TribLive stories, Page 2176

Could Pennsylvania be the new Colorado? The state has barely gotten its fledgling legalization of medical marijuana out of the nest and there are already moves to hatch recreational use, and some come from the Pittsburgh area. Like alcohol, state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, thinks weed should be legal...

Jim Park remembers exactly where he was each time the Steelers won a Super Bowl. He was at the Neville Roller Drome, making dizzying circles under the starburst lights. Nothing, not even a black-and-gold football dynasty, could lure him way from the rink. “My parents met skating,” he said, noting...

First responders work around the clock, keeping our communities safe, every day. They understand and accept the risks involved, as well as the long hours, rigorous physical requirements and constant training. However, many emergency workers are starting to face an unexpected hurdle and a new kind of threat: anti-energy protesters....

The silence from the respective offices of Pennsylvania Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey related to the border wall, the Trump presidency and the myriad other problems facing our nation is deafening. Does anyone know where they stand on these difficult issues? My expectations are that our “leaders” take definitive...

Fentanyl is a deadly synthetic drug often mixed with other street drugs to make them more potent. It is largely manufactured in China and smuggled across our porous southern border by Central and South American gangs. It kills tens of thousands of Americans every year. Heroin is a highly addictive...

I am writing to express in the strongest possible terms my disagreement with the conclusions expressed in Donald Boudreaux’s column ”Draft’s end most pro-freedom move of past 50 years” (Jan. 17, TribLIVE). I read it because I couldn’t imagine why the military draft would be a newsworthy topic. It ended...

Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 28....

Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 28....

Aquinas Academy senior Margaret (Molly) Maglio, daughter of Mike and Wendy Maglio of Hampton Township, has committed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She will continue her lacrosse career playing for the MIT Engineers. She plans to major in biology. Maglio is known for her outstanding academic and athletic...

In what used to be the band room when Richland Elementary was a high school, one group of second-grade students built bridges using Legos, another group used rubber bands to make designs on a nail board, and another programmed directions into robotic bumblebees in order to get them to travel...

Millvale might have a population under 3,800, but it has something in common with New York City — a reputation for delis, purveyors of sandwiches, soups and salads. Deli on North A few weeks ago, owner Pete Notarangelo of Verona opened this establishment at 215 North Ave. as a second...

Shaler Area School District has increased its positive fund balance by adopting an attrition model, reviewing operational efficiency and increasing property taxes, according to Sherri Ludwig, business affairs director. When she joined the district during the 2015-16 school year, S&P Global Ratings ranked the district as having a “negative outlook,”...

WASHINGTON — Warning letters in hand, Zach Rybarczyk patrolled the food court at Union Station, looking for offenders. Past Auntie Anne’s, past Johnny Rockets. At Lotus Express, a Chinese food joint, Rybarczyk peeled the wrapper from a red straw and bent the end — the telltale giveaway. Plastic. Washington has...

NEW YORK — “Black Panther” took the top award at Sunday’s 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards, giving Ryan Coogler’s superhero sensation it’s most significant honor yet and potentially setting it up for more wins at the Academy Awards. “Well, I’ll be,” said Chadwick Boseman, accepting the award for best ensemble...

Each morning as I pull into the parking garage, I am greeted with a sign proclaiming the mission statement of the city’s parking authority. Over the past 15 years or more, the norm has been that businesses/agencies develop and post a mission statement that clearly defines its values, goals, beliefs...

Welcome to the eye of the hurricane. For more than a month, the federal government was in partial shutdown while President Trump and congressional leaders were deadlocked over the president’s demands for money to build his long-promised border wall. Neither side would budge and all the wiggle room for negotiation,...

The longest government shutdown may have done the impossible. It got some Republicans and Democrats to agree on the need for some kind of wall. Unfortunately for President Trump, what they want to wall off is the option to shut down the federal government. Legislators from both parties have openly...

OMAHA, Neb. — Elephants poop 12 times a day. Each massive pachyderm eats 100 pounds of hay every day. They spend 18 hours a day eating or pooping. Somebody has to clean up that mess, 20-pound pitchfork scoops at a time. Anyone who owns a dog knows that nature doesn’t...

I read the op-ed by Tara Murtha and Susan Frietsche (“Nothing ‘pro-life’ about overturning Roe v. Wade,” Jan. 12, TribLIVE) that advocated keeping abortion legal. I also read the op-ed by Maria Gallagher (“So much wrong with abortion ‘right’,” Jan. 12, TribLIVE), who wrote about how abortion kills a defenseless...

Whatever happened to the Democratic Party I registered with 60 years ago? What I see today in no way resembles the party I knew. I cannot remember a time when so much raw, ugly hatred was displayed by our politicians. It is hard to watch. What is really hard to...

Our government partially shut down because the Democrats refuse to compromise with President Trump. He wants to build a wall to slow down the flood of illegal immigrants entering our country. They don’t want to lose potential voters. Trump’s plan for a wall has been tried before, and it worked....

A year-end financial summary for 2018 was presented by the Hampton Township Controller Jerry Speakman at the Jan. 23 council meeting, and it showed a better-than-expected outcome. Overall, the revenues for 2018 exceeded expenses by $80,925, according to Speakman. Year-end revenues were $91,000 higher than they estimated at the end...

Mary Ann Kundra of Carnegie celebrated her 80th birthday Jan. 20, 2019. She is the wife of the late John (Ken) Kundra and has one son, Ken (Joan), and one grandson, Jacob, who reside in Heidelberg. Happy birthday to Barb Metsger of Cubbage Hill who celebrates Feb. 4. Barb is...

President Trump’s government shutdown finally came to an end — but not before costing the U.S. economy at least $6 billion, according to an analysis by S&P Global Ratings. The rating agency’s Global Economics branch said the overall cost to the economy for the shutdown that crippled Washington, D.C., and...