Letters to the Editor category, Page 296
Letter to the editor: We should commend, not criticize, our teachers
I want to commend all teachers who have stepped up and adjusted their curriculum to provide their students with the best possible education during this pandemic. To members of the community who think teachers are working less and to disgruntled school board directors, please walk in their shoes. Teachers and...
Letter to the editor: We use ‘hatred’ too easily
If I read the word “hatred” one more time to describe a reaction to President Trump, I’ll scream! Admittedly, the media and critics have often been biased in their comments on him. However, using such an intense word to describe almost any disagreement in viewpoint is rampant and reflects a...
Letter to the editor: Won’t be listening to politicians’ holiday advice
Regarding Dr. Rachel Levine’s holiday advice (“Pa. health secretary urges that gatherings be limited to households”): Limit holiday gatherings to those within your own home? Will you be avoiding your elderly mother this holiday season, Dr. Levine? I will never forgive myself for following your advice this Easter. Many of...
Letter to the editor: Finding energy solutions that work
The birthplace of America’s oil industry was Titusville in 1859. Today, Pennsylvania is again an energy powerhouse as the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins. We have the primary building block of all successful economies — abundant and inexpensive energy. We have a...
Letter to the editor: Gaslighting America
Postmodern theory, the concept that nothing is verifiably true, simply doesn’t work for everyone. For many, truths of religion and science still undergird their worldview. Today’s progressive ideology seeks to reshape all belief systems to fit its cultural vision. This deconstructionist exercise is occurring in part through psychological manipulation known...
Sounding off: Schools should stay open
Everyone is familiar with the joke about the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlight, because that is where the light is best, even though he dropped his keys elsewhere. I feel there is something similar going on with the notion that closing schools will somehow affect the spread...
Letter to the editor: Mall walkers seek earlier hours during cold weather
The mall walkers who have been walking at Pittsburgh Mills for years would like to see the mall open a littler earlier in these colder months. It is such a wonderful, well-maintained mall where we all have made such great friendships. Florence Henderson Fox Chapel...
Letter to the editor: Triumph, tragedy, Trump and Biden
As we led up to the election Tuesday, we all “worried and wondered” what it would be, triumph or tragedy? For those who wanted President Trump to win, they saw a win for Joe Biden as a tragedy and vice versa. Voters saw a vast difference between what the two...
Letter to the editor: Pipeline safety is in the spotlight
A recent series by Spotlight PA detailed pipeline safety in the commonwealth through the eyes of the statewide Mariner East pipeline system, which cuts through this region (“Along Mariner East pipelines, secrecy and a patchwork of emergency plans leave many at risk and in the dark”). So often with this...
Letter to the editor: Why the media can’t be believed
In a recent news clip about protesters, a reporter said at 2 a.m. that “the protesters were out but not as many as earlier in the day.” After watching them smash windows, take items and run, he said, “It looks like the protesters are going to have a long night.”...
Letter to the editor: IUP’s changes will hurt students
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has announced plans to restructure academic programs. Part of the plan is to eliminate 128 faculty positions, nearly one-quarter of current faculty. Eighty-one faculty members were notified last week that their jobs would be eliminated (“Indiana University of Pennsylvania notifies 81 faculty members of pending job...
Letter to the editor: Enough is enough with political ads
I’m so glad that this election is over. I’m fed up with getting at least five political ads a day in the mail — wish I could put “return to sender” and mail them all back, plus the annoying phone calls and TV ads. Enough is enough. Keith J. Piecka...
Letter to the editor: Babies’ lives don’t seem to matter
Life is precious. God is the creator of life. Black lives matter. Absolutely. Blue lives matter. Absolutely. Handicapped lives matter. Absolutely. White lives matter. Absolutely. Baby lives matter. Well, not really. God creates lives, but politicians decide which babies live and which babies die. Insane! Francis P. Murrman Sr. Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: Will we eliminate Columbus Day holiday pay, too?
I agree with taking down Columbus’ statue because the taxpayers will be saved millions of dollars. No city or county or federal employee will be off that day, right? I mean, surely we wouldn’t give a day off to government employees to celebrate a mass murderer, right? Peter A. Mamula...
Letter to the editor: License plate cost confusion
In 2017, my wife and I purchased a new car. The dealer gave us a new license plate. Within the next year, we noticed that the plate was starting to peel in strips. In August, the service manager at the dealer told us the car did not pass the yearly...
Letter to the editor: Appreciating animal shelters
The first full week in November is National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. Animal shelters provide much-needed services to keep our communities healthy and safe. Animal shelters provide a bridge between homeless animals and people wanting to share their lives with an animal. We are very fortunate in the Alle-Kiski Valley...
Letter to the editor: Where’s equality, diversity in sports?
BLM, equality, diversity: Baseball, football, basketball — I want to see the same number of white players as there are Black players. I want some Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Chinese, Japanese … . Silly? You bet! Frances Olyarnik Hempfield...
Letter to the editor: Beware masked men in high places
Once upon a time in America, bad men wore masks and robbed people. Today in America, bad men wear masks run for high political office, then use governance to rob people. The eighth Commandment is: “Thou shalt not steal.” David Scandrol Lower Burrell...
Letter to the editor: Columbus statue removal is not erasing history
On Columbus Day I was thoroughly amused by Larry Richert’s interview on KDKA Radio with Italian Sons and Daughters of America President Basil Russo, during which both host and guest expressed the belief that by removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park, the city is erasing history and depriving...
Letter to the editor: Love, respect will guide us
To our beloved community of Monroeville and beyond, The Monroeville Interfaith Ministerium reflects the diversity of our community, nation and world. Each of our faith traditions — Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, Baha’i, Sikh, Jewish, Jain, Christian, both Catholic and Protestant, and Muslim — share a common core of love and respect...
Letter to the editor: Questioning covid-19 death numbers
I keep reading about all the deaths that covid-19 has caused, and it is a staggering number of deaths in this country. My concern is whether these deaths are being reported accurately. I’ve dealt in the past with deaths of family members and how death certificates are completed. I have...
Letter to the editor: Christians coaxed to worship demagogues
The Roman ruler Julian, who reigned for a brief period in the mid-fourth century A.D. and who despised Christianity, had this very specific complaint about the early Christians: “As children are coaxed with cake, so have these Christians enticed the poor to join them by kindness. Strangers they have secured...
Letter to the editor: Are Christians among ‘peaceful’ protesters?
I have grown tired of watching “peaceful” protests on television. So many have turned into violence, burning, looting and even death. I believe most of these protesters are paid hooligans bused into cities to protest incidents they are not truly involved with, paid $15 to $18 an hour to participate...
Letter to the editor: Technicalities of voting
I would like to point out some facts about the conduct of the election. First, you can no longer vote a straight-party ticket by marking that option. The option was eliminated in the new election law. If you want to vote for all the candidates of your party, you must...
Letter to the editor: Schools should stay open
Everyone is familiar with the joke about the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlight, because that is where the light is best, even though he dropped his keys elsewhere. I feel there is something similar going on with the notion that closing schools will somehow affect the spread...
