TribLive stories, Page 938
Peter Morici: The darkness before America’s bright new economy
Holiday parties were tough for economists. People asked: Is a recession coming? How bad will it be? The impolite reminded us of what we got wrong last year. The soothsayers at the Federal Reserve may be getting smarter. Having been burned by terrible forecasts when inflation was too low during...
New state legislator for Hampton, McCandless takes oath
State Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-McCandless, took the oath of office in the state Capitol Jan. 3 to begin representing the 30th Legislative District. The district includes Hampton, Franklin Park and five other municipalities in addition to McCandless. Venkat is first Indian American to be elected to the state House, and...
Where is the Parkland school shooter? Florida won’t say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The gunman who murdered 17 people at a Parkland high school nearly five years ago has spent the last nine weeks in the custody of the Florida of Corrections. Where? That’s anyone’s guess. In an unusually secretive move, the state has refused to disclose the location...
Desperation is driving latest surge of Cuban rafters arriving in the Florida Keys
In an end-of-year video message for social media, Cuba’s leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, recently acknowledged that 2022 was “one of the most challenging of Cuba’s revolutionary history.” He then admitted that 2023 “could be even more difficult,” but that, he added, would be “an attractive challenge for all who feel revolutionary.”...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas: How Kim Ward helped Pa. GOP hold Senate
This past midterm, Pennsylvania state Senate Republicans managed to meet electoral expectations while the remainder of the commonwealth’s GOP suffered stunning losses — many of them unanticipated. Why? The story begins 99 weeks before Election Day, when state Senate Republicans elected Kim Ward as the legislative chamber’s majority leader. Much...
Southwest Airlines’ meltdown loss could run $500 million to $700 million
When Southwest Airlines’ had an operational meltdown in October 2021, it cost the airline $75 million in lost revenue. The Columbus Day weekend debacle involved the cancellation of some 2,000 flights. So what kind of hit is the Dallas-based company looking at from its Christmas fiasco that led to more...
‘I just took off’: The story behind Penn State RB Nick Singleton’s memorable Rose Bowl run
PASADENA, Calif. — All Nick Singleton saw was green grass ahead. “I just took off,” Singleton said before cracking a smile. It was as simple as that for Penn State’s star true freshman to change the course of the 109th Rose Bowl. Singleton, who dazzled all season long with his...
Analysis: Whoever wins, serving as House speaker will be more like ‘being mayor of hell’
WASHINGTON — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy surely could have seen defeat coming: The wave that swamped him has been building for years. In 2015, attacks from the right wing drove House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio to quit in frustration. Boehner’s successor, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, stuck...
Letter to the editor: Thanks for the right votes, Pa.
Thank you Pennsylvania. This past November you went to the polls and voted for democracy, for the rule of law, for action on the climate crisis, for bodily autonomy, for good-paying union jobs, for the right to have clean air and water, for affordable health care, for quality public education,...
Westmoreland happenings: soup and sandwich sale, moonlight hike, bingos
Submissions from nonprofit organizations for Briefly Speaking can be emailed to Carol Pinto-Smith at cpinto-smith@triblive.com or mailed to Briefly Speaking, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084. Include a complete address and daytime phone number. Submissions are due at least two weeks before the event. Each announcement is printed once; there...
4 Sewickley Girl Scouts earn Silver Awards
Four Sewickley Girl Scouts from local Glen Oaks Troop 52671 recently earned their Silver Awards. All are currently ninth graders at Quaker Valley High School. The Girl Scout Silver Award is the second-highest achievement in Girl Scouting overall and the highest award at the Cadette level. Western Pennsylvania Silver Award...
Letter to the editor: The whole of our society is less than the sum of its parts
Whenever I interact with individuals, I find that they are for the most part decent, caring, kind and generous. And yet, I find that our culture as a whole has become more and more mean-spirited, violent and vile. Why is this so? Why is it that our society is so...
