Editorials category, Page 89

“America would be more secure and stronger economically if we recognized that we have largely achieved our objectives in Afghanistan and moved aggressively to bring our troops and tax dollars home,” Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) write in an op-ed article. “Today, despite vast investment in training...

Daylight saving time is upon us again. So are complaints about the hour that gets lost when clocks jump ahead an hour. The grumbling is as sure a sign of spring as the first robin and more reliable than that rodent in Punxsutawney. We wonder why we do it. What...

Getting older isn’t cheap. The cost of taking care of the elderly just keeps rising, but not at the same speed the state is willing to pay for it. This week, the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which represents about 500 Pennsylvania nursing home operators, expressed concerns about the increase in...

Can we ever really be too ethical? Especially when it comes to running for office? Can we be too transparent about where the money for our campaigns comes from? Can we be too honest about where it is going? Campaign finance regulations tell us all of that. They provide a...

Laurel: To rebirth of local communities. Slowly — and cautiously — but surely, some downtowns’ formerly empty storefronts are filling again. Open a brewery, or an on-trend eatery, or turn a multi-level building — perhaps a department store in an earlier life — into loft apartments, and “they” will come....

Negotiating trade is not a crossword puzzle with a solution you can find in the back of the book. It is the building of a house of cards. The rules are simple. Balance. Lean. Nudge. Repeat. But little things can tilt the table — weather, growth in one area, development...

We need to stop demanding that people apologize. Every day, people in the public eye say things that are mean or stupid or wrong. They are sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, ableist, partisan, homophobic, classist and varieties of discriminatory for which we have no “ist” words. They may be vague microaggressions that...

Pennsylvania has yet to decide on the future of marijuana. Yes, it’s legal for medicinal purposes. Yes, the possibility of recreational use is being explored. There are very real reasons why that should be on the table. Why should alcohol be OK for frivolous consumption but marijuana isn’t? Valid question....

Infrastructure. It’s not just for roads and bridges anymore. For years, when people talked about access and connection, it was about roads. We wanted our small towns to be able to reach our bigger towns, and our suburbs to be able to glide gracefully into our cities. We wanted to...

Homosexuality will not go away by voting it off the island. This week, the United Methodist Church took a vote on whether or not it would permit a church in Pittsburgh or Poughkeepsie, Portland, Ore., or Paris to celebrate a same-sex wedding or hire a minister who is openly gay....

A civil suit is not the same thing as a criminal case, and the two should never be confused or conflated. O.J. Simpson, for example, is not a convicted murderer because, regardless of the decision in a civil case that he was responsible for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole...

Laurel: To public school districts such as Leechburg, Hempfield, Jeannette, Seneca Valley, Norwin and a growing list of others across the state that are reaching out to families in search of cyberschool options with district-based cyber programs that save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those programs also offer high-achieving...

“He is all about winning.” Michael Cohen made that statement to the House Oversight Committee Wednesday. It was an indictment of the actions of the president. It doesn’t really matter if you believe Cohen or not. It doesn’t matter if you support President Trump or not. Because Cohen’s statement doesn’t...

A reader wasn’t happy with the opinion of two people who deal with Westmoreland County’s drug epidemic every day. Detective Tony Marcocci handles the criminal side of the crisis. Tim Phillips, director of the county’s Drug Overdose Task Force, works with the social and treatment aspect. In a Tribune-Review editorial...

It always comes down to us versus them, and it’s getting exhausting. The New England Patriots are the team that everyone south of Connecticut and west of Vermont loves to hate. Come from another NFL powerhouse location — like, say, Pittsburgh — and the animosity doubles. It’s easy to say...

Okay, here’s the deal. You probably shouldn’t work on a political campaign while you are at your job — unless, of course, working on a political campaign actually is your job. Regardless of whether you are an accountant or a short order cook or an airplane mechanic or a kindergarten...

When you have a lot of rivers, you’re going to have a lot of bridges. When you are a city that was built on coal and steel, you’re going to have a lot of trains. And sometimes that’s double the trouble. Norfolk Southern wants to rebuild a bridge on a...

The designs for a new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal are beautiful. They are filled with light pouring in through huge windows. There are ceilings high enough to park an airliner in the concourse. There is enough greenery to give you the feeling you are visiting Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens....

Laurel: To Irwin Council for giving borough residents who are active volunteers for the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department a break on their real estate and earned income taxes, if they meet certain criteria for the number of emergency calls they respond to and amount of training they undergo. Unfortunately, North...

The people have the right to know. The people have the right to care. The people have the right to question. And in most cases, the government doesn’t have the right to say, no. Highlands School District does not have the right to shadowy decision-making. In January, the school board...

Human beings have made a lot of progress over the years. We turned the wheel into the cart and then the car and then stuck it on rovers that went to Mars. (Rest in peace, Opportunity.) We set wood on fire, and then rocks, and then oil, and then we...

There are increasingly more women behind bars in Pennsylvania. A Tribune-Review project looked at women in the Westmoreland County Prison, where the female population inhabits two units with 115 beds. When we think about prison, we don’t tend to think about women, despite the ratings for “Orange Is the New...

A community that is close-knit is generally one that survives if not thrives. That’s not just everyone knowing each other’s names. It doesn’t have to have a “Cheers” corner bar or a Mayberry sheriff. It doesn’t have to be a sitcom with pies cooling on the windowsill and kids engaged...

Cancer is scary. It is a dark monster that steals joy and causes pain. It takes away people we love. It is no reason to dance. Except at Penn State. Except during THON. The largest student-run philanthropy in the world, the annual dance marathon to raise money to battle pediatric...

On Friday, President Trump declared a national emergency to go about spending $8 billion on barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border. This brings to an end the stare-down between the White House and Congress over budgeting. It likely begins a new battle over who has the power to do what. The...