Letters to the Editor category, Page 4

Taxpayer costs to repair damage to our Capitol from the Jan. 6 attack were nearly $3 million, with only 15% of the damage paid back by the offenders. There were 140 police officers hurt during the attack; one officer died from his injuries, and four officers died by suicide. Donald...

I have some observations regarding public participation in local government. Based on my experiences attending local meetings, it seems that the current structure may inadvertently discourage broader community involvement. Public comment is typically limited to a slot before the meeting begins, with no opportunity for reaction or follow-up after votes...

In 2025 the 50-year anniversaries of various momentous events of 1975 have been remembered. This is also the 50-year anniversary of high school graduation for those of us born in 1957, at the peak of the baby boom. In September I will gather with fellow graduates of the Greater Latrobe...

Hannah Arendt, philosopher turned political theorist, covered for the New Yorker the war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann, the bureaucrat primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust. Arendt’s assessment was that it was Eichmann’s lack of thought and his desire to be part of a movement that enabled his evil. During...

President Donald Trump has always enjoyed living high off the hog, but not necessarily with his own money. History shows he is a notorious cheapskate when it comes to paying his illegal immigrant workers, his lawyers and his subcontractors. Looking at Trump’s finances, it is difficult to determine who pays...

Here is what 308,784 voters saw on the November 2021 ballot, which banned the use of leg restraints in hospital emergency rooms: “Shall the Allegheny Code Chapter 205, Allegheny County Jail be amended and supplemented to include a new Article III which shall set forth standards governing conditions of confinement...

If you are sick of the amount of mass shootings in America, then we need to stop humanizing those who carry out mass shootings. These people are not human. They are monsters. When I say “humanizing,” I refer to feeding the shooter’s ego. These monsters are looking for their 15...

Thank goodness for the ICE raid in Cranberry Township that damaged a Mexican restaurant in search of dangerous MS-13 gang leaders who were selling drugs and raping women, yet still found time to refry beans. I can finally get a good night’s sleep knowing my next burrito won’t be laced...

After several protest events in Phillipsburg around the Moshannon ICE Detention Center, ICE chose to deny Rep. Summer Lee entry to do her job as a congresswomen to inspect federal facilities. The story of being told to wait and then being denied entry is a common occurrence for visitors to...

Creating a distraction-free learning environment is critical for good mental health and academic success. Educators agree cellphones frequently distract students with social media, notifications and texts. Studies show “even having a phone nearby can reduce concentration, lower test scores and disrupt learning, while less screen time can improve focus, critical...

In America’s four professional sports — NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — you will find seven former athletes who were responsible for rule changes in their respective sports. Of them, five are Hall of Famers: Bob Gibson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Martin Brodeur and Mel Blount, all first ballot except...

The recent explosion at Clairton Coke Works killed two workers and injured 10 others. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is now investigating this tragedy. The CSB is the only independent federal agency devoted solely to investigating chemical accidents and recommending steps to prevent future disasters. Yet the administration’s proposed...

How President Trump’s policies hurt the American workers: 1. Tax cuts overwhelmingly favor the wealthy, 83% of the benefits going to the top 1%. 2. He reduced the minimum wage for federal contractors, which could lead to pay cuts of 25% to 60% for these lower-wage workers. 3. He took...

Today, it seems one can’t turn on the TV without a sympathetic press, commiserating with convicted murderers, migrant criminals or “misunderstood“ protesters threatening our police, property and fellow citizens. Why is the media obsessed with the criminals? What happened to victims rights? Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was accused by his...

Someone should tell President Trump that Vladimir Putin does want peace … a big piece of Ukraine! Joe Marmo Cheswick...

I’m going to use my First Amendment right, my freedom of speech, to speak out about what is happening in our country while I still can. If you can’t see that we are well on our way to living under an authoritarian regime, you are sadly mistaken. The deployment of...

As a lifelong Pennsylvania resident and executive director of Mothers of Incarcerated Sons, an organization dedicated in part to voting rights, I want to thank Salewa Ogunmefun for the powerful and timely piece, “60 years after the Voting Rights Act, voting rights under attack” (Aug. 14, TribLive). This op-ed rightly...

While watching the local TV coverage of the horrible Clairton Coke Works explosion, I noticed that the hillside across the river from the Clairton plant is covered with vegetation. I was surprised. While I was growing up in the Mon Valley that hillside was bare. Nothing would grow on it...

It is lovely that the president visited law enforcement officers and National Guard troops stationed in the District of Columbia. I wonder whether he would ever go to see or recognize the Capitol Police and, if so, what type of reception he would receive if he did, given his betrayal...

The state budget is several months late, and for Pennsylvanians like us, the consequences are personal. We are sisters living with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. We live together and rely on full-time, participant-directed home care for every part of daily life — bathing, eating, getting dressed. This model empowers us to...

A moratorium on new mines is the only way the Rustic Ridge II Deep Mine will not happen, as I gather from attending the Department of Environmental Protection’s informal conference Aug. 20 at St. Raymond Catholic Church in Donegal. Even though everyone who spoke was against it being built, the...

How many chances does President Trump get before Republicans realize their mistake? What a slap in the face with the Putin meeting. Macho Trump cowered to Putin immediately as they met on the red carpet. During numerous handshaking, Trump appeared intimidated. It was apparent things would get worse. It seemed...

Fall creates a flurry of activity and a return to a routine as teachers and students head back to school. There are those who will say, as they always do, that education went downhill when they took God and prayer out of the schools. Who said that God and prayer...

There is an old man in the White House living in his fantasy world where down is up and up is down. He says crime is up nationally while it is down. In Washington, D.C., and Baltimore in particular, violent crime rates have dropped sharply. He claims that inflation is...

No Kid Hungry urges Pennsylvania families to apply for SUN Bucks benefits before the Aug. 31 deadline. These summer grocery benefits are critical at a time when new polling finds the majority of adults are dealing with stress in the face of increasing food costs. The poll from AP-NORC reveals...