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Editorials category, Page 40

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Laurels & lances: Fuel, funds, a dog and guns
Laurel: To trying new things. The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is pondering a proposal from Kilocharge, a Rostraver-based company, that would designate up to 16 parking spots at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to a specific purpose. The idea is to have eight charging stations at the airport, allowing people...
Editorial: Too much Super PAC money in Pa.’s U.S. Senate race
Money makes elections go around. That’s nothing new. Political fundraisers are the only things more common in a campaign than stump speeches and kissing babies. Like it or not, they make the rest of a campaign possible. They provide the capital to pay for ads on television and online, the...
Editorial: Nursing home fraud crimes aren’t just about money
When looking for a nursing home, there are a number of things to consider. You can look to online reviews. You can consider recommendations from hospitals or doctors. You can visit websites that specifically help you find the right facility to treat medical, mental or emotional needs. But the one...
Editorial: The importance of history as taught by David McCullough
It is often said that those who do not study history will be doomed to repeat it. Whatever afterlife David McCullough finds himself in, it will not involve repeating history. The Pittsburgh native and world-renowned author died Sunday. He was 89. But what does the death of a historian matter...
Editorial: Response to Penn Township boy’s need shows hope for us all
Sometimes it can seem as though the worst is happening all around us all the time. Inflation, high gas prices, rising turnpike tolls are bad enough. Then there are the really ugly political divisions, especially in a midterm election year. War in Ukraine. Gun deaths. Violent crime. Whether you are...
Editorial: Penn State should realize keeping secrets doesn’t work
Come on, Penn State. Didn’t you learn anything? The backlash felt by the university in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal was not because an employee committed a crime. That can happen to any employer — public, private, parochial — and it has. A business or...
Editorial: Fix the uncertainty of Pa. mail-in ballot dating
Pennsylvania has an election problem that needs to be resolved. Elections can be complicated. Same with politics. But this is a ridiculously easy issue that doesn’t need to be the stumbling block it has become. It’s all about dates. Since Act 77 of 2019 was passed, broadening the access to...
Laurels & lances: Caretakers, campuses and cake
Laurel: To a respectful service. Western Pennsylvania has been home to settlements since long before America was a country. That translates to a large number of cemeteries, big and small, that are the final resting places of those long passed. Soldiers from the French and Indian War, the American Revolution...
Editorial: Stop raising turnpike tolls
Two things in Pennsylvania are as dependable as the sunrise. The Pittsburgh Pirates will disappoint everyone but their opponents, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will raise toll rates. Even the state Legislature and governor — whoever that might be — tease us a bit with their annual budget battle. They...
Editorial: Can we move on from Act 77 challenges now?
Pennsylvania’s expanded mail-in voting has been upheld by the state Supreme Court. The ballots that were broadly used beginning in 2020’s presidential campaigns have been on a roller coaster ride of protest, overturn and appeal. Fourteen Republican state lawmakers filed a lawsuit in September 2021 arguing that the no-excuse mail...
Editorial: Good government needs to engage public
The relationship between government and the governed should be collaborative and cooperative. After all, we don’t live in a monarchy. Our leaders aren’t — or shouldn’t be — aristocrats born to the privilege of rule. No, the more local our government, the more familiar the origin story. Borough council members...
Editorial: Universities need to commit to stopping tuition increases
Pennsylvania’s state-related universities need to address what their response is to their gift from the governor. The state has four universities that fall into this category of public but not really public, private but not really private. They also are some of the largest in Pennsylvania. Penn State — the...
Editorial: Wolf and Legislature resort to cartoon cat fighting
Will Pennsylvania ever again have a functional relationship between the Legislature and the governor? It seems unlikely. Indeed, it’s hard to remember a time when the two branches could do their jobs without being at each other’s throats in a round-robin of attacks as predictable as a Tom and Jerry...
Editorial: U.S. should work to bring Oakmont’s Fogel home from Russia, too
When WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia in February for possession of marijuana vape cartridges, everyone sat up and paid attention. Maybe it was that she was famous. Maybe it was how the 6-foot-9 Griner towers over the guards she is shown alongside. It most likely was how...
Laurels & lances: Grants and punishment
Laurel: To healthy commitment. The Highmark Foundation is putting its money where its mission is by pouring funding into schools to support health and fitness programs. Across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, 81 schools are sharing in a $454,400 pool from the foundation’s School Grants and Awards program. In the Tribune-Review’s...
Editorial: Steelers camp or Trump rally? Westmoreland security decisions are inconsistent
Consistency might be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it is important when it comes to government. We need our laws to be consistent so people obey them. If speeding isn’t illegal for everyone, why would anyone obey the speed limit? Embezzlement, shoplifting, fraud — prosecution shouldn’t be a matter...
Editorial: Steelers training camp gets back to basics
The relationship between a sports franchise and its fans can be a cynical thing. It can seem purely commercial if not downright transactional. The teams play in massive venues often paid for with public funds. The players pick up staggering paychecks that are nothing in comparison to the ownership’s take....
Editorial: Why so quiet on state-related money, Gov. Wolf?
There usually is nothing politicians love better than their moments of benevolent generosity. Legislators who opposed a program they deemed a pork project will nonetheless stand beaming with a large sweepstakes-winner-style check for a photo opportunity. The negotiations about who will announce a grant, loan or other funding when the...
Editorial: Westmoreland County could benefit everyone if it functioned cohesively
The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office is getting more help. District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli is adding a public information officer. That salary will set back the county $50,000. She also is getting a fiscal coordinator and grant writer. That position will help seek funding for projects and steer the office’s...
Editorial: Quecreek brought us together; it would serve us well to remember that
Pennsylvanians are not the kind of people who do anything in lockstep. We can be tribal. We can be territorial. We are willing to go to war over things such as hockey and football, which university is superior to all others and the best convenience store in the state. We...
Editorial: Vaccines work and vaccine waste is a tragedy
In December 2020, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when the day that had been awaited for nine months finally arrived. The first covid-19 vaccines were delivered to hospitals across the country. The first vaccines were delivered into the arms of some of the most at risk: front-line...
Laurels & lances: Social work, medical bills
Laurel: To a smart thought. The problems of police departments have been an ongoing topic of conversation in the state and across the country — especially in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. While much of the problem-solving has been lost in the fight...
Editorial: Veto not a defeat for Fitzgerald but a victory for people and process
A veto is an important part of the system that limits the power of one office by offering power to another. The system of checks and balances modeled at the federal level and copied by the states and even some local governments is how we keep our leaders from becoming...
Editorial: Accreditation could be key to fixing police database
There is no situation that cannot be improved with accountability. In recent years, how many trusted or beloved institutions have been rocked by the knowledge that such trust and love was betrayed? Children have been abused by coaches, teachers, even their own parents. Grand juries have uncovered not only sexual...
Editorial: Westmoreland County handles elections office like an afterthought
Westmoreland County commissioners have come to a decision about who will run the elections bureau, and it seems to be a decision they could have made official a long time ago. Greg McCloskey will continue to serve double duty as he has done since taking on the responsibility of the...


Editor's Picks

Front Porch Theatricals’ musical ‘Baby’ is a labor of love

Washington townhouse on the market for $1,225,000
Folk legend Bruce Cockburn gives uplifting performance at City Winery
‘Champagne & Chapeaux’: Westmoreland Symphony’s annual soiree for a good cause
Jimmy Stewart’s P-51 Mustang stops in hometown for museum anniversary
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