Editorial: Are you naughty or nice?
Everyone knows about The List. Santa makes it. He checks it. He checks it again. Are you naughty? Nice? We don’t know. Santa does. The List is why we have elves sitting on shelves. It’s why kids brush their teeth more and pay closer attention to their homework after Halloween....
Editorial: Taking political pay raises off autopilot
Wouldn’t it be great if your income automatically increased based on the cost of living? Higher food, gas or electricity prices would sting less. Rent increases might still hurt, but not nearly as much if paychecks rose alongside them. That is the reality for some in Pennsylvania. State lawmakers and...
Editorial: Lower housing prices, not loan standards
Philosopher George Santayana once famously observed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Unfortunately, our nation’s collective memory doesn’t seem to even extend back two decades. Last month, Fannie Mae dropped the requirement that borrowers have a minimum credit score of 620. Freddie Mac had made...
Editorial: VA staffing cuts test a promise to vets
Our veterans are not just people who performed military service. Veterans are the front line of promises that should be kept and what happens when promises are broken. They are our neighbors and family. They are teachers and police officers, doctors and elected officials. They are the aging, the sick,...
Editorial: Religious freedom doesn’t stop at the jailhouse door
In Westmoreland County Prison, the freedom to worship is treated less as a right than a whim. On multiple occasions, prayer or Bible study gatherings have been disrupted by corrections officers. Tim Williamson of Jeannette spent about a month at the prison related to a misdemeanor arrest. He says he...
Laurels & lances: Charging & changing
Laurel: To giving students a break. It isn’t the fault of those enrolled at Penn State’s New Kensington or Fayette campuses that university leadership voted to close the schools at the end of the Spring 2027 semester. With that hanging in the not-so-distant future, it makes sense that some students...
Editorial: Transparency matters on ICE agreement
Did Springdale do the right thing in signing an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without voting publicly or placing it on an agenda? It is hard to say yes, even if you agree with the partnership. For one thing, it wasn’t just hidden from residents. Springdale Manager Terry...
Editorial: Grand juries work but require restraint
More than 30 years ago, an investigating grand jury last sat to hear and deliberate evidence in Westmoreland County. That was in the 1980s when prosecutors were exploring allegations of law enforcement misconduct in North Huntingdon. After careful review, the grand jury recommended charges against the police chief and others...
Editorial: Against the dark of violence, candles provide light
There are certain places in the world that will forever be associated with stunning acts of violence. On Sunday, another pin was placed in that map. At least 15 people were killed when gunfire ripped across Australia’s Bondi Beach, where people gathered to celebrate the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish...
Editorial: High suicide rate among seniors is a tragedy for entire community
While many people will be enjoying the next few weeks surrounded by friends and family, many of our neighbors will be isolated, especially those in their senior years. This isolation can contribute to depression and other disorders, which in turn can contribute to the rising levels of suicide or suicide...
Editorial: Oversight starts with receipts but shouldn’t stop there
When public money is spent, the people deserve to know the ins and outs. It’s encouraging to see Harrisburg lawmakers on this particular bandwagon. The state Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee opted Tuesday to issue subpoenas to detail the full extent of taxpayer money used to cover certain work at Gov....
Editorial: Rough water ahead for Pittsburgh’s 2026 budget
Is Pittsburgh’s spending plan for 2026 in good shape — or is it steering into the rocks? “I’m not denying a thin margin for error,” said Jake Pawlak, deputy mayor under Mayor Ed Gainey and head of the Office of Management and Budget. A “thin margin for error” is not...
Laurels & lances: Selling & settling
Laurel: To opening doors. The announcements about Pittsburgh hosting the 2026 NFL Draft were filled with predictions about the opportunities for area businesses. Those predictions started to pay off this week as Pittsburgh vendors had the chance to get in on the conversation. The NFL’s Source Program brought local entrepreneurs...
Editorial: Penn State choices made union push inevitable
Penn State faculty are not unionized. That could change soon. If the university’s leadership doesn’t like that, it’s their own fault. The Penn State Faculty Alliance turned in thousands of union authorization cards to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. While imprecise, that’s still a considerable chunk of the university’s 7,498...
Editorial: A child wasn’t protected. The law must change
Renesmay Eutsey was supposed to be kept safe. That is why she was removed from the care of her mother, Christina Benedetto, in 2019 when she was 3. It’s why she was placed with Benedetto’s cousin, Sarah Shipley, and her biological father’s cousin, Kourtney Eutsey, and why she would eventually...
Editorial: $3 million moonlighting failure leaves Pittsburgh in the dark
Pittsburgh police have been over budget for years, particularly regarding overtime. Mayor Ed Gainey’s proposed budget all but ignores the cost of overtime in a manner that, frankly, makes no sense. Go to any pizza shop, corner store, hospital or university, and keeping overtime under control is a priority for...
Editorial: In praise of the handwritten Christmas card
We’ve all come to dread checking the mail. And not just when property taxes are due. Most of the year, the only post we get is bills, which are depressing, or advertisements, headed straight for the trash. Our mailboxes, once filled with interest and promise, have become a breeding ground...
Editorial: What’s the future of health care independence?
In 2022, Excela Health announced a merger with Butler Health System. It was all about taking the two organizations and giving them “the requisite scale to accelerate and elevate its relevancy … in the region’s highly competitive health care marketplace.” That public-relations speak could be interpreted as allowing the hospitals...
Editorial: Colleges can build big without begging for cash
Oh, those college expenses. There are those big ideas of what it will be like. It’s all freedom and independence until financial reality sets in. Then the calls start to come about borrowing money. No, this isn’t about your sophomore psychology student wanting to use that emergency credit card. It’s...
Laurels & lances: Contracts & consequences
Laurel: To getting things done. When it comes to labor contracts, we have all become accustomed to hearing things come down to the wire — or beyond. How many union and employer deals can go months or even years without resolution while things hang in limbo or head into strike...
Editorial: Could AI be the new Twinkie defense?
People accused of crimes have laid the blame at a variety of doorsteps to excuse — or at least explain — what happened. John Hinckley Jr. said it was the movie “Taxi Driver” and his obsession with a young Jodie Foster that prompted his assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in...
Editorial: A budget failure doesn’t earn a pay raise
For most people, getting a raise is not a given. It is also a process. You have a performance evaluation. Your whole scope of work over the last year is reviewed. Did you meet expectations? Did you exceed them? What were your strengths? Did you work well with your team?...
Editorial: Fire hydrants are critical infrastructure
A fire hydrant is part of the landscape, something your eye may just slide past. Like a light post or mailbox, it is expected to be just off the curb of a street. That makes them easy to ignore or to forget — unless, of course, you need one. But...
Editorial: Canada measles outbreak shows that vigilance must not slip
The next outbreak of serious disease is merely “a plane ride away,” public health officials have long warned. The current crop of measles cases in Canada proves that point. A traveler infected with measles visited a New Brunswick community with a low vaccination rate, sparking a national outbreak in 2024....
Editorial: School funding, cyber charter oversight are state-created problems
Education is built on the basics. ABCs become words, then sentences, then books. Counting becomes adding, then long division, then algebra. If you don’t get a good grounding at the primary level, everything gets harder until the learning process falls apart with the advanced material. That might be the issue...
