Editorials category, Page 71
Editorial: For local governments large and small, distress is universal
The coronavirus pandemic has been a lot of things to a lot of people. It has been a medical emergency. It has been a financial boondoggle. It has been a planning nightmare, an educational upheaval and an employment catastrophe. But it’s also been something else. A great equalizer. On Tuesday,...
Laurels & lances: Eating, excellence, elections
Laurel: To a tasteful event. Restaurants have had a rough year. Those that have survived the last 11 months have done so with tenacity and hard work that has to be commended. And that makes this year’s Greensburg Restaurant Week probably the most important ever. Nineteen different eateries are participating...
Editorial: Raising expectations for covid vaccinations but not delivering
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health unveiled a website to help move along the covid-19 vaccination process. Click on the link, and you go to a state page with a quiz that poses a few questions to determine if you meet the criteria to get the vaccine now. Are...
Editorial: The American experiment succeeds
America is often described as a great experiment in democracy. We have now spent 233 years operating under the auspices of the U.S. Constitution. The experiment has been under way for long enough that it is less trial and error and more pattern and tradition. In 1796, we wondered if...
Editorial: Bringing back movies to the Mills is a welcome sign
Closings are something that are a little too familiar right now. They aren’t new, of course. Too many Southwestern Pennsylvania towns have Main Streets strewn with shuttered storefronts. Many shopping malls are shells of their former selves. The coronavirus pandemic has hastened what might have been a chronic illness, pulling...
Editorial: Martin Luther King Jr.’s dreams still ring out
When Martin Luther King Jr. came to the Lincoln Memorial in March 1963, he spoke words that echoed like a bell. They rang true and resonated with both heartbreak and faith as he spoke about a dream of equality, freedom and the future. It was a moment that seems suspended...
Editorial: Nursing shortage and pay needs more attention
It’s hard to prioritize whose work is more important than someone else’s at any time. Sidney Crosby might be the bright star of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but you can’t play hockey without the guy who drives the Zamboni over the ice, either. The coronavirus pandemic can make those inevitable comparisons...
Editorial: Arconic appeal shows need for reform
School districts spend a lot of time trying to make the money match the mission. Administrators and school boards haggle endlessly, moving the pieces in a puzzle that will provide children with the best education possible within the framework of the available finances. An amazing arts program would be fantastic,...
Laurels & lances: Help, leniency and goals
Laurel: To asking for what you need. It is a tired and trite trope that kids hate school. Parents have known for years that when summer vacation ends, most kids are ready to get back to the classroom. And if the coronavirus pandemic has taught us nothing else, it’s that...
Editorial: With Brewster’s victory, let the people’s business commence
State Sen. Jim Brewster once more has been sworn in to office. On Wednesday morning, the Democrat from McKeesport finally took his oath to represent the people of the 45th District in the Pennsylvania Senate for his third term. He is the last to do so after the incredibly close...
Editorial: Covid complications must be taken seriously
Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes isn’t an old man. He doesn’t have a long list of the kind of health problems that can make it easier to get sick — things like diabetes or heart disease. He isn’t obese. He is young, healthy and hard to keep down. But that...
Editorial: The opioid crisis has not gone anywhere
It sometimes seems like the coronavirus pandemic devoured every other problem, leaving nothing in its wake. While it is hard to find a news story — whether health or politics, local government or education — that doesn’t have the word “covid” in it somewhere, that isn’t what happened. Instead of...
Editorial: Make electronics disposal cheap and easy
We live in a very garbage-heavy world. People throw away everything and do it without thinking much about it. Paper plates and plastic straws and the boxes and bags that package them. The jars and cans that hold food. Baby diapers and cardboard and banana peels and coffee grounds and...
Editorial: Making companies immune from misconduct is sick
When we think about immunity, we usually think about being resistant to a disease. Immunity is the ability to shrug off an infection, to ignore a virus. It’s an idea that has occupied us for much of the last year. The possibility of being immune to covid-19 because of having...
Laurels & lances: Good taste, goodbye, good sense
Laurel: To a recognition in good taste. Tessaro’s in Bloomfield is well known for burgers as big in flavor as they are in size. J&J’s Family Restaurant in Mt. Washington is the kind of diner that feels like visiting a favorite aunt’s house, sipping coffee from mismatched mugs. The two...
Editorial: An assault on the American system
The U.S. Capitol is the cathedral of government in the United States. Since 1793, it has been where the laws that shape our nation were baptized. Where treaties were blessed. Where solemn acts of war were confirmed. While we separate our churches from the state, the Capitol with its awe-inspiring...
Editorial: Another Harrisburg mudfest that didn’t have to happen
What happened in Harrisburg on Tuesday didn’t have to happen. The question of who exactly won the 45th District seat in the Pennsylvania Senate is not a question that just came up. It was not a surprise. It has been an ongoing issue since the Nov. 3 election, when incumbent...
Editorial: Mourning the loss of Rep. Mike Reese, a dedicated public servant
If you drive around Westmoreland County, you might think that Mike Reese was running for the state House of Representatives again. The green-and-white signs promoting support for him have popped up again like mushrooms. This time they aren’t about swaying a vote in the November election, which he won for...
Editorial: Is turnpike toll increase gap unfair?
January is here. It’s time for that special ritual of the new year. Not the swearing in of new elected officials. Not signing up for a gym or diet plan to pursue a resolution that could wither by February. No, in the Keystone State, there is something that happens every...
Editorial: Why is vaccine distribution slowed?
The federal government planned for 20 million coronavirus vaccinations by the end of 2020. That has proved to be a bit of an overestimation. The actual totals of about 3 million “certainly are not at the numbers we wanted to be at the end of December,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said...
Laurels & lances of 2020
Laurel: To a life lived in service to others. On the last day of 2020, Pennsylvania lost a bedrock political figure. Dick Thornburgh, a two-term governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, died at the age of 88. He left behind a legacy of work...
Editorial: Prioritizing problems for 2021
It’s 2021! Everything is going to change, right? Well, let’s not put too much pressure on the healing power of flipping a page on a calendar. The New Year is definitely a time of hope and optimism. Even when things are good, there’s something about New Year’s Day that just...
Editorial: The scary year that was 2020
The Tribune-Review editorial from Jan. 1, 2020, could have been prophecy. The headline has proven to be an undeniable truth: “2020 promises wild ride.” “If 2019 seemed like a roller coaster, hurtling to the peak of one local, state, national or global event after another before veering wildly off in...
Editorial: Parks are needed. So is funding.
Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to start collecting a new property tax in the coming year. It isn’t a tax that will be a surprise. Pittsburghers voted for the 0.5-mill dedicated increase in 2019. The council is simply moving forward with the plans to collect and then use...
Editorial: The pandemic lesson of a Steelers game
Oh, the life lessons we can learn from football — even in a year when sports have been so up in the air. Football is just a game. Sometimes that’s true. But Hollywood seems to recognize the ability of sports to act as a kind of parable for the way...
