Opinion category, Page 289
Cal Thomas: The debt limit — same old song
The very term “debt limit” makes a mockery of any kind of responsible budgeting. Each time the government reaches the “limit” it gets raised with the familiar scenarios that include threats of a government shutdown (an idea that increasingly appeals to some conservatives) and the claim that the “full faith...
Letter to the editor: Vote Karaica for district justice
As a lifelong Springdale resident, high school alumnus, homeowner, taxpayer and former borough council member, Mitchell Karaica has a vested interest in keeping our community safe and thriving. For years, he has committed himself to showing up for our community by giving his time and/or resources, without looking for recognition....
Letter to the editor: Highway trash
I find the editorial “Figure out the source for state police fund money first” (April 13, TribLIVE) ignorant of the highway laws. Title 36, § 425 prohibits the posting of any signage on state road rights of way without express written consent from PennDOT. Written permission is never obtained and...
Editorial: It’s long past time we test our schools for radon
Radon is poison. It occurs naturally in the world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. It’s a gas that can seep up from the soil. It can filter through the water. It can be found in the bricks and boards of a building. You won’t see it. It has...
Letter to the editor: Vote McKinley, Moore in Arnold
The decisions of a municipal official, school board director or local magistrate will certainly impact your life more immediately, and more directly, than those of a president, governor or U.S. senator. Local elected officials make decisions that affect your most valuable assets — your family, your home, your school, your...
Letter to the editor: We need enforcement, not more gun laws
In response to the letter “God didn’t give us guns” (April 23, TribLIVE): We do not need more “commonsense” gun laws; we need commonsense enforcement of existing gun laws. If you do not punish bad behavior, you get worse behavior. Anyone who has raised children should have learned that. The...
Tom Purcell: Forget your grass — and save the bees
It’s an excuse I’ve been dreaming of: a reason to not mow my lawn until June. A “No Mow May” movement is afoot to nurture our bee population for a very good reason: bees are incredibly important to our own survival. According to Bee City USA, an initiative of the...
Brittany Reno: Protect Sharpsburg’s health, climate — cut power plant pollution
Growing up in Appalachia, I know firsthand how America’s energy story is woven through our region. Over time, our communities have experienced the ups and downs of an industry that has powered our country’s economy forward. Now, as mayor of Sharpsburg, a Rust Belt river town, I’m excited to play...
Letter to the editor: Zellers will put people first
Leslie Uncapher Zellers is a co-founder of the Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride, which raises funds for a scholarship for police academy cadets. She is also co-founder of the Fallen Officer Food Drive and the Lower Burrell St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She loves her community and our families, and she...
Letter to the editor: Poverty no excuse for crime
Gary Franks made many erroneous statements in his column “The root causes of mass shootings and inner-city homicides” (April 21, TribLIVE). The worst was saying slavery would not have existed if men didn’t use guns to capture Blacks in Africa. That is a joke. Those Blacks were already captured and...
Letter to the editor: Yakopec a tireless advocate
As we approach this next election , I can’t help but submit a letter supporting our current local district magistrate, Cheryl Peck Yakopec. Her opponent is campaigning on the motto “Choice for change” and “Justice you deserve.” I respectfully disagree with the idea we need change. One of the positive...
Letter to the editor: We must turn back to God
Much history has been written about the infiltration of Catholic seminaries by communists in the 1930s and their infiltration of our universities in the ’50s and ’60s. Their purpose was to sabotage and destroy our American way of life. The process would be slow, one drip at a time. Indoctrination...
Letter to the editor: Graphic books should not be in our schools
Removing books that have graphic scenes of rape and explicit sexual violence from our school libraries and keeping them out of the curriculum should not be controversial or partisan. In the Hempfield Area School District, a few educators, one school board member (former counselor) and a few candidates running for...
Editorial: Embracing and supporting career and tech education is critical
Commencement season is upon us. It is the time of year when the many universities throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania are suiting up their students in robes and mortarboards. The strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” are heard in the air. Thousands of college students will receive degrees and embark on their careers....
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 1
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 1....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of May 1
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of May 1....
Counterpoint: Judicial decisions, not judicial ethics, are the real target
Calls for a “formal” or “enforceable” code of ethics for the Supreme Court imply that no ethics rules or guidelines exist, that Congress has the authority to impose such a code, and that a genuine concern about ethics is the real motivation. None of these is true. Every discussion of...
Letter to the editor: Foreign languages useful to students
Outstanding article about French classes returning to Penn-Trafford (“No ‘au revoir’ just yet: Penn-Trafford to keep French program, for now,” April 23, TribLIVE), c’est bon! And good job including the chart about which languages are taught at other are schools. Very sad to see Latin posted only once. Medical terminology,...
Letter to the editor: Guardianship protection
The editorial “Revamp laws for legal guardians” (April 24, TribLIVE) supporting Pennsylvania Senate Bill 506 inaccurately states that the bill requires steps to preclude guardians’ conflicts of interest like those highlighted by Spotlight PA. In fact, nothing in the bill prevents nursing homes from nominating specific professional guardians. The bill...
Letter to the editor: Change needed to end cycle of failing banks
When it comes to banks, it appears we are in a vicious cycle (“Army of lobbyists helped water down banking regulations,” March 21, TribLIVE). Due to mismanagement, banks fail, the taxpaying middle class bails them out, Congress enacts regulations, over time the regulations get watered down, banks fail and the...
Editorial: Promising bipartisan start to House’s work
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has done something that seems like a throwback to a quaint time we can barely remember. It did its job. More than that, after coming back into session following a lengthy break, the lawmakers got down to the business of making laws and not just...
Letter to the editor: Deadly combo of xylazine, fentanyl fuels opioid crisis
Pittsburgh is grappling with a surge in overdoses related to the misuse of xylazine, a veterinary sedative. The drug is often mixed with fentanyl, amplifying its potency and contributing to the ongoing opioid crisis in the region. While Pennsylvania has taken steps to address the issue by up-scheduling xylazine to...
Letter to the editor: Government should default on national debt
The national debt is rapidly approaching $32 trillion. This number was inconceivable a decade prior, and even today we still have trouble picturing what it looks like. For the individual, the issue appears insoluble. What must be done? We must unconditionally default on the national debt. In other words, the...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Dishonoring America’s heroes
“They’re slitting their own throats and throwing themselves overboard” is how an old pal and management consultant once described the self-destructive actions of an organization he was asked to evaluate. The nonprofit was imploding, turning in on itself, like a ship full of mad pirates. If you ask the nation’s...
Point: Should the Supreme Court justices have a code of ethics?
Our nation’s highest court — the Supreme Court — should live by the highest ethical standards. Right now, no transparent code of conduct governs its nine members like there is for all other federal judges — one that requires judges to “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all...
