Opinion category, Page 577
John Stossel: Naughty vs. nice
Who was on Santa’s naughty and nice lists this Christmas? If I were Santa, I’d have given lumps of coal to: • Federal bureaucrats whose rigid rules delayed covid-19 tests. The CDC wouldn’t allow private companies to sell covid-19 tests until the CDC’s own test didn’t work. • President Trump,...
Letter to the editor: Opportunities for community involvement in Monroeville
The year 2021 is just around the corner. The new year brings with it many opportunities for people to be involved with local government. The Monroeville council seats in Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7 will be open, and there will be four seats open on the Gateway School Board....
Letter to the editor: Honoring past, present heroes
My dad never talked much about his role as a U.S. Army medic in World War II. One day, while sitting in the living room, he just opened up to me. He recalled how he was rushed to “the front” in an open Jeep in freezing temperatures and only wearing...
Lori Falce: Christmas village and family tradition
In my mother’s dining room, an antique sideboard carved and joined by my great-grandfather usually groans with the silver and gold she treasures — the frames that show her four kids and six grandchildren, her parents and her sister and the two dark-haired men who got her to say “I...
Letter to the editor: Project SEED still feeding hungry kids
Our lives have changed dramatically this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. One thing that hasn’t changed is the prevalence of food insecurity in so many homes. As covid-19 continues to cause shutdowns of so many aspects of our lives, rest assured that Project SEED remains committed to providing a...
Letter to the editor: Time to help our businesses, workers
For the last nine months, the pandemic has been raging across our country and across the world. Over the past few weeks, things only have gotten worse — with more infections, more hospitalizations, more deaths, more politicization and now another closure. I agree that we need to mitigate this virus,...
Mary Carney: Vital rural access hospitals need support
As we brace ourselves for another wave in covid-19 cases, we are reminded of the gratitude and overwhelming need for health care professionals. The rollout of the vaccine is giving us a sense of hope for the future, but Pennsylvania is still grappling with the state’s confirmed 577,000-plus covid-19 cases...
Letter to the editor: Making democracy work for all will take practice
It has been my custom in the days leading up to Christmas to take time and listen to a full recording of Handel’s “Messiah,” something I did this week. The opening took me back to the year when a friend and I ventured to Pittsburgh to join members of the...
Letter to the editor: Letter from Santa enchants granddaughter
I cannot express how excited my 6-year-old granddaughter was to receive not only a letter from Santa but a certificate reading that she made the “Nice List” this year. Seeing how thrilled she was on our iPad — “Grammy, Grammy, I got a letter from Santa!” — holding up her...
Letter to the editor: Love God by loving all you encounter
Scripture tells us that the Christ child was “laid in a manger” because there was no room for him elsewhere. He was turned away. Today, the Christ child continues to be turned away. He is turned away when there is no room in our hearts for our LGBTQ neighbors. He...
Letter to the editor: North Huntingdon chooses sunshine
Regarding the article “County considers pulling $30K grant from North Huntingdon for defying state public health mandates” : The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act ensures the right of the public “to be present at all meetings of agencies” and further, that it is “vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the...
Letter to the editor: Families have right to visit nursing home residents
I am writing to all families who have loved ones residing in nursing facilities in Pennsylvania. If your loved one is terminally ill or emotionally struggling, you have the right to in-person visits. On Sept. 17, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released memorandum QSO-20-39-NH to provide new...
Editorial: Never too late for covid investigation tools
The state of Pennsylvania announced Monday a new “digital case investigation tool” is launching. The tool will let state residents between 19 and 64 years old who live in counties that don’t have county or local health departments help trace covid-19 contacts. It’s a good development. If the Pfizer and...
Jonah Goldberg: Ted Cruz shows why the GOP isn’t going back to Reaganism
Throughout Donald Trump’s captivity of the GOP, many Republicans have held fast to the hope that after he leaves office, the party can return to the sunny Reaganism of the Before Times. Of course, Trump’s bitter-enders have made it clear that they’d be happy to tear down not just the...
Frasat Ahmad: Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas, but still commemorate Christ
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? Christmas has come. The Christmas trees, filled stockings, mistletoe and bright lights are spectacular. What’s not to like? So how come Muhammad down the street is not soaking up the holiday joy? I don’t see his house decorated with lights, or...
Letter to the editor: Drivers, riders should all pay fair share
Kudos to letter-writer Joe Kujawski (“Electric car fees? Fair is fair,” Dec. 4, TribLIVE). I couldn’t have stated the facts better myself. Note to the complainers: Please reference my letter “Comparing motorcycles, bicycles” (April 9, 2018, TribLIVE): Bicycle riders pay no user fees. Period. John M. Figler Tarentum...
Letter to the editor: Disappointed by opinion on front page
Sadly, I believe the Trib has joined the ranks of most mainstream media and has abandoned the basic tenets of journalism. You obviously don’t believe your readers are intelligent enough to take the information you print and make independent judgments. I suppose you’ve succumbed to schools and colleges that no...
Letter to the editor: UPMC staffers overwhelmed
To UPMC Senior Vice President Leslie Davis and other UPMC executives: As a UPMC nurse, I am angry, disappointed, betrayed — yet not entirely surprised. UPMC leadership has been less visible this year and less in touch than ever with what occurs at the bedside. “Davis said the system has...
Letter to the editor: North Huntingdon commissioners’ callousness
Your Dec. 13 issue was filled with articles about covid-19: weekly deaths hit a high in Westmoreland County, hospitals and health care workers plead with the community to follow CDC guidelines, health care facilities at breaking point, etc. And then there was the article “North Huntingdon says ‘no’ to Wolf’s...
Pat Buchanan: Can democracy hold us together?
If America was a company and not a country, we would have long ago dissolved the corporation, split the blanket and gone our separate ways. What still holds this disputatious and divided people together? Consider. In announcing the $900 billion stimulus bill to deal with the pandemic, House Speaker Nancy...
Paul Kengor: Remembering Christmas 1945
No Christmas in American history compares to that of 75 years ago: Christmas 1945. For the first time in several painfully long years, a nation at war was a nation at peace. Germany had surrendered in May and Japan in August. World War II was finally over. “Home for Christmas!”...
Michael Carnahan: Mill 19 solar project step toward clean air — if expiring tax credit is renewed
When the switch flipped on for Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green last month, I felt a rush of gratitude for the union workers who had stood on netting hammocked between steel beams 85 feet off the ground. Slow, steady and with great skill, they’d clamped on each of the 4,968...
Letter to the editor: Lies will lead to disaster
If important actions occur because of believing lies, consequences could be devastating. To often, we take lies as fact without thinking and make stupid mistakes that are hard to correct. We need to be very careful when our country’s future is at stake. Dave Bastl Manor...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler should resign or apologize
Rep. Guy Reschenthler took an oath to abide by and defend the Constitution. I think he should resign immediately for breaking that oath: He was willing to be a party to subverting a fair election merely to keep his favored candidate in office. His support for Texas’ lawsuit is outrageous...
Letter to the editor: Proving election fraud difficult
When at the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked if we had a republic or monarchy and replied, “A republic, if you can keep it,” he probably was not thinking of election fraud. But I believe that’s exactly what happened during the recent presidential election. Hundreds of sworn affidavits possessed...
