do you put your kids to bed and then eat the plate...
Editorial: Is massive Westmoreland tax increase an overcorrection?
The most dangerous part of an imminent crash can be the attempt to avoid it. This being Pennsylvania, most of us are familiar with the hazards of driving on an icy road. When the wheels slip, you can make cautious adjustments that help you regain control — or you can...
Laurels & lances: Reaching for stars, praying for rain
Laurel: To a moonshot. Pittsburgh-based space company Astrobotic was set for a Christmas Eve launch of its lunar lander, but that was scrapped less than two weeks out. That move was attributed to “routine” ground system problems. But a Christmas launch will come early in the new year as the...
Editorial: Student philanthropy shows lessons beyond the classroom. It’s our role to support it
Kids learn a lot of important lessons in school. They learn the alphabet and simple arithmetic. They learn to read and, for some, to love it. They learn to make baking soda volcanoes. They learn about the scientific method, what happened in 1776 and how to find Nebraska on a...
Editorial: Who actually learns a lesson from Comprehensive Healthcare’s guilty verdict?
Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services is guilty. On Monday, after five weeks of trial and 29 witnesses taking the stand, two entities of the corporation were found guilty of health care fraud. The case involved accusations of making false statements in connection with the payment of health care benefits and for...
Editorial: What is the future of U.S. Steel?
U.S. Steel has been the skeleton of American industry. It didn’t just churn out millions of pounds of metal. It was behind and inside the landscape of the nation. It is in bridges and railroads and freighters. It has drawn the iconic skylines of our cities. It is the U.S....
Editorial: So Fetterman’s not a progressive?
John Fetterman, the Democratic U.S. senator from Braddock, says he isn’t a progressive. That might seem like a surprise to a lot of people. We are talking about the most unconventional legislator in the Senate. This is a man who caused an uproar with his wardrobe of shorts and hoodies...
Editorial: The best use of opioid settlement funds
Pennsylvania’s share of settlements with opioid manufacturers and from retailers like CVS and Walgreens is huge. The state will receive more than $2 billion. It’s the kind of significant outlay that hasn’t been seen since the tobacco settlement of 1998. The money will roll in over 18 years and be...
Editorial: Commissioners should take action to protect holiday displays
The tree outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse is 23 feet tall. It is covered with bright lights and red bows. Nearby stands a blue and white menorah in a silvery frame. These aren’t unusual for the season. Symbols of Christmas and Hanukkah are everywhere. But these types of holiday displays...
Laurels & lances: Tips, trips and last-minute gifts
Laurel: To a show of gratitude. Some people leave the bare minimum for a tip. Some people will do 20%, maybe 25%. Some don’t give a dime. But, on Saturday, Kayla Webster got a whole lot more while serving a party of eight a lineup of gingerbread pancakes and eggs...
Editorial: Addressing discrimination in Pennsylvania scholarship program is necessary
Does Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit give parents and students more freedom to access the kind of high-quality education available from the state’s private schools? Or does it discriminate against kids from different religions, kids with disabilities or those who may be LGBTQ+? Education Voters of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit...
Editorial: Juvenile detention must be consistent and secure
Braedon M. Dickinson, 16, and Robert Cogdell, 14, were watching television on Saturday night. All of a sudden, they got up and ran out the back door. News came Monday morning that they were found more than 30 miles away in Fayette County. It’s a worrisome situation no matter what...
Editorial: UPenn president Liz Magill’s resignation is lesson to other college presidents
The departure of Liz Magill from her post as president of the University of Pennsylvania may not have been written in stone when she testified before Congress about antisemitism on college campuses. However, it wasn’t exactly written on a chalkboard, easily wiped away with a swipe of the hand, either....
Editorial: Legislators need to make unexpected break a working vacation
Pennsylvania lawmakers aren’t going to be able to go to work for a while. Yes, it sounds like the start to a particularly frustrating joke. But it’s true. The House of Representatives won’t be able to go back into chambers for about three months because of repairs. The Pennsylvania Capital-Star...
Editorial: Why does Pittsburgh care so much about foie gras and fur?
Pittsburgh has important issues to address. There’s crime, including gun violence. There is a police department that needs to staff up. There is homelessness. There are all of the typical things a large city has to address, from economy to infrastructure to affordable housing and so much more. And so...
Editorial: Marc Fogel needs to be included with Gershkovich, Whelan
The wish list for Marc Fogel this holiday season is short. Family and friends have a campaign to send him cards. They will go to the Russian prison where he has been sentenced for the 0.6 ounces of medical marijuana he had in his possession when arrested in August 2021....
Laurels & lances: Rebuilding, increasing, concealing
Laurel: To rebuilding. On Dec. 4, 2021, St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold was gutted by a massive fire that seemed like the end of the 74-year-old house of worship. Two years later, a $2.2 million sanctuary is rising from those ashes. “We rebuild our church, but we are...
Editorial: Let Hanukkah candles be new prayer for peace
The first candle will be lit tonight. As the sun sets, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins — an eight-night celebration of a miracle in a time of war. In the second century B.C.E, a struggle between the Jewish people and the Syrian Greeks resulted in the temple in Jerusalem...
Editorial: Sandra Day O’Connor was a trailblazer and far more than ‘a good judge’
News that Sandra Day O’Connor, the Supreme Court’s first woman justice, had died Friday at 93 caused the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board to recall her visit a decade ago. Although retired since 2006, she politely disappointed the board by holding to the high court’s practice of refusing to comment on...
Editorial: Allegheny County Jail opioid treatment has positive potential
People incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail will receive medication for opioid use disorder. The move comes as a result of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and includes a $10,000 payment to an individual who was jailed in Allegheny County and denied the methadone he was receiving...
