Editorials category, Page 35
Editorial: Cutting support to Daily Collegian shows Penn State doesn’t value information
Every day, Penn State students hoping to go pro step onto the field of play, pick up the ball and run with it. They score big, and more than a few have gone on to win major awards as a member of amazing teams. But the university’s board of trustees...
Editorial: Bringing Marc Fogel home is Biden’s job
The different branches of government have roles that are well defined, especially between the first two mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. The legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch implements them. Politics and power being what they are, it doesn’t always end there. Congress gets to control the money,...
Laurels & lances: Painting heads and butting heads
Laurel: To getting a head. No, not “ahead.” As of Wednesday, a longtime landmark has been reunited with its top. The statue stands outside Lug Nutz auto shop on Route 119 in Greensburg. It has experienced identity issues over the years, donning different appearances. For a while, the burly 20-foot-tall...
Editorial: Pennsylvania lawmakers need training camp
The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in training camp. The team descended on Saint Vincent College in Unity on Wednesday prepared to settle in for the long haul, bringing TVs, pillows and snacks. They will spend their time at the school focused on developing their skills as individuals and a team...
Editorial: Filling office space might mean changing ideas
Supply and demand is a pretty simple concept. Give the people what they want. If you see that one thing isn’t selling, you pivot to something else. It’s part of the legend of many a great fortune. Take Henry Heinz. Before he found success with the broad appeal of pickles...
Editorial: Senior centers could be model for providing human services
Senior centers are more than just a place to play cards. They are a daily place of comfort and camaraderie, yes, but they have offerings beyond lunch with friends or a hand of Hearts. In Allegheny and Westmoreland counties alone, there are 53 offices that aren’t really offices so much...
Editorial: Require more transparency, less politics
Football practice will begin next week at Pennsylvania’s big state-related universities, but the Legislature’s game of political football with the institutions’ funding is a year-round, far-less-entertaining spectacle. Teams from Penn State and Temple universities and the University of Pittsburgh all will have played at least three games by the time...
Editorial: Cyber charter reform needs to be about education, not politics
Education is a touchy subject in Pennsylvania. There is the question of funding for state-related universities. There are the concerns about tuition; Penn State just opted to increase the cost of attending its main campus yet again. There are school vouchers. The tug of war over them is behind the...
Editorial: Did we really need another special election?
Pennsylvania is facing a special election. Again. It will decide control of the state’s House of Representatives. Again. Sara Innamorato has resigned from her job as lawmaker representing the 21st District as she completes her run for Allegheny County executive. She secured the Democratic nomination for the position in the...
Laurels & lances: Guns & money
Laurel: To a nice jackpot — or at least a piece of one. Visitors to Live Casino Pittsburgh generate millions in revenue for its owners. In 2022, the casino in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall reported almost $112 million between slot machines, table games and sports betting. That’s great for the company,...
Editorial: Kopas appointment as commissioner is understandable but was it the best choice?
On Monday, the 11 Westmoreland County Common Pleas judges gathered together and acted as a kind of jury, deliberating and delivering a verdict on a case in a way they normally don’t get to do. The decision they reached wasn’t about guilt or innocence or a judgment with a big...
Editorial: The heavy burden of fighting fires
The weight of a fire truck is hard to bear. The average fire vehicle comes in between 19 tons and 30 tons, according to PennDOT. It’s the equivalent of six to 10 nice big pickup trucks. The weight is important. It’s part of what makes them work. They carry a...
Editorial: Are legacy admissions the real problem for colleges?
A legacy is something left by those who went before us. It might be a reputation. It might be an inheritance. And for some kids filling out applications, it is a leg up in the college admissions process. At least, it was. For generations, prestigious universities made a sometimes spoken,...
Editorial: Lawmakers: Carpe diem; end per diems
Taxpayers, who employ Pennsylvania legislators, should reimburse those employees for the expenses they incur while conducting the public business, just as a private employer should cover its employees’ work-related expenses. But they should do so under a comparable system. Private employers don’t simply provide employees with a flat-rate expense payment....
Editorial: Coroners’ obstruction is obituary for open records
In a perfect world, no one would ever need to see a coroner’s report. They would be the paper relics of a life ended. They would be filed away in the bureaucratic mausoleum that is a governmental file cabinet. They would rest in the peace of the millions of other...
Editorial: The debate over where drug treatment should be located
Not in my backyard. It’s a statement that draws lines around not only what is acceptable but also where. It’s the kind of thing you usually see surrounding something everyone acknowledges is necessary but that they would rather forget or ignore — and that’s hard to do when it is...
Laurels & lances: Star power and shots fired
Laurel: To a special delivery. Madonna and Beyonce may have let Pittsburgh down with canceled concerts this summer, but then a redhead from the United Kingdom came to town to show a little love to his fans. Ed Sheeran has a kind of everyman Brit image — like he’s the...
Editorial: Who gets to judge challenged books?
While people joke — or gripe — about teachers having summers off, a lot happens over the summer to get ready for the kids to come back in the fall. For Hempfield Area School District, there’s even more because of ongoing issues such as the imminent construction project. And the...
Editorial: South Side violence closes more doors as little changes
On Monday, Carson City Saloon announced it was closing its doors — at least temporarily. A sports bar on the South Side doesn’t do that lightly. It isn’t a new business. It has been around for 17 years. It’s baseball season. But right now crime season is taking the spotlight....
Editorial: Pa. budget standoff drags on
The worst kind of budget impasse is when both sides have a point. It’s easy to say what should happen when there is a clear right and clear wrong — even if it is only about perspective. If something is as simple as raising taxes versus lowering them, most people...
Editorial: Abandoned malls are monuments to blight
There is something about ruins. People love to look back on what was and imagine it in all its glory. That can mean historical sites of the ancient world such as the Colosseum in Rome or the Parthenon in Athens. It can mean relics of American history such as the...
Editorial: Releasing pythons slithers around responsibility
It should go without saying that, if you have a pet, you keep your pet. Keep it fed. Keep it healthy. Keep it under control, whether in the yard, in the house or in its cage. Too bad a Ross man didn’t do that. Police say the unidentified individual is...
Editorial: EMS services need reimbursement lifeline
There are few things we depend on more than the idea that when we call for help in an emergency, help will come. We call for police. We call for the fire department. We call for medical assistance. For 63 years, Jeannette EMS ambulances showed up for heart attacks and...
Laurels & lances: Summer plans
Laurel: To a happy birthday. America celebrated its 247th year Tuesday, but there is a real milestone being marked closer to home: 2023 is Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday. It’s a celebration with a special name: Semiquincentennial. There’s a tongue-twister for you. The event is prompting celebrations all over the county,...
Editorial: Is leaving Pa. the way to find lower taxes and cost of living?
A Commonwealth Foundation poll shows a lot of Pennsylvanians are considering relocation. Tell us something we didn’t know. Pennsylvania has been aware of its changing demographics for years. Decades, actually. Pennsylvania lost one of its seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, bringing the number of...
