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Editorials category, Page 60

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Laurels & lances: Landing, leaving, learning
Laurel: To the final frontier. When NASA goes back to the moon, Southwestern Pennsylvania might have a “one giant step” moment. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic has shipped a prototype of its Griffin Mission One landing craft to Johnson Space Center in Houston to test before a planned 2023 lunar expedition. “It’s super...
Editorial: Are the swimming holes drying up?
It seems like forever that kids have equated the freedom and fun of summer with cannonballing off the side of a cement wall into the clear blue depths of chlorinated water. Pennsylvania was one of the first states with municipal swimming pools. There were nine in Philadelphia alone more than...
Editorial: On ballot questions, clear language should be the only option
When you cast a vote, it’s important to know exactly what’s going on. You need to know what the race is. You also need to know exactly who the people are. No one needs a situation like the confusing butterfly ballots in Florida in 2000 that some say had third-party...
Editorial: Westmoreland’s treasure trove of historical documents deserve a safe home
The parchment is browning in places, with the careful calligraphy stroked thinly in some spots and boldly in others. Corners and flecks of the paper are missing, chipped away like flaking paint. The page is more than just an old letter. It is a thread in the tapestry of Pennsylvania’s...
Editorial: A Pitt/CMU center to study extremist hate is smart step to stopping it
Much as we might like the message of a million romantic movies and very special television episodes, love does not always conquer all. It should. But it doesn’t. Sometimes hate wins. We know this. Deadly attacks have dotted the country for years. While the violence and the loss of life...
Editorial: State lawmakers need daily expenses accountability
What does it take to get you through the day? The price of your breakfast. A mid- morning cup of coffee. Lunch, a snack, dinner. A room for the night. How much would that total? For some state legislators, it’s quite the figure. A Spotlight PA dive into the government...
Laurels & lances: Bye, believe, bike
Laurel: To a final farewell. For so many in the last year, the greatest theft of the coronavirus pandemic has been the ability to say goodbye. Maybe there was a hug in the emergency room or a last kiss when the ambulance came, but to limit the spread of covid-19...
Editorial: A plan to fund PennDOT projects that has no sticking power
Chances are that if you go out and look at your license plate right now, there is a little remnant of history hanging onto the corner. For decades, Pennsylvania registered vehicles by issuing a tiny rectangle with the date to affix on the license plate. You would get the stamp-sized...
Editorial: A smart, phased-in return to more restaurant and bar service
Cautious optimism. That may be the best path to tread going forward in the coronavirus pandemic. Cautious optimism puts the idea of being careful first, but anchors it to a positive outlook. It focuses on the goal without being reckless. That is what Gov. Tom Wolf promoted Monday when he...
Editorial: If the gas tax dies, don’t fret — another tax will be born
Taxes are one of those things that seem as permanent as a scar, indelible as a tattoo. It is one of the reasons we bristle when one is proposed. We have come to realize that a tax is rarely temporary. It may be imposed to pay for one very admirable...
Editorial: At a distance, community groups and churches are still connecting
While everyone is eager to put the coronavirus pandemic in the rearview mirror, there are pieces of the last year that could carry through to what comes next. We may be more open to masks during flu season in the future. We may better appreciate the value of a sick...
Editorial: The trouble with mandating paid sick leave
It is hard to ask more of small business. In the last year, businesses of all kinds have been stretched to the breaking point. And then they stretched further. And then many of them broke. The neighborhood bar. Swanky restaurants where you save up for a nice night out. Theaters...
Editorial: The day the schools closed down
It was supposed to be just 10 days. That was where it all started March 13, 2020. School superintendents across Pennsylvania had met in a teleconference with then-state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera that morning about how to move forward as the coronavirus pandemic was going from something happening in...
Laurels & lances: Dancing, learning, connecting
Laurel: To ending the week on a high note. Everyone is excited when the school week comes to an end. But at Kiski Area Upper Elementary, one kid is spreading his enthusiasm to others. Cash “Big Sauce” Malobicky is a sixth grader who loves to dance. He might have been...
Editorial: Keep a tight spending rein on Pennsylvania’s stimulus share
It’s important to learn to live within your means — especially when a windfall seems to change the arithmetic. You might be approved for a $300,000 mortgage, but you don’t have the spend the whole line. You could spend that $2,000 tax return on the down payment for a new...
Editorial: The Diocese of Greensburg, 70 years young
On March 10, 1951, Pope Pius XII created the Diocese of Greensburg. If a parish is the spiritual house of a Catholic, a diocese is a kind of religious municipality. It is the governmental unit of the Catholic Church — larger than a city, smaller than a state. Greensburg is...
Editorial: When local live music restarts, be there to applaud
Music that reflects the life and love and pain of its people has been a part of Southwestern Pennsylvania from its earliest days. It is the fifes and drums of early settlements and the old standards of Stephen Foster. It is the doo-wop of the Del Vikings, the urbane jazz...
Editorial: Women military veterans have earned special recognition
March is Women’s History Month, which often means things that call attention to women and their contributions might be put in the spotlight for four short weeks — and then forgotten. A new Pennsylvania effort will keep women in the high beams for the whole year. The Pennsylvania Department of...
Editorial: Keep on rolling up sleeves for the vaccines to beat down covid
The coronavirus pandemic has been a yearlong war. There have been front lines and battle plans, equipment deployed and troops activated. There have been far too many casualties. It has been approached as a national security issue because that is exactly what it is — a catastrophic event that threatens...
Editorial: Total testing for covid at Allegheny County Jail is worthy goal
Jails check for a lot of things when processing someone who has been arrested. Suspects are checked for weapons or other potentially dangerous items. They are checked for contraband such as drugs. They are photographed, fingerprinted, patted down and looked over. During the course of a stay in jail, there...
Laurels & lances: Ladies, lawsuit, prevention, pay
Laurel: To grand dames. March is Women’s History Month, and it has started with recognition of some amazing centenarians. Julia Parsons of Forest Hills was honored on her 100th birthday Tuesday with a parade that included a Color Guard and fellow servicemembers. During World War II, Parsons was Navy codebreaker...
Editorial: At Springdale basketball, the agony of default by covid
Sports can be a passionate proposition for some people. Communities can tie their identity to their local mascot. A school district can live or die with its football team’s record as much — sometimes more — than their standardized test scores or graduation rate. If you have been to a...
Editorial: A good step for Penguins fans, but caution is on deck
The Pittsburgh Penguins took their shot two weeks ago when they asked the state for a little more freedom. PPG Paints Arena was only allowed to have 500 people at games — including the players, the coaches, the guy who drives the Zamboni, the workers who run the lights, the...
Editorial: Confronting the reality of Westmoreland population decline
Accounting is a simple, color-coded kind of arithmetic. When the numbers go up, they are in black ink. When the numbers go down, they are in red. It doesn’t take much effort to figure out the bottom line when the visuals are that easy to see. Westmoreland County has been...
Editorial: In Harrisburg, a bipartisan bill on marijuana shows a constructive path
Two Pennsylvania senators — Dan Laughlin, a Republcian from Erie, and Sharif Street, a Philadelphia Democrat — are not typically on the same side of any issue. Laughlin is a committed member of the GOP delegation. He voted against reseating Jim Brewster while the 45th District still was being contested...


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
More Editor's Picks >