Editorials category

Now that Donald Trump has come around to publicly stating that besieged Ukraine could use military support from the U.S. and the European Union to fully recover all of the territory taken over by Russia, the world should lock in the president’s U-turn, which stunned policymakers everywhere. Trump has clearly...

A promise has been made for the Pittsburgh steel industry. Again. Last week, U.S. Steel announced it was committing $100 million to a new slag recycler at the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock. Any investment in the steel industry facilities throughout Western Pennsylvania is more than an investment in equipment...

If you buy a flat screen TV in Pittsburgh, you pay 6% state sales tax and 1% Allegheny County sales tax. No one asks you for your driver’s license to see where you are from and charges you another 5% for living outside the city limits. If they did, shoppers...

Laurel: To spreading education. Carnegie Mellon University is one of the best-known, highest-regarded schools in the world when it comes to learning about the ins and outs of computers and programming. But not everyone can get in. It’s a highly selective school. Although many would like to attend, only about...

Take it from a guy who made more than $30 million last year: Low-income consumers are “living on the edge.” So says Charlie Scharf, chief executive of Wells Fargo bank, citing data that indicate most American consumers are spending down their ready cash. For many, the rainy day they’ve been...

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had it right when they gave us a lesson in song back in 1949. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” was an admonition about racism and hatred. “You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear. You’ve got to be taught from year to...

Do we need a vape shop on every street corner? They seem to be popping up with the almost magical overnight frequency of mushrooms or Starbucks locations. If a closed business is too small to host a Spirit Halloween, the space has a good chance of becoming a vape shop...

Here is something all Americans can agree on, whatever their feelings on immigration enforcement: United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement should not be harassing, let alone detaining, citizens of the United States. Nor should that agency be harassing, let alone detaining, green card holders, officially known as lawful permanent residents...

Given the amount of attention focused on gun violence, it is worth noting violence itself is not so well aimed. A gun can be expertly targeted. A good hunter, for instance, wants to be as accurate as possible. He doesn’t just point toward the woods and have faith he will...

There are a lot of “ists” flying around right now. It used to be the labels socialist, Marxist and communist being thrown around. Now it’s fascist, antifascist and anarchist as Democrats and Republicans hurl epithets at each other. Pennsylvania’s senators say it’s time for that to stop. On Tuesday, Republican...

Laurel: To increasing numbers. The Community College of Allegheny County is seeing its enrollment rise. The student population is climbing by about 9% over last school year. ‘This is probably the largest increase we’ve experienced in the last five years,” President Quintin Bullock said. That’s about 10,800 students at CCAC....

There is a lot of talk about hate right now. In the wake of the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, it’s everywhere. It is amplified, but it isn’t new. Hate has been a growing topic of conversation for years, often amid targeted violence. One of those moments...

A pension is different from a retirement fund. With a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA), there is a simple mathematical transaction. It may have a few more strings than a checking or savings account, but the basic elements remain the same. An account is opened. Deposits are made....

Penn State is having money trouble. Just ask. The administration will tell you. “The challenges we face — declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures — are not unique to Penn State, but they require us to make difficult choices,” President Neeli Bendapudi wrote in a February message. That was...

Susan Monarez’s 28-day tenure as the nation’s top public health official was doomed from the start. Her boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wanted her to do two things: champion his dubious anti-vaccine agenda and uphold “gold-standard science” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recognizing the conflict, Monarez chose...

Westmoreland County Commissioners are putting the brakes on spending. That makes sense. The county is not exactly swimming in cash. In December 2023, commissioners pivoted toward a last-minute tax increase to address shortfalls. Both the Republican majority and Democratic minority on the board agreed the county was in financial difficulty...

When we look at our history, it is a timeline where the major marks are often political and frequently violent — and too regularly both. This is not unique to America. It is not a problem of modern history. It is global and timeless. Assassination has changed the face of...

Laurel: To cleaner water. When you live near waterways, you know that sometimes things end up there that shouldn’t. It might be trash. It might be chemicals. It might be sewage. But often it’s tires. There is no way of knowing how many tires end up in rivers, lakes or...

It is hard to remember a time that Americans were on the same side. Except on Sept. 11. Every year on this date, the anniversary reminds us of the grim day in 2001 when we were united by the dark and unbelievable horror of the worst terrorist attack in our...

Trials should happen as soon as possible after the defendant is arrested. The U.S. Constitution spells this out in the Sixth Amendment, the first of several rights afforded. “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the...

Medical professionals have occupied an interesting place in society in recent years. The covid-19 pandemic put them squarely on the front line, where they found themselves between patients and death. The National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization point to thousands of nursing staff and other health care...

President Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be health and human services secretary to shake up the country’s public health status quo. Shake it up he has, putting vaccine skepticism at the helm of life-changing decisions and placing chosen outcomes ahead of data. Florida is proving to be...

While a Gallup poll this year indicated about 62% of Americans own stocks, the numbers are not quite what they seem. Many people may have retirement money in a 401(k) or sock away savings in an investment account of some kind. Far fewer actually own shares. Federal Reserve data says...

What do solar farms have in common with fracking, strip clubs, halfway houses and landfills? On the surface, it might be hard to see. Solar farms and fracking couldn’t be more different, with one promoting green energy and the other built on fossil fuels. Adult entertainment might be questionable, but...

Laurel: To an ap-peel-ing visit. The Savannah Bananas brought their signature form of entertainment married with baseball to PNC Park over the weekend. It was two days of fun and excitement rarely seen in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home venue. Yes, the Bananas are out-of-town barnstormers. Yes, the event had a...