Opinion category, Page 10
Letter to the editor: Don’t let Pa. become another Minn.
ICE has drawn down its agents in Minnesota but significantly increased its presence in Pennsylvania. Maybe they think they will have better luck in Pennsylvania because we are a purple state. But the issue with ICE is not a blue or red problem; it is a constitutional, law and order...
Paul Kengor: Maz’s memory — and ours
It was a Thursday afternoon, Oct. 13, 1994, the 3 o’clock hour. I stood aside the bricked remnant of old Forbes Field on the University of Pittsburgh campus next to the law school and “Forbes Quad” building. Inside the latter is the old home plate of Forbes encased in glass. You...
Elan Justice Pavlinich: Shippingport data centers will be financial, health burdens on Beaver County residents
Southwestern Pennsylvania is set to become home to a fleet of massive data centers, seemingly whether residents want it or not. Three new ones just received approval to be built near the old Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport. Some proponents claim that this wave of construction projects will be...
Jonah Goldberg: The world may be done bending to Trump’s will
I might as well say it clearly: I’m for regime change in Iran. The Islamic fanatics who have been running Iran since 1979 are murderers, torturers and exporters of terrorism. They are despised, or at least unwanted, by most Iranians, and the Iranians who get caught expressing their opinions in...
Letter to the editor: Trump, Zeldin should try breathing exhaust fumes
President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, having revoked scientific findings that CO2 emissions are harmful: Before you go for your next car ride, with the car running, go around to the “exhaust” pipe and take a deep breath. In fact take two, since you don’t think it’s harmful, and...
Editorial: The private price of public property
Real estate development would be much easier if everyone could get land for free — or close to it. Of course there are the expenses of design, site work and construction. There may be hurdles for permits and approvals. But the cost of land is often the biggest obstacle. As...
Letter to the editor: Constituents not earning reelection
I routinely write our congressional representatives. Usually the senators (John Fetterman and Dave McCormick) don’t respond. To be honest, I did get a canned response from McCormick the last time I wrote. But it did not address the subject I questioned; it was a canned response. On the contrary, Congressman...
Letter to the editor: Ligonier Country Market must save itself
The Ligonier Country Market’s failure to fulfill the terms of its site lease with the Loyalhanna Watershed Association has the community staple of 50 years teetering on the brink of extinction. Market leadership must stop wasting time attempting to acquire inferior, problematic locations in the 11th hour. Instead, to ensure...
Cal Thomas: Trump, insulter in chief
Each time one thinks President Trump has reached the lowest level possible in insulting his enemies, he finds new depths to plunge. Following a 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court, which included three conservative justices he appointed, the president called the justices “fools,” a “disgrace to the nation” and “unpatriotic.”...
Pawan Dhingra: How the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped ICE’s immigration strategy
Stephen Miller’s January 2026 announcement to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — telling them that they have “immunity to perform your duties” and that no “illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist” can stop them — may seem like an extreme statement outside the political mainstream. And when ICE...
Rich Harwood: As America turns 250, it’s time to begin again
I know many people are approaching America’s 250th anniversary with a sense of trepidation, even dread. Is there really anything to celebrate given the recent chaos and uncertainty we’ve been experiencing? Is productively reckoning with our history a possibility these days? And how hopeful will we allow ourselves to be...
Jason Lias: No politics, just love of country, at Olympics
There was something almost shocking about Jack Hughes after Team USA won Olympic gold. Not the overtime goal. Not the missing teeth. Not even beating a top-tier opponent — which in some circles counts as international diplomacy. Nope. The jaw-dropper was this: “I love the USA. I’m so proud to...
Letter to the editor: ICE in Westmoreland a travesty
Recently the Trib listed a number of Western Pennsylvania communities that have signed agreements of cooperation with ICE. The Westmoreland County sheriff’s office was on that list. Perhaps if Sheriff James Albert had taken time out from his longstanding squabbles about prison transportation to think before signing this shameful document,...
Letter to the editor: Clinton’s ploy to produce new voters
I believe that in 1996, President Clinton knew if the lurid details of the Monica Lewinsky affair were made public, his bid for reelection would be jeopardized — and little did he know that a letter dropped on his desk would change all of that. Father Miguel Vega, a member...
Letter to the editor: Finland, Norway more attractive than U.S.
I’ve often heard President Trump lament that so many of our immigrants are Latinos. “Why not Norway, or Sweden?” he complains. Perhaps the better question is, “Why would anyone want to move here from Norway?” These democratic socialist countries have so much more to offer their people, while here we...
Editorial: Supreme Court tariff ruling spotlights local government limbo
Tariffs have created economic confusion over the past year. Some don’t really understand what they are or how they impact prices in the U.S. Some support them as an American trade policy even if they do have an impact at home. For many — including government agencies — they have...
P. Daniel Patterson: After a 32-hour shift in Pittsburgh, I realized EMTs should be napping on the job
At 7 a.m., roughly an hour before the end of my shift as a paramedic in Pittsburgh, my colleague and I were dispatched to a patient who was violently vomiting and not alert. We arrived within 10 minutes, grabbed our gear and approached the front door. While walking up the...
J. Byron Fleck: Pitt must stop using students, taxpayers as piggy bank for athletics
For years, the University of Pittsburgh has quietly shifted a staggering financial burden onto the backs of its students, their families and Pennsylvania taxpayers. Now, thanks to Pitt’s filings with the commonwealth, the truth is finally undeniable: Pitt has been using tuition, mandatory student fees and state appropriations to cover...
Letter to the editor: Traffic offender ‘worst of the worst’?
I am very grateful that Springdale police and ICE have worked together to protect the small town where I grew up from the “worst of the worst.” This is how I want to see government use tax dollars — paying ICE to process a person for turning without using a...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s accomplishments
What matters most to American citizens ? Slings and arrows about President Trump’s character or tangible results that make their lives safer and better ? The writer of the letter “Trump acts while Dems do nothing” (Feb. 13, TribLive) makes a solid case for results. He lists 14 of Trump’s...
Editorial: New Pa. law is about the write stuff
Education has been criticized in recent years — decades, really — for not teaching children how to think so much as teaching them how to take tests. Specifically, students have learned exactly what they need to perform well on standardized exams. Those tests measure how well a school is doing...
Letter to the editor: Nothing positive from Springdale council
Will Springdale Borough Council ever do anything positive? First, council took a stand against the Allegheny Valley School District concerning the Veterans Memorial Field repairs. That resulted in our school taxes being raised and the field being moved to Butler Street. The field is still locked as the argument continues....
Laura Washington: SNAP junk food bans punish poor families
Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, courtesy of President Donald Trump and his GOP-controlled Congress, have arrived across the nation. The reforms to the food assistance program for the needy come via the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law mandates that SNAP recipients ages 18 to...
Lynn Schmidt: Kentucky’s Paul and Massie stand firm on principle over party
Two congressional Republicans from the Bluegrass State are serving as a model of how members of Congress can act with conviction over political convenience. In an era when partisan loyalty often trumps individual conviction, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky stand out as lawmakers willing...
Letter to the editor: Liberty and justice for all
Too many of the writers to this section forget their childhood lessons. Remember the Pledge of Allegiance? It was forced into us more than any invocation or childhood song. I bet you all can say with me the last six words, so let’s do it together: “with liberty and justice...
