Letters to the Editor category, Page 2
Letter to the editor: Shell plant is good for community
Behind the walls of Shell’s petrochemicals plant in Monaca, hundreds of hardworking members of our community keep the facility operating safely and efficiently. I grew up in a rural town with a smaller population, so I understand how families need good jobs like these to raise their families and maintain...
Letter to the editor: Clean energy will help us protect Earth
April is Earth Month — a time to savor the wonderful planet that gives us bright blue skies, breathtaking mountains, wide-open plains, serene river valleys and lakes, captivating forests, and an endless variety of plants and animals. Earth Month is also time for considering what more should be done to...
Letter to the editor: Bring integrity back to mayoral office in Aspinwall
Anyone who has been around Aspinwall for their entire life, like I have, knows that the Mount Rushmore of Aspinwall leadership includes men of honor and integrity like Art Esser, Ben Killian and Joe Noro. These fine gentlemen wanted to serve the community simply because they love(d) this town with...
Letter to the editor: Pause taxes and freebies during shutdowns
Since elected officials won’t vote for term limits and continue to fail their jobs by not passing budgets, here’s a thought. When government shuts down, all forms of taxes are stopped. No income tax, sales taxes, estate taxes and so forth. Also no perks, free meals and per diems to...
Letter to the editor: Alcohol awareness
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a time to reflect on your alcohol consumption. For adults who choose to drink, the new 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize moderation, advise that drinking less is better for overall health than drinking more and note that some people should not drink at all....
Letter to the editor: Fiscal accountability for cyber charter schools
Regarding Timothy Eller’s letter “Never enough cyber savings” (March 12, TribLive): According to the Pennsylvania auditor general, during a three-year period, Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) has spent over $196 million to purchase and renovate 21-plus buildings across the state. CCA has confirmed that it has set aside between $452 million and $610 million...
Correction
The Shell plant is on the Ohio River. The letter “Shell plant continues to pollute” (April 5, TribLive) listed an incorrect location....
Letter to the editor: Government hypocrisy
Regarding the article “Pittsburgh looks to charge $5 an hour for on-street parking near NFL Draft” (April 1, TribLive): A City Council member proposes an increase for city parking and parking fines while the latest issue from the federal government is a call to rein in “out of control college...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler’s silence
Recent statements from President Donald J. Trump, including threats to target Iranian infrastructure and rhetoric suggesting “complete and total regime change,” are not just reckless; they raise serious legal and moral concerns. Intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure and openly contemplating regime change risk violating international law and endangering countless innocent lives....
Letter to the editor: Invest in our youth, not data centers
Proponents of massive data centers often promise a digital frontier of high-tech growth, but a sober analysis reveals a different reality. These billion-dollar projects certainly provide a “blue-collar gold rush” during construction, creating a temporary surge in high-paying trade jobs. However, once the ribbon is cut, the “high-tech” job engine...
Letter to the editor: Protesters should get over it
When I see coverage of the “No Kings” protests on TV, I change the channel. You people lost the election. Get over it. We lost the election in 2020, and we had to put up with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for four years and a news media that covered...
Letter to the editor: Francis will bring fresh perspective to District 57
This year, Westmoreland County residents finally have a choice for Pennsylvania House of Representative in District 57. Frankly, the right-wing platform of fewer regulations, a stagnant minimum wage, an absence of affordable health care and constant attacks on free and fair elections is stale and out of touch. Democratic candidate...
Letter to the editor: Trump, the great dealmaker
People have often justified the president’s personal failings by arguing that they make him a good deal-maker. The Iran crisis shows me why this argument fails. President Trump wants the Europeans to deploy military forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This follows a year of insulting Europe and...
Letter to the editor: Driving off the AI cliff
AI is driving us “down a cliff road. A mistake will kill you. Now we’re driving at 75 instead of 25.” That’s from the head of safety at Anthropic. AI bots have lied, deceived, threatened violence, generated self-harm in kids, blocked shutdowns and monitoring and done other things they were...
Letter to the editor: Noncitizens don’t vote — period
The writer of the letter “The Constitution and noncitizen voting” (March 31, TribLive) provides a lengthy review of a set of constitutional amendments that tell us what we already know: Noncitizens can’t vote. He should have cut that part short and focused instead on the equally important fact that noncitizens...
Letter to the editor: SAVE America Act must be passed
The Save America Act is designed to protect and insure election integrity by requiring photo ID in order to vote in all U.S. elections. Twenty-one states already require photo ID, and another 12 require some other form of personal ID to vote. Over 170 out of 196 representative democracies around...
Letter to the editor: Veterans deserve better care
Several million young Americans went off to serve their country in Vietnam. More than 55,000 never came home alive. Nearly 500,000 died back home from wounds and mental ailments. A mistaken war. An erroneous report from a tugboat captain in the Gulf of Tonkin to the secretary of defense to...
Letter to the editor: AI requires human wisdom
AI robots will automate repetitive tasks in industry. This will increase productivity. Innovation will be spurred by an increase in research and experimentation. Farming will be augmented and more precise with climate adaptive assistance. But what of the loss of jobs? The December 2025 issue of Time magazine featured the...
Letter to the editor: Hempfield renovations uninspired
I saw the renovation rendering of the front of Hempfield Area High School. It looked like something you would see at a Google office or industrial headquarters — benign, uninspired office/industrial plastic frontage. No Western Pennsylvania sandstone or limestone, no hemlock or maple lumber, no local identity, no soul. Perhaps...
Letter to the editor: A counterpart to March Madness
With March Madness over, I am reminded that the further a team goes, the harder the loss is felt. Former Pitt women’s basketball coach Agnus Berenato once said, “Only one team ends its season with a win.” This is a hard truth. That being said, I propose yet another basketball...
Letter to the editor: Protest the do-nothings, not Trump
America dispensed with the king 250 years ago, and that is what we should proudly be celebrating and having parades about, not demonstrating about the successes of Donald Trump. I would encourage the demonstrators flying communist, Hezbollah, Iranian and Venezuelan flags to leave America for their flag-touting locations and see...
Letter to the editor: Pa.’s gas impact fee an example of effective taxation
While I wouldn’t say this for all of Pennsylvania’s systems of taxation (many of which are convoluted), I do think that our state could be a case study for effective taxation as it pertains to the natural gas impact fee. The impact fee is notable for a few reasons: 1)...
Letter to the editor: Trump damaging the country
The Trump administration’s whack-a-mole approach to problem solving is damaging the country for decades to come. Let’s address the elephant in the room. I believe this is all about the felon in the White House desperately trying to avoid consequences for his self-indulgent lifestyle, courting sexual predators, cheating contractors, bankruptcies...
Letter to the editor: Time for PRT to have vision and expand subway system
I find it amazing that Pittsburgh Regional Transit is telling the people of Pittsburgh not to drive during the NFL Draft. If PRT back in the 1980s had a little vision it would have continued to build a effective/efficient “subway system” that went north, east and west, not just south....
Letter to the editor: Shell plant continues to pollute
How would you feel if you had to live next to a neighbor who consistently burned waste in their backyard, left trash scattered around your neighborhood and pushed off any growing concerns with a, “I’ll fix it later.” This is the reality for many Beaver County residents who live next...
