Opinion category, Page 255
Dan DeBone: Westmoreland County manufacturers’ most valuable product — careers
Ask most Westmoreland County residents about the fourth week of May this year, and they’ll tell you it was just like any other. The Pirates hosted the Rangers for a three-game homestand. Students and relatives started to trickle in from out of town for Memorial Day. But it was anything...
Letter to the editor: Irwin has too many car washes
I love a clean car, but to have four washes in a 1- to 2-mile radius on Route 30 in Irwin — is this really necessary? Why can’t someone build a nice restaurant with real home-cooked food, like the Old Village Inn or Teddy’s? We have so many fast-food places....
Letter to the editor: Pa. Treasury’s ‘unclaimed money’ is a farce
The Pennsylvania Treasury makes a big deal about all the money they have that is owed to people. Here’s my experience. You fill out the paperwork, and you hear nothing from them. They acknowledge that they received your claim for your money. Then that’s as far as it goes. No...
Editorial: Fracking study points to health costs
Enthusiastic gas-drilling advocates in the Legislature long have fallen over themselves in their haste to get out of the industry’s way. Their zeal, for most of two decades, included a prohibition on using public money to conduct studies on the industry’s public health impact. Former Gov. Tom Wolf finally commissioned...
Letter to the editor: Why would Shapiro defund Real Alternatives?
Real Alternatives, a regional network of women’s help agencies with 77 centers throughout Pennsylvania, has served in excess of 400,000 women since its establishment in 1996. The regional program is financially supported by the commonwealth, offering women in crisis services such as counseling, testing, educational referrals, clothing, classes and shelter,...
Letter to the editor: Afghanistan accountability
It has been two years since President Biden’s disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, which I feel was recklessly staged purely for political theater. Biden irresponsibly risked the lives of thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies to complete his retreat by the symbolic date of Sept. 11, 2021. He surrendered Bagram...
Peter Morici: Finding the silver lining in Biden’s trade and industrial policies
President Biden’s industrial and trade policies are terribly controversial. Economists, pundits and the media — on the left and right — complain these will promote inefficiency and won’t address fundamental disadvantages — for example, shortages of engineers and similar workers with advanced training. Allies in Europe criticize that the Buy...
Jonah Goldberg: It’s too late, GOP also-rans. Nothing will stop Trump, except maybe the law.
So, Ron DeSantis gets it after all. “A movement can’t be about the personality of one individual,” DeSantis told the Florida Standard. “If all we are is listless vessels that’s just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not...
Dr. Andrew Smolar: Calling out incivility
After this past week, I feel dented. Last Saturday, my wife and I enjoyed dinner at a place in the Philadelphia suburbs. When the check arrived, I realized our waitress had confused our tab with the next table’s. When I walked inside to correct it, I noted there was a...
Letter to the editor: Trump tried to take away our votes
Kudos to the writer of the letter “Republicans, don’t back Trump” (Aug. 14, TribLIVE) for realizing the truth about a habitual liar. You give several really good reasons not to back Trump, but I feel the biggest reason not to support him is the fact that he wanted Vice President...
Letter to the editor: We should all see Trump’s ‘evidence’
After his indictment in Georgia last week, Donald Trump scheduled a news conference for Aug. 20 at which he planned to issue a detailed report providing “irrefutable and overwhelming evidence” that the election there was stolen from him, resulting in his “complete exoneration” (“Trump trashes DA Fani Willis as ‘corrupt,’...
Editorial: WVU walkout has lessons for Pennsylvania colleges, leaders
Pennsylvania colleges, please take note of what happened Monday at West Virginia University. Hundreds of students at West Virginia’s top public school staged a walkout protest of a slate of proposed cuts announced Aug. 11. The problem is a significant budget gap. The university is trying to make up for...
Letter to the editor: Sticking with Trump
I consider the writer of the letter “Republicans, don’t back Trump” (Aug. 14, TribLIVE) a never- Trumper in lockstep with Liz Cheney and old guard Republicans. Let’s examine his three reasons for not supporting Trump. 1. “He failed to take any action during the Jan. 6 mob action to keep the...
Peter Roff: A U.S. agency you’ve never heard of is destroying innovation
Recent and expected Supreme Court rulings regarding the authority of federal regulators have put the regulatory bureaucracy in the spotlight. Too many of them have the power to make or break industries. Some, like the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), are begging to have their wings clipped. Its mission is...
Cal Thomas: Questions I would ask the GOP candidates
Wednesday night’s GOP primary debate in Milwaukee for the Republican candidates for the presidency will be more a Q&A session than a classic debate, but that’s OK. Viewers will have a chance to take the measure of the men — and woman — who wish to become president. Each candidate...
Letter to the editor: Trump, Biden, DeSantis, Kennedy all bad candidates
The trouble with Donald Trump is that he is his own worst enemy. He’s told the lie that he won the 2020 presidential election so many times, he now believes it. Like Putin, Xi and Kim, he implies that he wants to be president for life. He’s partly right that...
Letter to the editor: Say no to Invenergy plant
Recently, PennEnvironment released a study called the “Dirty Dozen” — the top 12 air polluters in Pennsylvania. You might expect the list to be dominated by old, inefficient coke plants or coal industries. Nope! Five of the 12 are modern gas-fired power plants. Is this surprising? For years, residents of...
Editorial: Police need right support to deal with mental health calls
Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, was shot and killed July 2 by a Ligonier Valley police officer. Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced July 21 that the use of deadly force was justified. That was bolstered when police released the body camera footage, which showed Saunders coming out of his...
Letter to the editor: God might be that ‘something’ missing
I must disagree with the letter “God is a problem, not an answer” (July 29, TribLIVE). When God created man, he gave him free will. We use this free will to make choices, good or bad. God loves all his children and is a loving God who gets sad when...
Tom Purcell: Dogs and cats also facing tough times
There’s a lot of sad news to go around, but this Vox story really breaks my heart: Animal shelters are overflowing with abandoned dogs and cats again. A few years ago, during covid isolation, there was a surge of people rescuing pets from shelters to fill their homes with lovable...
Rick Goodling: State regulation means an end to illegal games
I was in a Western Pennsylvania grocery store recently and the owner detailed to me all the renovations he is making to his business and the health insurance he is able to provide for his employees. Having this type of conversation is not unusual for me. I am part of...
Letter to the editor: God in his heart
The writer of the letter “God is a problem, not an answer” (July 29, TribLIVE) does not need to read or understand the Bible. He mentions that he believes people should take care of each other. That is God in his heart, and it is the greatest request that he...
Letter to the editor: Hempfield board should be called out over book bans
Despite protest to the contrary, the agenda of conservative members of the Hempfield Area School Board seems to be ban books. Proposed changes to 109-AR-0: Selection of Resource Materials and 109-AR3: Request for Re-Evaluation of Resource Materials would remove students from the review board unless the student is 18 or...
Editorial: Safety, security and sealing juror lists
The Tribune-Review has long argued that the names of jurors be treated as what they are: public records. Jurors are the most important part of a criminal trial. While lawyers and judges might believe otherwise, that distinction is undeniably held by the 12 people who are the primary audience for...
Letter to the editor: Stopping illegal bus passing
Regarding the article “Drivers getting ticketed for passing stopped Pittsburgh Public Schools buses” (Aug. 7, TribLIVE): Act 38 of 2020 should be repealed. This law modified the stop-arm camera law for illegally passing school buses. It assumes a vehicle’s owner was driving, and takes away the person’s rights. It also...
