Editorials category, Page 77
Editorial: Contact tracing scams put all at risk
Some people will try anything to snag a buck. Last week, the Pennsylvania departments of Aging and Health stepped up to warn residents about coronavirus pandemic scams. It starts with a communication about contact tracing. The scammer would like a Social Security number as part of the trace. Or a...
Editorial: Public corruption is everywhere
Public corruption seems like the kind of thing that happens where public service is big business. People almost expect to see dirty politics in Washington — and let’s face it, there is a reason that “drain the swamp” was an easy refrain to encourage. The bigger the city, the less...
Editorial: Wolf has more than one guy’s opinion
No, Tom Wolf. You are not just one man. On Thursday, the governor danced away from questions about the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association asking him to reconsider his statements from last week on delaying fall sports until January because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not sure what they could say...
Editorial: Tranquilli deserves judicious hearing
There are several things that a judge is supposed to be. Fair and patient. Respectful and understanding. Measured and firm. Judicious. We need the people who evaluate the law to do it without preconception or prejudice. It should definitely be without bias, racism and harassment. Sadly, those are the qualities...
Editorial: Pa. needs more community colleges
The coronavirus pandemic has complicated so much about education. Is it possible it might actually help solve a problem instead of creating one? It might. Higher education has struggled in recent years to balance the roles of universities as economic engines and research powerhouses with the costs that support them...
Editorial: Who answers for Brighton Rehab?
Death is not an unfamiliar visitor at a nursing home. For some, the point of such a facility is to recover from a disease or an injury that is hard to manage at home without constant assistance. For others, the support is both more long-term and less transitional. It is...
Editorial: Mental health must be pandemic priority
It is not surprising that people are having some trouble dealing with things since the coronavirus lockdown. The data suggest we have more than one pandemic going on. One is covid-19. The other is its impact on our mental health. And that’s a disease we can’t overlook. In her podcast...
Editorial: Wolf needs to stop playing chicken
And the can gets kicked down the road again. On Friday, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association took a tepid fake-out from Gov. Tom Wolf and didn’t try to make a play for the end zone. On Thursday, Wolf made an unexpected drop-in comment at a news conference, saying sports should...
Editorial: Sit-down could serve Wolf solutions for restaurants
Gov. Tom Wolf needs to make a reservation for dinner. He needs to sit down at a nice big table and have a conversation with the people who own and run and work in Pennsylvania restaurants. Earlier in the week, members of the newly created Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern...
Editorial: Words matter with covid-19 message
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. It’s a good rule of thumb for everyone, but it’s especially important for elected officials. Politicians get — and keep — their jobs by what they say. Their words shape laws and policies. They send us to war and broker peace. In...
Editorial: Rivera and Lechman — a tale of two departures
The coronavirus pandemic has created all-hands-on-deck situations in areas like medicine and the economy, government and manufacturing. But we are now staring down a deadline for two arenas: education and elections. So what happens when longtime leaders step away from those responsibilities? On Monday, Westmoreland County officials confirmed elections bureau...
Editorial: The New Ken-Arnold school board should have seen the severance agreement
The people have a right to know what the government is doing in their name. And how much it’s going to cost them. Last week, the New Kensington-Arnold school board accepted the resignation of superintendent John Pallone. That was followed by a 7-0 vote to accept a severance agreement with...
Editorial: Freedom of press and coronavirus
A pandemic can affect a lot of things. It can change how we work, how kids go to school and how we shop. It can screw up baseball and bingo. It can complicate weddings and funerals. But it doesn’t change the Constitution. It hasn’t changed the freedom of speech of...
Editorial: PIAA and WPIAL set good examples for playing by coronavirus rules
Are you ready for some football? Well, you have to wait. Thanks, covid-19. And even when it starts, you probably won’t get to see it in person. At least not for high school games. The same goes for other fall sports like soccer and cross country. This week, the Pennsylvania...
Editorial: Following clues in covid-19 contact
There are ways that fixing a pandemic can be a little like solving a crime. It takes a lot of legwork. There are clues to follow. It is as important to figure out the what as it is the who and the where to reconstruct what happened and try to...
Laurels & lances: Listening, hearing, living
Laurel: To doing the right thing. Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer did just that when he put on a mask. Balzer was previously criticized by some — and supported by others — for not donning the protective gear required in the courthouse and by Gov. Tom Wolf’s edict. A three-term...
Editorial: Nursing homes need continued covid attention
Pennsylvania has 693 nursing homes. According to the state Department of Health, all of them have now had at least one round of covid-19 testing. Every resident, every staff member, have reportedly been tested for the disease that is at its most lethal among the aging population. Personal care and...
Editorial: Child care helps babysit the economy
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, there is plenty of debate about opening schools and opening businesses and opening the economy. There are all these questions about getting the millions of people who have been laid off or furloughed back to collecting a paycheck instead of an unemployment check. There has...
Editorial: Tax credit grows Pennsylvania agriculture
Pennsylvania might have been made famous by coal and oil, iron and steel, but the industry that actually built the state was agriculture. Rolling hills and wide fields and their crops and livestock have been the powerhouse of the Keystone State since its Colonial days and remain a major building...
Editorial: Pa. swings and misses in Blue Jays call
The score in a game is more than just a record of who won and who lost. The score is a way to navigate through the game itself. It charts the progress from the first pitch to the last run. It lets a team know where it stands. So why...
Editorial: Covid-19 calls for communication
On Wednesday, White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx participated in a phone call with state and local officials from around the country. Discussion included a number of cities that need to get “more aggressive” and step up contact tracing to address covid-19 numbers as increases are being...
Editorial: Wolf shouldn’t veto Right-to-Know
Open records are important or they aren’t. The public has a right to an accountable government or they don’t. It really isn’t a complicated issue. Gov. Tom Wolf’s position, however, is unnecessarily garbled. During the coronavirus pandemic and the state’s shifting series of lockdown and social distancing protocols, freely available...
Laurels & lances: Answers, inspection, education, cruelty
Laurel: To listening to grief. When Marquis Jaylen Brown fell to his death from the 15th floor of Duquesne University’s Brottier Hall in 2018, it left questions about why and how — and it created a hole in the heart of his mother, Dannielle Brown. On July 4, she began...
Editorial: Does FirstEnergy have too much power?
Utility bills are the kind of thing that can feel a little like extortion. You can’t just tell your water company you have found another option and to please dig up their pipes. Sewer service isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can shop around for and find the best...
Editorial: Diversion is good step toward criminal justice reform
On Monday, Pittsburgh announced a pilot program that would work to keep people out of the criminal justice system. As a pilot program, it’s starting small, just on the North Side. The idea is a “public health-focused, pre-arrest diversion program,” something that would address issues of substance abuse or behavioral...
