Opinion category, Page 444
Letter to the editor: Deaths at jail must be investigated
The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board has the statutory responsibility of providing “oversight of the health and safekeeping” of the residents and “investigate allegations of inadequate prison conditions” at the Allegheny County Jail. Since April 2020, there have been 11 deaths of jail residents (“Allegheny County Jail inmate dies,” Dec....
Editorial: Same stuff, different year
If you had trouble telling the difference between 2020 and 2021, you aren’t alone. The last two years have been a stressful roller coaster of issues that have required almost constant attention. In 2020, it was the pandemic. It was politics with the presidential election. It was the annual census...
Letter to the editor: Make a vegan New Year’s resolution
Millions of people around the world will make New Year’s resolutions. Some decide it’s time to get back to the gym; many make the decision to unplug from social media; and, becoming more popular, people will make a resolution to go vegan. This was my own New Year’s resolution 10...
Letter to the editor: We need a true conservative Republican in Toomey’s seat
To Richard Patton (”We need a real Pennsylvanian in Toomey’s seat,” Dec. 24, TribLIVE): Hear, hear! But more important than actually being from Pennsylvania is that we get a true conservative Republican. No RINOs! So welcome any candidate that fits your request and mine. And to RINO Pat Toomey: Bye!...
S.E. Cupp: The change we wish to see in the world for 2022
For the past nearly decade, I’ve asked friends, colleagues, politicos and celebs to share their New Year’s resolutions with me and my readers. After the year we’ve had, I’m especially grateful to get just a glimpse into their fragile psyches and guarded optimism as we all head warily into 2022....
John Stossel: Charities better than government at helping people
It’s the season for giving. I’ll give. This week I’ll donate to the Doe Fund, a charity that helps drug users and ex-cons find purpose in life through work. “Work works!” they say. It sure does. Most Doe Fund workers find more joy in supporting themselves than they ever found...
Letter to the editor: Why would Penn Hills hire officer under investigation?
Why on earth did Penn Hills hire a cop under investigation for killing a young Black man in Wilkinsburg (“Arbitrator judge reinstates former Wilkinsburg police officer to Penn Hills,” Dec. 15, TribLIVE)? If he is found guilty, what is Penn Hills to do with him? Penn Hills residents, please be...
Letter to the editor: If election system works, audit should be supported
Tricia Cunningham’s op-ed “Corman, Mastriano act tough on election integrity, but they caused the problems” (Dec. 18, TribLIVE) denigrates Republican state Sens. Jake Corman and Doug Mastriano for advocating a complete audit of the 2020 elections on the basis that they both voted for Act 77 which was partly to...
Lori Falce: What did you learn in 2021?
“I can’t wait to say goodbye to this dumpster fire of a year.” “I just want this year to be over.” “I want to pretend this year never happened.” This attitude is one I have become accustomed to hearing as December winds to a close each year. I have heard...
Letter to the editor: Single-use plastics ban good for our health
Pittsburgh City Council is currently considering Councilwoman Erika Strassburger’s proposed legislation to ban single-use plastics (“Experts join discussion about potential plastic bag ban in Pittsburgh,” Dec. 18, TribLIVE). An important issue connected to this legislation is the health consequences on all of us by continuing the manufacture of plastic bags....
Addison Del Mastro: Pa. should embrace its heritage by restoring railways
Streetcars were once a ubiquitous presence in Pennsylvania’s cities and towns. This mode of transport — a symbol of America’s booming industrial age — was born in Scranton, which became known as “The Electric City” when it opened the first continuously operating electric trolley system in 1886. Soon thereafter, Scranton...
Laurels & Lances: The little highs and lows of 2021
The Laurels & Lances are where we laud or lambaste the kind of good and bad stories each week that don’t quite rise to the level of a full-blown editorial but still deserve to be called out for attention. January: The first laurel of the year went to two area...
Letter to the editor: Carbon emissions tax will hurt consumers
So letter-writer Bruce Cooper (“Biden’s climate order is not enough,” Dec. 21, TribLIVE) wants to tax carbon emissions at $20 per ton. Have you, Mr. Cooper, considered who will ultimately pay that tax? It’s not the utilities or the petroleum companies. They will simply pass along the added cost to...
Letter to the editor: Disingenuous tax plans
“Build Back Better” is purported to be legislation that transforms our economy from the so-called trickle-down effects of capitalism, which benefits only the rich, to one that presumes to grow from the bottom up and the middle out, that works for the good of lower and middle classes. A significant...
Editorial: Nursing home residents deserve protection from sex offenders
On April 21, 1996, Megan’s Law went into effect in Pennsylvania. That made possible identifying sex offenders, keeping a registry of their location and notifying the community if someone with a record of sexual violence was living nearby. The law was named for Megan Kanka, 7, a New Jersey girl...
Letter to the editor: Opioid settlement money will be misused
After reading the story “Westmoreland County signs on to $26B settlement in opioid lawsuit” (Dec. 20, TribLIVE), I couldn’t help think that settlement money will do nothing to stop a single addict from using and/or overdosing. The interesting part of the story was learning that J&J is the parent company...
Cal Thomas: A little peace and goodwill in Congress
Peace on Earth and goodwill to men this time of year seems increasingly absent in diverse places. In America, the noble objective seems to have long ago left the U.S. Capitol, where too many members of Congress are as divided and angry at each other as ever. A new study...
David Campt and Allison Mahaley: Through compassion we can transform the current culture war
America is immersed in a culture war that is a new manifestation of its age-old problem with race. School board meetings across America have devolved into ugly protests about critical race theory. The strategy to rebrand CRT was created, organized and executed intentionally as a political wedge issue. Right-wing operative...
Letter to the editor: Baseless claims?
“It is another step driven by former President Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.” (“New front in Pa.’s GOP election ‘investigation’ draws challenges,” Dec. 18, TribLIVE). I guess if you repeat it being baseless enough times while ignoring and not reporting on any such claims, then sure, they’re baseless. Thomas...
Letter to the editor: Democrats stick together
It has been almost one year since the Biden/Harris administration, aided and abetted by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, assumed control of the nation. Let’s review what they have done for us in that period. We now have borders being exploited by illegal immigrants from all over the world, record...
Editorial: Alcohol use increase is pandemic side effect
Stress can push people to do things that aren’t good for them. They can eat too much. Watch too much TV. They can gamble. Or they can abuse drugs or alcohol. The coronavirus pandemic is exactly the kind of stressor that can make people look for a source of comfort...
Letter to the editor: Legislators like Leslie Rossi making us less safe
I recently received a “news letter” from my state representative, Leslie Rossi, encouraging her constituents to apply for covid-19 vaccination exemption assistance. Is she not aware that she was elected in a special election because our former representative died from an apparent brain aneurysm that could have been related to...
Martin Schram: Worst-case scenarios — unasked, unresolved
Outside, millions of desperate people have been standing for hours in lines stretching around the corners of America’s city streets and suburban strip malls. Inside, others have been searching the internet — and getting kicked off by overloaded websites and ticked-off by under-informing ones. They were just trying to do...
Letter to the editor: Actions of Biden, Democrats worrisome
The longer President Biden and Democratic leaders go without being arrested for ignoring immigration laws and their oaths of office, the more worried I get. We are getting unvetted illegals from all over the world daily. Even the mainstream media is in a low tone admitting that we have the...
Letter to the editor: ‘Time to Talk’ about Alzheimer’s
The Alzheimer’s Association has announced a new campaign called “Time to Talk,” which focuses on the benefits of early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, but only about half of those with the disease have a diagnosis. While...
