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Editorials category, Page 82

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Editorial: Threats aren’t pranks
It’s not funny. You can call it a prank or a practical joke. You can say it was all in good fun or that no harm was meant. You can say whatever you want but it doesn’t make it true. The fact is that there is nothing amusing about telling...
Editorial: Is ATV information best safety device?
It’s not against the law for a child to drive an all-terrain vehicle. It’s not against the law for a child to ride on one either. But is it always a good idea? On Thursday, Annabel Whittingham, 5, of Fox Chapel was on an ATV in her yard with her...
Editorial: What will quiet the crime?
Downtown Pittsburgh crime is making a lot of noise right now. It’s not just the loudest alarm bell — a series of knife-related incidents that included a woman being killed right in front of a police officer. There are the more persistent buzzings of everyday problems. There is the panhandling....
Editorial: Science before law in measuring marijuana
Sometimes you need a good scientist to figure out the law. The law can tell you not to speed. It takes science to figure out how fast you are going. The law can tell you not to drink and drive. It takes science to figure out how many beers you...
Editorial: Hand gestures aren’t hand guns
You have a right to bear arms. But maybe not hands. On Tuesday, a state appellate court decided not to overturn the disorderly conduct conviction of Stephen Kirchner, 64, of Lancaster County. Kirchner walked past a neighbor’s home. The man made an obscene gesture at him. He returned the favor...
Editorial: What is a worker?
You can’t replace a worker. A worker isn’t an employee. The words might be listed as synonyms in the thesaurus, but there are big differences. An employee collects a paycheck. Hasn’t everyone known an employee? That person whose main skill involves keeping a chair from floating away? Someone who gives...
Laurels & lances: Scholarship, soil, support and snow
Laurel: To sharing a life and a loss. The family of Terry Ranieri lost him to cancer last week, and that was a hard blow for them. We previously applauded the band for supporting Ranieri in his final days. Now we acknowledge the Ranieri family’s reciprocation. Knowing that Ranieri, a...
Editorial: Grandparents need help raising kids
They say it takes a village to raise a child. More and more, it takes a grandma. “We grandparents who are raising grandchildren, we are the protection for that next generation,” said Charlotte Stephenson in a panel discussion Tuesday with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton. And it’s true. In Pennsylvania...
Editorial: Opioid verdicts have to hurt
What is the cost of a crisis? The opioid epidemic has been a greedy monster, demanding more and more resources from all levels of government as well as hospitals and insurance companies over the last 20 years. It has eaten lives and devoured communities. In 2013 alone, the Centers for...
Editorial: Just put out the fires
Nothing makes priorities more obvious than a fire. You don’t call the insurance company and file a claim before you call 911. You do the most important thing until it’s taken care of and then move to the next one. That is why everyone needs to take the Amazon rainforest...
Editorial: Women deserve to run safely
Women run for a lot of reasons. They want to stay healthy. They want to get fit. It clears the mind. It strengthens the body. It can deliver a rush of endorphins. What it’s not supposed to do is make a woman a target. Unfortunately, that happens all too often....
Editorial: Vaccination info should be epidemic
Disease is not political. It doesn’t have an ideology. It doesn’t practice religion. It doesn’t espouse an opinion. Disease just wants to grow and spread. And it’s usually pretty good at it. So political arguments about vaccinations don’t faze diseases. The mumps couldn’t care less if you don’t believe your...
Editorial: The ultimate checks and balances
We have to hold our government accountable. But we have to do the same to ourselves. On Wednesday, Allegheny County Council held a hearing about an ordinance that would create an independent police review board. Independent observation and supervision of government is a good thing. It is the kind of...
Laurels & lances: Hard work, fast train, sweet music
Laurel: To the value of a hard worker. Some people have plans to retire after 20 or 30 years on the job. Not Nora Morant. At 88, the Oakland woman has spent 70 years on the housekeeping staff at Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Squirrel Hill. She is...
Editorial: Do the math on jobs numbers
When you can’t quite believe what you hear, you might want to go back to the numbers. There’s nowhere that’s more true than when you look at a government report. Some of them are straightforward. This budget accounts for so much money in and so much money out. That’s hard...
Editorial: Just take a minute and connect
We all have someplace to be. We all have things to do and people to meet and tasks to complete and hurdles that frustrate us. But we also have time to stop and listen. We just have to decide to do it. Dylan Tetil did. On Saturday, Tetil was seating...
Editorial: Arsonist burns firefighter reputations
It doesn’t take much for a reputation to go up in smoke. It happens all the time. A respected person — a community leader or a valued professional — couldn’t possibly be responsible for a crime. Until it happens. Generally, it’s the kind of thing that hits only that person’s...
Editorial: Cheaper solutions work better sometimes
Sometimes you’ve got to decide between what’s better for the job and what you can afford. Maybe you could really use a brand-new custom-built house with four bathrooms and a kitchen that is all granite and stainless steel. But what you can afford is a fixer-upper where your kids will...
Editorial: Kudlow needs to see recession danger
Recession isn’t a blood-soaked word like murder or rape or stabbing. There will probably never be a slasher movie that starts with a dropping stock price or a devalued dollar. But that doesn’t mean recession isn’t a terrifying idea if you understand what it means. (And maybe more if you...
Editorial: Don’t lose your Pittsburghese
We aren’t one nation of people that look alike and think alike. So why should we all sound alike? A class at the Community College of Allegheny County offers yinzers the opportunity to “lose your Pittsburgh accent.” “Come to this class and learn how to subdue your Pittsburghese,” the course...
Laurels & lances: Cookie-eating, knife-wielding, fair-going
Laurel: To a whole lot of baking going on. Last week’s overwhelming response by cookie bakers during the Monongahela Area Historical Society’s 250th anniversary celebration brought the city a sweet honor when Guinness World Records adjudicator Christina Conlon announced that the number of cookies on display had established a new...
Editorial: Education needs a better charter
What is a charter? It’s the authorization by which something comes into being. William Penn was given a charter for the land that became Pennsylvania. It was the Charter of Liberties that he later granted the state’s first ruling body in 1701 that took Penn’s Woods from being his holding...
Editorial: What happens now with church abuse
It’s been a year. One year since the scope of the Catholic church sex scandal was dragged into the light of day. One year since Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released the grand jury report that detailed 70 years of children being abused — first when their bodies were touched...
Editorial: Jailhouse suicides aren’t theories
Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide has prompted a rash of conspiracy theories about how a wealthy man in an infamous criminal case could have been left to kill himself. There are the theories that the government had him killed. Or maybe it was the Clintons. Or maybe it was the even...
Editorial: Crime is nothing new
It’s enough to make you afraid to go … well, anywhere. Even though, statistically, we know that the places we go every day are no more dangerous than they have ever been. Violent crime rates have dropped 49% since 1993, according to the FBI. But the Pew Research Center says...


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