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Editorials category, Page 21

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
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...
Editorial: America’s high schoolers are running out of time
America’s high schools face a growing crisis: Millions of students who entered ninth grade in the fall of 2020, at the height of the covid-19 pandemic, are set to graduate this spring, with little hope of recovering from the learning loss incurred while schools were shut. Simply put, they’re running...
Editorial: Street crime team could be solution if Pittsburgh does it better than others
Violent crime in Pittsburgh has been a talking point in recent years. There have been businesses that have closed because of it. Far too many lives have been lost to it, from children sitting in cars to women waiting for buses. Gun crimes have even happened at the most unexpected...
Editorial: There’s a cost — eventually — to not raising taxes
Taxes are a fact of life. Nobody likes them. Everyone pays them — whether on purchases or income or property. We grumble and grouse, but in the end we know that they are the literal price we pay for being a part of our society. But does it have to...
Laurels & lances: Time, money, gas and guns
Laurel: To a little piece of history. Opening a time capsule is like cracking the seal on the past. It isn’t like reading about what happened decades ago. It’s more like getting a call from an earlier version of yourself or taking a ride in a flying DeLorean. It’s a...
Editorial: Community colleges latest pawns in Harrisburg educational chess game
Pennsylvania has had trouble getting the job done with education this year. Funding for the various levels of schooling needs to be approved by the Legislature. The governor signs off on it. From there, funding flows into cities and boroughs and townships, doing the job of teaching the next generation...
Editorial: No right to use unconscious patients as learning props
Going to the hospital involves about as much paperwork as buying a house with a mortgage. You sign for permission to treat. You check a box to acknowledge federal laws regarding data privacy. Another paper details history. One — or more — will document insurance and financial responsibility. Who is...
Editorial: Lawmakers should pull trigger on hunting bills
If you see someone in orange this week, it’s not likely a Bengals or Browns fan, not during hunting season in Pennsylvania. For decades, the Keystone State traditionally celebrated the first day of deer season as not so much holiday as holy day on the Monday after Thanksgiving. That changed...
Editorial: Mail-in ballot dating issue rises from the dead
Here we go again. In 2020, the question of dates became a major part of the ballot counting process. When mail-in ballots were sent in by Pennsylvania voters, they had to be placed in a security envelope. That envelope was then put inside another envelope for mailing. It was part...
Editorial: Pennsylvania legislators could choose to change pay raises
Once again, Pennsylvania legislators, judges and elected executives, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, will start the new year with a nice increase in salary. The paychecks in question will go up 3.5% in 2024. That’s downright economical when compared with this year’s 7.8% spike or the 5.6% in 2022. After about...
Editorial: What is the cost of special elections?
Pennsylvania seems set to end 2023 the same way it began: with a special election on the horizon. After the 2022 election, the Democrats appeared to have the majority in the House of Representatives. That was only theoretical, as three key seats in Allegheny County needed to go back to...
LZ Granderson: Costs of climate change falling on states that can’t afford them
Between 2018 and 2022, many of the states with high rates of poverty — Oklahoma, New York — were also the states that suffered the most damage from extreme weather. A new climate study indicates things are going to get worse for those places and for poor people. The federal...
Laurels & lances: Fired, charged and honored
Laurel: To a not-so-fond farewell. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ performance on the football field this season has not exactly lived up to the organization’s storied history. It’s an unfortunate reality that has prompted fans to call for heads. They blame quarterback Kenny Picket. They blame head coach Mike Tomlin. But, more...
Editorial: Thanksgiving is gratitude and empathy
What are you thankful for? Is it the people who will gather around your table? Is it the ability to provide the food that will fill the plates? Perhaps it is your job or your home. Maybe it is something that makes life a little more enjoyable — a new...


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