Boomerang burglars — same Greensburg store targeted again — in 2 days
Greensburg police officers were looking Wednesday for two potential suspects in connection with two burglaries in three days at Puff n Snuff, according to Chief Shawn Denning. The thieves used a tool to break in through a door at the East Pittsburgh Street business in Greensburg Shopping Center, and police...
Editorial: Shared grief and the tragedies of McIntire shooting, Hamlin injury
There is a difference between sorrow and grief. Sorrow is the emotional state we feel when confronted by great loss or devastating disappointment. It isn’t depression, but it might lead there. Grief is different. It is a process that one goes through while experiencing the crushing blows of a trauma....
The Stroller, Jan. 4, 2023: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Allegheny Valley Association of Churches accepting donations for food bank Donations...
Letter to the editor: Protecting our people, planet
This past election, voters turned out in extraordinary numbers to protect our families and our planet. The Shapiro administration begins at a time of opportunity to help Pennsylvanians take full advantage of federal resources that could help cut energy costs and keep our families healthy. But we know the old...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 3, 2023
High schools WPIAL Basketball Boys Tuesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Butler 53, Seneca Valley 49 Central Catholic 63, Pine-Richland 36 New Castle 59, North Allegheny 49 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 46, Baldwin 44 Upper St. Clair 87, Hempfield 32 Norwin 46, Canon-McMillan 45 Class 5A Section 1 Bethel Park...
High school roundup for Jan. 3, 2023: Evan Berger, Thomas Jefferson top Peters in 3OT
Evan Berger scored a school-record 43 points to lead Thomas Jefferson (5-4, 1-0) to a 105-100 victory over Peters Township (7-3, 0-1) in three overtimes in Section 1-5A boys basketball Tuesday night. Jack Dunbar scored 37 for Peters. Aquinas Academy 87, Summit Academy 75 – Vinnie Cugini set the nets...
John Dorfman: Robot Portfolio chugs on, up 915% in 24 years
Give that Robot some new polish! The Robot Portfolio is a hypothetical collection of 10 stocks I have compiled each year beginning in 1999. In 24 years, it has achieved a cumulative 915% return, compared with 373% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The 10 stocks are picked by...
Mathew Schmalz: Pope Benedict XVI leaves legacy of intellectual brilliance, controversy
Benedict XVI leaves behind a complex legacy as a pope and theologian. To many observers, Benedict, who died Dec. 31 at 95, was known for criticizing what he saw as the modern world’s rejection of God and Christianity’s timeless truths. But as a scholar of the diversity of global Catholicism,...
Police chief’s murder was part of a dayslong manhunt
The murder of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire and subsequent death of his killer were the culmination of a days-long manhunt that stretched from the Alle-Kiski Valley to Pittsburgh. This is a timeline of the events as released by Allegheny County Police, the lead investigators in the case: 11:45 a.m....
Pitt, Central Catholic communities rally in support of ‘role model’ Damar Hamlin
Other than Damar Hamlin’s quick reaction to a completed pass, there was nothing special about his tackle of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. A legal, textbook tackle that looked like any other. Hamlin has 91 of them this season, second among Buffalo Bills defenders. “I’m sure Damar has made...
Southwest Airlines sending vouchers to passengers disrupted by holiday meltdown
Southwest Airlines is sending out vouchers worth as much as $300 to clean up the reputational damage from canceling more than 17,100 flights in eight days around Christmas. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is trying to untangle a mess it made after winter weather swept across the country in the days before...
Man accused of killing mailman in Collier dies from cancer while in jail
The man accused of killing a mail carrier in Collier last year died Monday while in custody. Court filings said Eric Kortz, 54, had previously been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was being held in Butler County Prison. Kortz’s federal public defenders filed a motion seeking a detention hearing on...
‘I visualized a touchdown’: Penn State’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith on his Rose Bowl record-breaker
PASADENA, Calif. — In the buildup to the Rose Bowl, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison “Trey” Wallace III workshopped touchdown celebrations at Penn State’s hotel. And on Monday night, Lambert-Smith got to show off what he decided on. No, Lambert-Smith wasn’t actually hurt when he held his hamstring in the end...
