Opinion category, Page 343
Candidate statement: Dr. Mehmet Oz
As a child, I grew up just a few miles south of Kennett Square. After graduating from medical and business school in Philadelphia, I operated on thousands of patients and invented a tool to fix heart valves that saves lives while cutting medical costs. Later, as a television host, I...
Candidate statement: Sen. Doug Mastriano
I never wanted to be a politician. I grew up in a middle-class family, and my dad served in the Navy. All I ever wanted to do was serve my country as a soldier. I served in the U.S. Army for 30 years before retiring as a colonel. After my...
Candidate statement: Lt. Gov. John Fetterman
Twenty years ago, I came to Braddock to start a GED program and help young people find jobs. After two of my students were shot and killed, I ran for mayor to stop the violence. I proudly served as mayor of Braddock for four terms. During my tenure as mayor,...
Candidate statement: Attorney General Josh Shapiro
I grew up in Pennsylvania, watching my parents serve their community — my father as a pediatrician, and my mother as an educator. I witnessed firsthand how they cared for our neighbors and friends, and I recognized at a young age the importance of standing up for others and knew...
Letter to the editor: During November and year-round, support Pa. caregivers
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month, offering an important reminder to support all Pennsylvania caregivers. As an Alzheimer’s Association volunteer and board member, I understand the challenges Pennsylvania caregivers are facing. Here in Pennsylvania, there are over 400,000 family caregivers who are juggling competing...
Letter to the editor: Please be patient with your health care providers
Two years ago, I wrote reassuring our communities that we were here for you. At that point the pandemic was in its infancy. Two years later, we have all gone through unimaginable times. We have lost loved ones. Those of us in health care did our best to guide you...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Paul Pelosi and our lack of decency
Whoever wins these upcoming elections, the malignant responses to the recent attack on Paul Pelosi show that we all have reason to mourn the near total loss of decency in civic life. A politically motivated, skull-fracturing hammer attack on an 82-year-old man is not funny. But the public air is...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh mayor, police should do their jobs
Regarding the article “2 women killed in North Side shooting were innocent bystanders, police say; 3rd victim ID’d” (Oct. 17, TribLIVE): Gee whiz, mayor, we pay your salaries, benefits and pensions, but it’s not enough? You want us to do your jobs for you as well? Maybe go after the...
Sounding off: Book bans, loan forgiveness, secure election, Mike Tomlin, respect for police, Biden’s prophesies, birth control
Fearmongering over book bans The editorial “Book bans can threaten local control” (Oct. 13, TribLIVE) calls it “admirable” for parents to take an “active and engaged role in their schools,” while raising the red herring that such activism threatens local control. The state already exerts significant influence over school curriculum...
Letter to the editor: Time for Tomlin to go
Mike Tomlin is getting a lot of flack this season due to the play of the Steelers offense and the game planning of offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Keep in mind that Tomlin hired Canada and also keep in mind that Tomlin has no coaching tree, none, zilch, nada. During Tomlin’s...
Editorial: Pittsburgh police failure in funeral shooting demands more than apology
Sometimes an apology is enough. It might not heal the wound, but sometimes the words will stop the bleeding. A fender bender. A broken glass. Spilled milk. These are things that can be smoothed over with good intentions and genuine contrition. But there are other things that require more than...
Letter to the editor: Leaders must act on radon dangers
Deb Erdley and Megan Tomasic’s recent series of articles on radon in schools is an important reminder of the work that still needs to be done to protect children’s health in the places where they grow and learn. Over the last decade, the state Legislature has been presented with the...
Gary Franks: Will the Supreme Court turn back the clock?
Asian Americans have done exceedingly well, as members of that community comprise 19% of Harvard College students, even though they make up just 7% of the overall American population. Kudos to them. They are overrepresented at the nation’s top schools, not underrepresented. Yet they have a grievance they have taken...
S.E. Cupp: Wringing our hands in this age of political rage
As Paul Pelosi laid in a hospital bed in San Francisco, recovering from a horrific attack in his home by a conspiracy-obsessed, pro-nudist drug addict who wanted to break Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s kneecaps, former President Barack Obama was in Detroit begging for “civility.” Heckled by a pair...
Elizabeth Stelle: Inflation is killing small business
Deeanna Hilliard closed her bakery in August. Gluten Free by D&D in Volant had survived pandemic restrictions and persistent worker shortages, but it couldn’t survive record inflation levels. “The economy did us in,” Hilliard said. “After our third price increase, customer visits dropped, sales dropped (and) regular faces stopped coming...
Ace Dufresne: Ableism distracting Pa. voters
“As a lifelong liberal, I still can’t justify voting for the handicapped. He is mentally unable to perform the job.” “This man, much like the president, can’t even finish a sentence!“ “Dr. Oz has a functional brain … unlike John “Fetterwoman.”” These are responses I’ve received while text-banking with the...
Letter to the editor: Let’s talk about birth control
With all the talk about abortion and abortion rights, why are we not talking about birth control? Abortion is not birth control. Most women can access birth control at no cost or low cost. This needs to be discussed more frequently than the alternative. Lori Copelli Latrobe...
Letter to the editor: Trump is a leader, not a politician
All but one opinion letter Oct. 31 were in support of the Democratic Party. Fair elections? Party of violence? More fair elections? But the one that irritated the most was from M. Lou Harrison (“Remember these things about Trump,” Oct. 31, TribLIVE). Her criticisms of President Trump concerned covid, him...
Lori Falce: Should you pay for verification?
On Tuesday, I became a little bit cooler in my son’s eyes. Not much, and I’m not under any delusion it will last. But, for a brief, shining moment, my teenager was moderately impressed by me. “Elon Musk wants to charge people for blue check marks on Twitter?” he mused...
Letter to the editor: We should thank, respect our police
It looks like “defund the police” is not working. When I first heard this phrase, it made me sick. These officers put their lives on the line every day protecting all of us. While other people are at home on weekends and holidays, these officers are working mostly seven days...
Letter to the editor: Stand up to dark forces
Have you been more anxious lately? Are you stressed, uneasy and quick to anger? Don’t worry, you are not alone. We are experiencing an unprecedented assault on our better nature, common sense and innate intelligence. This relentless attack of lies, deceptions and perversions on every level of culture has created...
Marjorie Hershey: Republicans and Democrats see news bias only in stories that clearly favor the other party
Charges of media bias — that “the media” are trying to brainwash Americans by feeding the public only one side of every issue — have become as common as campaign ads in the run-up to the midterm elections. As a political scientist who has examined media coverage of the Trump...
Rep. Martell Covington: The value of strong tech investments
It’s an exciting time to be in Pittsburgh. The city has experienced unprecedented growth and embraced a future where opportunities and options are more limitless than ever before. Exponential growth doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s taken long-term commitments, dedication and the strategic outlook of local leaders like Mayor Ed Gainey...
Laurels & lances: Spokesperson and representative
Laurel: To someone at the microphone. Since Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli took office in January, messaging has been a little challenging. Ziccarelli has wanted all information from her office — and sometimes other law enforcement departments — to filter through her podium. Other staff members or attorneys were...
Thomas Koenig: Post-Janus, battles with public-sector unions continue
Jane Ladley was a Pennsylvania public school teacher her entire life. She wasn’t a member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the state’s public school teachers union. But in 2013, the PSEA forced her to pay a “fair share fee,” a sum that non-union members must pay to a...
