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...
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...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 23
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 23....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 23
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 23....
Letter to the editor: Democrats need to put Americans first
When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. When you find yourself out of money, stop spending. That is common sense. The government is out of funds, yet Democrats want massive spending commitments before approving funding. Affordable Care Act health benefits and subsidies for immigrants is the major issue....
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...
Letter to the editor: Renee Good had rights
The writer of the letter “Renee Good’s blood on Biden’s hands” (Jan. 15, TribLive) at first said it was all President Biden’s fault, or Kamala Harris’ responsibility. Then he concluded it was Good’s own fault. There are several problems with his facts, opinions and omissions. Biden did not fire three...
Editorial: On Barack Obama and the aliens
We got a kick out of an old chestnut among conspiracy theorists — whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe and whether any of those aliens have visited Earth — that rose to the surface this week thanks to the musings of none other than former President Barack Obama....
Daniel Depetris: Europe debates the bomb
Last weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, where he delivered a speech that was both reassuring to the European dignitaries in the audience and nerve-wracking because of its references to the kind of MAGA culture-inspired war themes that Europe generally shivers...
David M. Drucker: All these new independents are making politics more partisan
Disenchanted voters are fleeing the Democratic and Republican parties in droves. Their exodus is perpetuating the skyrocketing partisanship they seek to escape. Gallup published polling in January showing that as of last year, 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents, a record high. The migration began around 2008, with...
Letter to the editor: Those not here legally must be deported
So, a branch of a local government (Allegheny County Council) is concerned about their employees working with another branch of government (ICE). Is that not the most insane thing we as citizens have ever heard? Yes, America is a nation of immigrants, and I have the Ellis Island certificate to...
Letter to the editor: RFK’s vaccine skepticism
Vaccines have been going on in this country since George Washington ordered the Continental Army to get inoculated against smallpox, which was crucial to winning the Revolutionary War. The editorial “RFK Jr.’s vaccine skepticism is entering a new phase,” Feb. 17, TribLive) fails to mention that Robert F. Kennedy’s Department...
Editorial: Let’s see the receipts on data centers
Pennsylvania lawmakers are embroiled in the annual dance in balancing our collective checkbook — the state budget. At the same time, the Keystone State is offering a tax exemption to data center developers that the Department of Revenue acknowledges it cannot fully track. It’s an odd thing to justify. Qualifying...
Letter to the editor: Harassment and sexual exploitation of female correctional officers
The following are two statements from the 2025 Allegheny Jail correctional officer survey: “Our female officers are not at all protected. From the moment they step in the door (as a new worker mostly and current) they are sexually harassed, asked to perform sexual acts or favors to work in...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Free and fair elections?
With Donald Trump’s declining popularity and the growing possibility it will lead to Republican defeats in the midterm elections, his campaign to discredit and destroy the way we elect our leaders is in high gear. Trump is accusing others of trying to fix the election, which is the very thing...
Faisal Kutty: We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable
Every February, Black History Month invites Americans to honor the giants of the civil rights movement. We commemorate them in speeches and street names, reassuring ourselves that their struggles belong safely to the past. But history tells a less comforting story. We tend to celebrate Black moral courage only after...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas: Raising a family in Pa. feels harder than it should
Wherever parents congregate, you hear the same thing. The refrain can be heard at school pickup lines, church basements, birthday parties, and at youth sports games. When it comes to the finances of raising kids, doing everything “right” no longer feels sustainable. The numbers explain why. According to recent cost...
