Editorials category, Page 53

Support comes in lots of forms. You can give money. You can give time. You can sign petitions or attend events or put a sticker on your car. All of these can show where your heart or your head or your sympathies lie. This charity. That movement. This party. That...

The Pennsylvania State Police don’t believe they should be subject to anyone else’s interpretation of how they do their job. State Police Commissioner Robert Evanchick responded to a recommendation from the Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission that an outside agency investigate when deaths or injuries caused by a state...

It is hard to get 95% of Pennsylvanians to walk in step for anything. Pennsylvania is a perennial swing state because it is a state divided on almost everything. Steelers versus Eagles. Pitt versus Penn State. Sheetz versus Wawa. And there is no deeper divide than the political. It isn’t...

Politics once was like two people negotiating a real estate deal. The seller would present the house in its best light — baking cookies so it smelled homey, sprucing up the front porch and hiding the water damage from that leaky roof — all while asking for the highest price...

Laurel: To an encore performance. “Hamilton” has been undeniably the biggest thing to hit musical theater in years. It wasn’t just a smash on Broadway. The traveling company has been just as in demand when it visits, as it did in Pittsburgh in 2019, and again now as live theater...

It is hard to argue that you didn’t know how to follow the law when that was how you made your living. Attorneys for Michael Diebold did just that. Luckily, it didn’t work. Armstrong County Judge James J. Panchik sentenced the former Leechburg police chief to 18 to 36 months...

The conversation surrounding marijuana has shifted over the years. It went from being demonized for decades to being suggested as helpful in relieving symptoms of some medical conditions to being touted as all but a miracle cure. In 2016, Gov. Tom Wolf signed the law that made medical marijuana legal...

On the surface, it’s kind of funny. Construction equipment is what people use to dig things up. It’s not supposed to be the stuff that gets sucked down into the ground. And yet there they are — two bright yellow excavators sticking out of the muddy ground along the Allegheny...

Pennsylvania has more than 5,000 schools. They come in all stripes. Public and private. Charter and Catholic and cyber. They nurture and educate and safeguard millions of children across the state. So why did only 750 of those schools take advantage of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s offer of free,...

Westmoreland County commissioners are moving forward with plans to take all of the county’s various human service offices and fuse them into one department. On Thursday, they hired a consultant — Don Goughler, 76, of Harrison — to assemble the pieces and hire a director to take the reins. This...

Laurel: To a sweet gesture. Businesses in competition with each other might not seem like the best sources of help in times of trouble. What is tragedy for one can be a boon for another. But when it comes to small businesses, it is always best for the community if...

The opioid epidemic is not like influenza or covid-19. It is a medical issue that affects the body and threatens lives. It also is a social problem that ends up in court either because of crimes or because of issues such as custody. It is rare that a case of...

The first step in a medical emergency often is taken even before getting to the hospital. It can begin with an ambulance staffed by professionals trained to offer the care that will stabilize a patient until more in-depth diagnostics and treatment can be provided. It is a vital journey that...

School choice is not just a political idea that scores points on one side and sparks opposition on the other. Decisions about a child’s education are never easy. They start with preschool. Do you do it at all? Do you choose a public school program if one is available? What...

Suicide is an issue everyone needs to note. It’s something to understand, something to keep at bay. After several years in 10th place on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of the top causes of death in the United States, suicide was finally knocked off the podium in...

If you want a practical example of why deadlines matter, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has given it. The process of changing districts for lawmakers is not something that sneaks up on us. It’s prescribed by law. It’s enshrined in the Constitution. It is a tradition more than 200 years in...

The cities and counties of Pennsylvania need to pay attention. The same goes for PennDOT, too. They need to note what happened on Friday as attorneys for a Penn Hills couple confirmed what was as sure as gravity at 6:41 a.m. Jan. 28. That was one minute after the Fern...

Laurel: To an obvious fact. In a year that we are forced to watch the Cincinnati Bengals — the Bengals, for Pete’s sake — vie for the Lombardi Trophy on Super Bowl Sunday, it is nice to get a little bit of acknowledgement that some things are still right with...

While a large part of the nation’s infrastructure — especially its older construction — involves steel that was born in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the process started earlier with another industry. None of that steel was made without coal. The steel industry is a large part of the reason that about 5,000...

Gov. Tom Wolf has given his last budget address. In many ways, it played like a greatest hits album. His farewell concert included old standards that have defined his campaigns and budgets of the past — items like increasing the minimum wage and his signature song about increasing education funding....

What difference can two days make? In the great scheme of government, two days is usually not a big deal. Government generally moves at a sloth-like speed with the number of committee meetings and debates and questions and sending things back to the start before decisions are made. It’s like...

Why does Westmoreland County have so much trouble with the people enforcing the rules playing by them? For years, it was the sheriff’s office that was the problem. There were times that multiple leaders in the department were charged with crimes or on suspension or both all at the same...

There’s nothing like a good scapegoat. Who wouldn’t like to be able to just put all the blame for things that go wrong on someone else? It’s a good deal if you can find one. Except that just because you blame the goat doesn’t mean you don’t have any responsibility....

Bridges are being taken seriously right now. The collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in Frick Park in Pittsburgh on Jan. 28 was one of those bellwether moments — the clanging bell that alerts everyone about impending danger. Of course, the bell clanged a little late for the people on...

Laurel: To community coming together. When Richard McCloskey of Etna hung a swastika flag on his porch late in 2021, some people in the area were understandably upset at a symbol tied not only to the Nazis but also other hate groups. “I don’t hate nobody,” McCloskey said, claiming he...