TribLive stories, Page 1886
Letter to the editor: Wolf leaves service industry in dark
Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to veto House Bills 2506 and 2513, which are aimed at getting restaurants and liquor-licensed establishments open and appear to be bipartisan. Will Wolf once again leave the service industry in limbo? A third bill, HB327, which is an attempt to give liquor-licensed establishments the...
Letter to the editor: Social distancing is a dangerous experiment
I believe social distancing is an experiment on our emotional health. Humans need physical contact for our mental health, from babyhood through our adult lives. I fear social distancing will cause increases in spousal and child abuse, suicide, murders and other crimes. When scientists studied babies in Romanian orphanages whose...
Letter to the editor: Thoughts from a front-line cashier
I only wanted to be a cashier. Now I’m deemed essential. So I work, exhausted, on the “front lines,” praying I won’t bring covid-19 home. I only wanted to be a cashier. Now I must enforce social distancing. “Can you please step back?” I only wanted to be a cashier....
Review: A night gone very wrong in ‘The Lovebirds’
‘The Lovebirds ” stars Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are two of the most exciting voices working in film and television today, as actors, writers and creators. Rae’s “Insecure” and Nanjiani’s “The Big Sick” are both vibrant, stimulating and fresh and rooted deeply in the diversity of their own experiences....
The Stroller, May 21, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Read The Stroller daily for announcements of how everyone can ease the pressure and stress of others, even while maintaining social distancing. Information for The Stroller should be emailed to vndnews@tribweb.com. Curbside food drop-off planned in Kiski Township Kiski Township Fire Department and Straight-N-Clear will host a curbside drop-off food...
Shaler high school teams places first in Phipps challenge
The Shaler Area High School team placed first overall in the high school category in the Phipps Fairchild Challenge. According to a school press release, the yearlong environmental competition consisted of five challenges. The Shaler team consisted of a core group of students who worked on the challenges throughout the...
Hampton delays community pool opening until green phase
Hampton Township has announced that the Community Outdoor Pool Complex will be closed until the state enters the green phase of reopening. According to a post on their Facebook page, the township plans to open the pool in mid-June, depending upon guidelines. Township officials previously said they would open when...
3M billed government $7.63 for 85-cent earplugs. It now has $1 billion covid contract
WASHINGTON — The company that has been awarded the largest single covid-19 federal contract once boasted it charged the Defense Department $7.63 for earplugs that cost 85 cents a pair to produce. That company, 3M, was awarded a $1 billion contract on April 15 for “medical and surgical instruments, equipment...
Editorial: The uncommon sense of Levin deal
Let’s try this again. Way back in February, Levin Furniture was in danger of closing, but owners of the Art Van Furniture company that purchased it in 2017 said not to worry — everything was “business as usual” and a solution would be found. That solution, as it turned out...
Ford shuts down Dearborn Truck Plant when worker tests positive for coronavirus
DETROIT — Ford Motor Company shut down its Dearborn Truck Plant on Wednesday afternoon because of coronavirus, releasing its early shift of UAW hourly workers. “They sent everybody home,” said a UAW worker who asked not to be named for fear of disciplinary action. “We probably got 800 people there....
CDC issues detailed reopening guidance after initial rejectionVideo
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a 60-page document that provides detailed suggestions for different phases of reopening workplaces, schools and restaurants, after an earlier draft was rejected by the White House for being too prescriptive. The document, which expands on several tools the agency released last...
Sweetwater offers online art classes
Sweetwater Center for the Arts is offering Art At Home classes. Three levels include: • Level 1: Pre-School, Wednesdays from 1-2 p.m. • Level 2: Children, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4 p.m. • Level 3: Teen, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2 p.m. The center plans to add more classes, including...
South Hills Interfaith Movement to celebrate after-school students
South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM) After School program volunteers, teachers, staff and students will ride past the homes of all 75 of the program’s students on Thursday. Nature Cat from WQED also will make an appearance. According to a news release, SHIM’s After School program offers support to students in...
State reports 143 more coronavirus deaths, 746 additional cases
Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported 143 more covid-19 deaths and 746 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to just over 64,400 , state officials said. There have been 4,767 people who have died from the virus, which has been reported in all of the state’s 67 counties. More...
Sen. Vincent Hughes: Republican reopening plan worst kind of politics
In the last few weeks, Pennsylvania Republicans have ramped up the political theatre in a brazen attempt at politicizing the Wolf administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. From staged political rallies organized by out-of-state, extreme right-wing agitators to attempts at strong-arming local officials to ignore the governor’s executive order on...
Somerset County will try again for hiking trail project
Somerset County will take another swing at developing a section of hiking trail at Somerset Lake this summer. Somerset County commissioners — at the project engineer’s recommendation — rejected four bids to carve out a half-mile of trail alongside the lake, because each of them exceeded the project’s budget, Somerset...
Carnegie Carnegie: Standing grand, standing proud
Anyone who has visited the grand building at the top of the hill can tell you it exudes personality. The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall’s facility, where our community has gathered for over a century, is so closely tied to what the library means to each of us....
Eric Failing: Private schools should share in CARES Act funding, too
In late March, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In part, it calls for $13.2 billion to be provided for K-12 education across the country, with an estimated $523.8 million for Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That money has been earmarked for...
Letter to the editor: How are those on TV getting haircuts?
I, like most people, am becoming a shaggy dog. In watching news programs and political ads, I noticed that none of those people seems to need a haircut. I would really like to know where they are getting hair care. In a short time, I won’t be able to identify...
Hampton cancels Memorial Day ceremony
The Memorial Day Public Ceremony held at the Hampton Veterans Memorial has been canceled due to state distancing guidelines. According to the township’s website, though the official ceremony will not take place, members of the Hampton American Legion will gather Monday for a brief salute at the Hampton Community Center...
Letter to the editor: Democratic candidates
Considering the New Jersey Democratic Party once allowed a last-minute substitution on its 2002 Senate ballot because Robert Torricelli was involved in an ethics scandal and trailing badly to Republican Douglas Forrester, does anyone not believe that the Democratic National Committee will attempt the same malarkey due to grave concerns...
Letter to the editor: Taxes on leased vehicles
One of Pennsylvania’s best-kept secrets is a 9% tax on leased vehicles (in some counties it may be 10%). Having leased three vehicles in the last five years, it wasn’t until I returned my Nissan Rogue to the dealership and received a final disposition fee of $395 plus a tax...
Letter to the editor: Appreciating government actions on coronavirus
The run for the White House is sealed. Until coronavirus arrived, things in the government were unsettled. As soon as politicians were aware of its seriousness, they started doing what they had to do. Our country was locked down, then the flow of money began to help with food, business...
Letter to the editor: Leaders, saints during pandemic
To be or not to be, that is the question. This line of Shakespeare is the one that first comes to mind for most people. Prince Hamlet is musing on the comparison between the pain of life and the fear of the uncertainty of death and of possible damnation of...
Disney, Universal may require masks, but will tourists comply and how can it be enforced?
ORLANDO, Fla. — Quarantined alone for weeks, Kristen Hariton listens to Walt Disney World ride soundtracks while she works in her one-bedroom condo. Her music playlist is the best she can do right now since she has lost her happiest place on Earth. Hariton says she would do anything, including...
