Opinion category, Page 296
Lori Falce: Judicial reform is about accountability, not retribution
There is a difference between accountability and retribution. Accountability means you are subject to the consequences of your actions. You back into a car in the parking lot, you pay your deductible and probably see your insurance premium go up. You miss your credit card payment and have to pay...
Letter to the editor: Girardi best candidate for district judge
I was fortunate to clerk for a good magisterial district judge for 21 years prior to retiring in 2022. I also subbed in a court with a newly elected judge who was formerly a scientist. It was challenging because of his lack of experience and limited familiarity with the court...
Laurels & lances: Reaction and consequence
Laurel: To a quick response. For several weeks, we have had the unfortunate duty to chastise people for hoaxes. These involved reports of active shooters that were made up. They targeted Oakland Catholic and Central Catholic high schools in Pittsburgh, Laurel Highlands High School in Fayette County, Mt. Pleasant Area...
Letter to the editor: Fritz well qualified to be commissioner
The writer of the letter “We need qualified candidates in Westmoreland commissioner race” (March 28, TribLIVE) believes Patricia Fritz isn’t qualified to run for Westmoreland County commissioner. I disagree. Fritz was a supervisor for PennDOT for 23 years with responsibilities that included the smooth operation of the busy District 12-5...
Colin McNickle: Reduce costs before adding new mass-transit taxes
Proposed legislation now before the House Transportation Committee in Harrisburg would enable specific counties to enact new taxes, surtaxes and fees to subsidize mass transit and fund transportation infrastructure. But a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says that as far as Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is...
Letter to the editor: Speak out on another Penn-Trafford budget increase
As the Penn-Trafford School Board prepares to vote on the district budget in June, they are still unsure whether they can hold the line on it or if they will vote for a tax increase for the 10th year in a row. If you want your opinion to be considered,...
Letter to the editor: Zellers for district judge
Time for change in the Valley! Better options cannot be overlooked when opportunity arises. Leslie Uncapher Zellers is that better option for magisterial district judge. When she served the citizens of Westmoreland County as a prosecuting attorney with the district attorney’s office, we prosecuted many cases together. I came to...
Editorial: World Press Freedom Day is a reminder of vital role
May 3 doesn’t really seem like a holiday for most people. It’s after Easter and before Memorial Day. It falls in that middle ground of spring days that just run into one another. But May 3 is a holiday that flies under the radar, although it speaks to something that...
Letter to the editor: We can’t police ourselves out of opioid crisis
The article “Expecting more than $1B in opioid settlement money, Pa. grapples with policing versus treatment” (April 18, TribLIVE) discusses how many counties are planning on using their settlement money to hire more police officers. There is no evidence supporting that more policing decreases overdoses. We must use this settlement...
Jonah Goldberg: How comment section trolls took over the Republican Party
Is the GOP becoming a dysfunctional chatroom? In economics, Gresham’s law on currency markets holds that “bad money drives out good.” That same principle also applies to the comment sections on online sites. In comments sections — including such mega-versions like Twitter — the nastiest commenters post more, and more...
Dr. Anne Marie Fine: Leadership needed on air, water quality in East Palestine
As you step outside this spring, think of the people of East Palestine. A simple pleasure of life in the Northeast — breathing in clean, crisp air after a long winter indoors — now carries significant health risks for East Palestine’s residents. Instead of enjoying this exciting time of year,...
Letter to the editor: ‘Book bans’ are attempts to eliminate pornography
I feel I must take exception to a portion of the editorial “When is free speech not free on college campuses?” (April 25, TribLIVE). I think what you call book bans by conservatives are in reality parents trying to restrict pornographic books from their children’s school libraries. I doubt many...
Letter to the editor: Thoughts on Fetterman and Trump
Some comments on three letters published recently. “Fetterman should resign” (March 7, TribLIVE): I’m sure this letter-writer would feel different if Sen. John Fetterman was a Republican, praising him for his courage in standing up to his detractors. I think Fetterman’s main problem is the way he dresses when he’s...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s video announcement shows he’s unqualified
In making a video to announce that he is running for president again in 2024, President Biden is really telling the American people something. Since he seems to have trouble communicating to the American people live, those around him have stooped so low as to make a video — I...
Editorial: Can Re:Build reimagine manufacturing in Southwestern Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania is built on the brute strength of production. For more than 100 years, the region was where people dug coal from the earth, turned ore into metal, baked bricks and fashioned glass. The creations of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas were the things that built the nation. That was something...
Letter to the editor: Kertes, Chew great county commissioners
On May 16, Westmoreland County Republican voters will select two candidates for county commissioners. Of the five candidates, Sean Kertes and Doug Chew are running for reelection. They have done an excellent job and deserve to be reelected. As a voter, I ask myself whether Westmoreland County has continued to...
Letter to the editor: Disgraceful actions in commissioners’ race
What’s happening in the Westmoreland County commissioners race is absolutely a disgrace (“Appeals court rules Ventre, Kosko to remain on GOP ballot for Westmoreland commissioner,” April 7, TribLIVE). For Bill Bretz, the Westmoreland County Republican Party chairman, and his attorney, Scott Avolio, who is also an assistant solicitor for the...
Peter Morici: Biden administration needs to negotiate a cease-fire to the U.S.-China cold war
America and China have slid into a cold war, and we should be thankful if tensions don’t spill into a full-blown conflict. China boasts the largest navy in the world and hypersonic and carrier-killing missiles that could quickly disable U.S. military assets in the South China Sea and Pacific. Those...
Cal Thomas: The debt limit — same old song
The very term “debt limit” makes a mockery of any kind of responsible budgeting. Each time the government reaches the “limit” it gets raised with the familiar scenarios that include threats of a government shutdown (an idea that increasingly appeals to some conservatives) and the claim that the “full faith...
Letter to the editor: Vote Karaica for district justice
As a lifelong Springdale resident, high school alumnus, homeowner, taxpayer and former borough council member, Mitchell Karaica has a vested interest in keeping our community safe and thriving. For years, he has committed himself to showing up for our community by giving his time and/or resources, without looking for recognition....
Letter to the editor: Highway trash
I find the editorial “Figure out the source for state police fund money first” (April 13, TribLIVE) ignorant of the highway laws. Title 36, § 425 prohibits the posting of any signage on state road rights of way without express written consent from PennDOT. Written permission is never obtained and...
Editorial: It’s long past time we test our schools for radon
Radon is poison. It occurs naturally in the world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. It’s a gas that can seep up from the soil. It can filter through the water. It can be found in the bricks and boards of a building. You won’t see it. It has...
Letter to the editor: Vote McKinley, Moore in Arnold
The decisions of a municipal official, school board director or local magistrate will certainly impact your life more immediately, and more directly, than those of a president, governor or U.S. senator. Local elected officials make decisions that affect your most valuable assets — your family, your home, your school, your...
Letter to the editor: We need enforcement, not more gun laws
In response to the letter “God didn’t give us guns” (April 23, TribLIVE): We do not need more “commonsense” gun laws; we need commonsense enforcement of existing gun laws. If you do not punish bad behavior, you get worse behavior. Anyone who has raised children should have learned that. The...
Tom Purcell: Forget your grass — and save the bees
It’s an excuse I’ve been dreaming of: a reason to not mow my lawn until June. A “No Mow May” movement is afoot to nurture our bee population for a very good reason: bees are incredibly important to our own survival. According to Bee City USA, an initiative of the...
