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Editorials category, Page 67

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Editorial: Stopping animal abuse could head off domestic violence
Abuse is abuse. Violence is violence. And it should be treated that way. It needs to be taken seriously when it is noticed in small ways because abuse escalates, and it often starts with the victims that can’t report it. Animal abuse is frequently seen to be a predictor of...
Laurels & lances: Involved, closed, rejected
Laurel: To youth involvement. Young people are often painted as being unconcerned with what is going on in the world around them beyond their smartphones, Starbucks and avocado toast. That’s why we should encourage and support when our kids are participating in something bigger than themselves. Abby Rickin-Marks, a Fox...
Editorial: House blew chance to overturn Wolf veto
This time, no one gets to say Gov. Tom Wolf is a dictator. Pointing to the governor as an iron-fisted authoritarian has been common over the six months since schools shuttered and coronavirus lockdowns were instituted. We have seen the Wolf administration’s response as being more of a pinball game...
Editorial: Frozen salaries could be start for Harrisburg cooperation
It often seems like no one in government can get on the same page. The president clashes with Congress. The Senate wars with the House of Representatives. The Republicans battle the Democrats. It all repeats at the state level. Every year, over and over, on issue after issue after issue....
Editorial: Open records aren’t for sale, Sen. Scarnati
There isn’t a price tag on the Bill of Rights. Speech, religion, assembly the right not to incriminate yourself, the right to a speedy trial — none of them is a quid pro quo. You don’t have to put up collateral to get them. Transparency works the same way. The...
Editorial: No ‘total victory’ in ruling on Wolf’s pandemic orders
A legal ruling is seldom a total victory for one side or the other. It shouldn’t be. The court’s responsibility is to listen to both sides and come to a fair and equitable decision. That usually falls somewhere between the two ideas of what is right. The recent decision about...
Editorial: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and necessary dissent
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not a judge. She was a justice. A judge sits on a lower court, hearing criminal and civil cases as they enter into the judicial system. Judges set bail, instruct juries, rule on objections. A justice, on the other hand, sits on higher courts — in...
Editorial: Carnegie diorama should represent evolution of science, history
If you asked the most intelligent scientists in Pittsburgh today what they thought about viruses, would that understanding hold up 150 years later? Take a textbook from a sociology class today and stick it in a time capsule. Open it in 2170, and would those future sociologists be impressed or...
Editorial: Unemployment money shows need for better planning
File for your special unemployment check before the money is all gone! This is the recommendation Pennsylvania’s jobless are getting. The state has just $2.8 billion from the Lost Wages Assistance program to give to those individuals who qualify for the $1,800 lump sum — calculated off $300 a week...
Editorial: Order in the virtual court – it can be done
Courts are the third leg in the stool of our government, responsible not only for judging the guilty and the culpable, but also for serving as a check on the legality of what the executive and legislative branches do. Those decisions can’t just be placed on hold because of an...
Editorial: Duquesne prof’s slur use was wrong choice
To say or not to say. It isn’t a question. It’s a decision. And it’s not something new. It’s something very old. Today’s political climate has a tendency to divide people sharply over everything, but language is a real sticking point. While some are calling out verbal offenses, others are...
Editorial: Westmoreland is overdose prosecution role model
In debate about criminal justice reform, one area frequently targeted for change is drug arrests. Our prisons and jails and other detention facilities hold more than 2 million people. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, one in five is there for a drug offense. Of those, many are for minor...
Editorial: Take steps to stop flu-covid season
Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Cover your mouth. Stay home if you are sick. These are the rules of the new world. The coronavirus world. They are the rules intended to keep covid-19 at bay and slow its march, minimizing a tidal-wave crash on hospitals and potential loss of...
Laurels & lances: Staff, sale, seats and schools
Laurel: To staffing up. Westmoreland County is making sure there will be plenty of people working on Election Day come November. The county is hiring up to 1,800 poll workers for its 307 precincts. While many people are expected to use mail-in ballots for the election to cut down on...
Editorial: As Pittsburgh faces 2021 budget crisis, speak up now
A government budget is not settled quickly. You can see this when Congress wars within its chambers over spending plans that push partisan politics to its limits. You see it in Harrisburg when the governor — not just Gov. Tom Wolf, but years of guys with the top job from...
Editorial: Keep United 93 visits reverent
On Sept. 11, 2001, a field near Shanksville became a shrine — both battlefield and resting place for the passengers and crew of United 93, the fourth plane hijacked by terrorists that day. The official memorial didn’t open until the 10th anniversary of the attacks, but that was just ceremony....
Editorial: Westmoreland County controller serves public by putting audits online
The idea of putting public information in the hands of the public isn’t one of those things that was enshrined from the beginning of the United States — not like freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. The founders knew early on that they wanted people to have the right...
Editorial: Keep protests out of residential areas
Protests are staged where people feel they will do the most good. That seldom means they happen where they are the most convenient. If workers go on strike, they make their situation known outside the building, making a visible symbol of their opposition to the management. When people bring their...
Editorial: Celebrating jobs on Labor Day
Labor Day. You know what it is. It’s a lazy day. A picnic day. The line in the sand beyond which no white shoes used to pass. The first Monday in September is a day off for most. Since 1894, the federal government has set it aside as a day...
Editorial: Consistency counts for crowd sizes permitted under covid restrictions
President Trump’s airport rally in Unity on Thursday drew an enthusiastic crowd. Some people focused on the enthusiasm. Others just saw the crowd. The event, held at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, drew thousands. Pennsylvania’s green-phase coronavirus pandemic restrictions cap outdoor gatherings at 250. The Republican campaign appearance might not have...
Editorial: Pa. must answer for incomplete nursing home data
There is no excuse for not having correct numbers for covid-19 cases in nursing homes. Diane Menio, executive director at the Philadelphia-based advocacy group CARIE, said that to Tribune-Review and Spotlight PA reporter Jamie Martines this week. She is right. When the coronavirus pandemic hit Pennsylvania in March, there was...
Laurels & lances: Changing, giving, building, caring
Laurel: To adaptability. Lots of small businesses are trying to find ways to keep the doors open while the coronavirus pandemic is changing the way people shop, dine and drink. The creativity of some entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh’s East End is an urban take on a more rural model. Farms —...
Editorial: Sign theft stifles free speech
Speech isn’t always about using your voice. Maybe it’s a book. Maybe it’s a quote in a magazine article. It could be a T-shirt or a hat or a tattoo. But as the election approaches, one form of speech will pop up more and more: the yard sign. They may...
Editorial: Evictions need answers, not hints
This is no time for hints. On Tuesday, the moratoriums on evictions in Pennsylvania expired. Gov. Tom Wolf pushed the pause button on the legal process that removes renters from their homes. Nonpayment of rent is the most common reason for eviction and both the state and the federal government...
Editorial: The Super PACs are seeking your undivided presidential attention
OK, Pennsylvania, it’s your turn. If the presidential election were like baseball, the regular season would be over. The wild card games are over. Thanks for playing, Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson. The divisions are done. We know who won the pennants. It’s all over but the World Series. Just...


Editor's Picks

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