Editorial: Why is Secret Service dropping the ball on protecting president?
President Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail has one job: protect the president. Yet even after a 2024 assassination attempt in which then-candidate Trump was shot in the ear while campaigning in Butler, there are appalling lapses in security. In September, the president went to dinner with Secretary of State Marco...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 5
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 5....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 5
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 5....
Craig Haney: Prison methods are as bad as you’ve heard, and spilling onto the streets
I was one of the researchers in the well-known Stanford prison experiment in 1971, demonstrating the destructive dynamics that are generated when one group of people — randomly assigned as “guards” — is given near-total power over a group of “prisoners.” In six short days, inside a simulated prison environment,...
Roman Martinez: The Postal Service can’t deliver without financial reforms
The United States Postal Service has reached a pivotal moment. Challenged by technological disruptions and constrained by outdated regulations, it is in the midst of a major restructuring plan to modernize operations, achieve service excellence and survive financially. But to enable its transformation, the Postal Service urgently needs legislative and...
Editorial: AI is changing the job hunt
Artificial intelligence is everywhere. The technology is being used to refine medicine, science, business and industry. At the same time, concerns about how fast AI is evolving — and what that means for jobs, the environment and daily life — are growing. In Springdale and other communities, those concerns are...
Editorial: Penn State trustees still aren’t talking enough in public
Penn State’s Board of Trustees deserves credit for spending more time in public discussion this year than it has in the recent past. After years in which outcomes often were treated as foregone conclusions, more conversation is a welcome change. But more is not the same as enough. The measure...
Kevin Frazier: Beware of panic policies
“As far as human nature is concerned, with panic comes irrationality.” This simple statement by Steve Calandrillo, law professor at the University of Washington, and Nolan Anderson, a research specialist at the Eastern Illinois University, has profound implications for public policy. When panic is highest, and demand for reactive policy...
Daniel DePetris: The foreign policy moves Donald Trump got right in 2025
For President Donald Trump’s supporters, 2025 has been a year of transformation. For his opponents, it’s been nothing short of a long nightmare. The holiday season is a perfect time to look back, reflect and remember the consequential moments of the past year. As human beings, we generally fixate on...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Resolutions 2026
We often make New Year’s resolutions to help us reach our personal goals for the coming year, but our nation’s founders set their sights on a bigger proposition at the beginning of January in 1776. The Continental Congress passed the Tory Act on Jan. 2. The act was composed of...
Counterpoint: Meet the AI agents of 2026 — ambitious, overhyped and still in training
If 2025 was the year artificial intelligence became unavoidable, 2026 will be the year everyone starts talking seriously about AI agents. An AI agent is a software system designed to plan and execute tasks autonomously, make decisions and interact with digital tools or environments with minimal human oversight in pursuit...
Point: Get ready, 2026 is going to be great
Americans should treasure their time with family and friends during the too-busy and too-short holiday season and be excited for what’s in store for next year. Although my predictions for 2026 come with an asterisk because it is impossible to forecast the future accurately, and black swan events can throw...
Jonah Goldberg: Republicans face some big questions entering 2026
“Are the Republicans going the way of the Whigs?” During President Trump’s first term, this question was asked a lot. The answer then: No. But one year into his second term it’s worth revisiting the question, not so much because the answer is different this time, but because the question...
Lori Falce: The convoluted costs of college don’t add up
There is no shortage of conversation about the high cost of college, and for good reason. State universities today cost more than Harvard did in 1990. Harvard, meanwhile, now runs close to $60,000 a year before room and board — and still did not make Business Insider’s 2025 list of...
Laurels & lances: Safety & honor
Laurel: To being prepared. Two Philadelphia lawmakers introduced legislation in October to require school districts to stock naloxone — a medication that reverses an opioid overdose and can save lives. A TribLive story revealed that many Southwestern Pennsylvania districts didn’t need a law passed. They already have naloxone on hand...
Letter to the editor: Suggested reading for Hegseth
Open letter to Pete Haggis, I mean Pete Hegseth: Hey, Pete. I know you like shooting boats in the water and also the survivors in the water. I suggest you read about Franz Stigler. He is best known for his role in a December 1943 incident in which he spared...
Letter to the editor: Why does Shapiro need a raise?
One thing that I cannot understand is why Gov. Josh Shapiro gets a 3.3% raise, $8,000, when he was already making almost $250,000 (“Shapiro poised to become nation’s highest-paid governor,” Dec. 26, TribLive). But the people that are on Social Security that make maybe $18,000 to $20,000 get a 2.8%...
Letter to the editor: Too many politicians
It is my opinion that we have far too many politicians. They don’t play well together and are continually fighting or suing each other rather than doing their jobs. President Trump is spending unnecessary millions foolishly. Italian marble bathroom, extravagant addition for his gala parties and golf trips to Florida...
Letter to the editor: Since when do we root for the powerful?
Look what they’ve done to us. Look at how they’ve turned us on each other. Where Americans once would have stood together and done anything for their country, they are now willing to go to war against other Americans for an idea we’ve been sold — the idea that we...
Letter to the editor: Ditch Tomlin and his defenders
Looks like George Pickens is having a Pro Bowl season in Dallas. What kind of genius brings in a Hall of Fame quarterback and at the same time trades away the most talented receiver on the team? We all understand Pickens was a problem child and disruptive influence. But there...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh residents who vote Democrat get what they want
I do not understand why reporter Julia Burdelski is so concerned about increased levels of taxation faced by Pittsburgh property owners (“Tax trifecta: Pittsburgh property owners take it on the chin,” Dec. 22, TribLive). The vast majority of Pittsburgh property owners either vote Democrat or do not vote. As a...
Letter to the editor: Lest we forget — Apollo Patrolman Leonard C. Miller
“Kill for Thrill: The Crime Spree That Rocked Western Pennsylvania” by Michael W. Sheetz details the fatal crimes involving four victims in late 1979, early 1980. The families and friends of the victims will always remember those who lost their lives under heartbreaking circumstances. Apollo Patrolman Leonard C. Miller, the...
Letter to the editor: Tomlin lacks fire, passion — it’s time for him to go
I’ve been a lifetime Steelers fan since 1974. Back then, we had three channels and rabbit ears on the 12-inch screen. My grandfather and father introduced me to football and the Steelers. They loved Joe, L.C., Franco and Mr. Noll. Not only because they won, but because of the way...
Letter to the editor: Ukraine’s execution
In my letter “Ukrainians political pawns” (April 24, 2024, TribLive) I stated that we should either save Ukraine or abandon them to their fate. We appear to finally be making that choice. President Barack Obama watched as Russia seized Crimea in 2014, 11 years ago. His administration signed Ukraine’s execution...
Letter to the editor: Family key to joy and goodness
This past Sunday was the Feast of the Holy Family. The following is from the Magis Center’s daily reflection: “Jesus, Emmanuel, ‘God with us,’ chose to be born as a member of the human family. More than this, however, He chose to have a mother and a father, and He...
