Joshua Rothman: Vaccine confusion sets up U.S. for a resurgence of hepatitis B in babies
Measles is back in the United States. More than 1,500 cases have already been reported in the first months of 2026, putting the country on pace to surpass last year’s total of more than 2,200, the highest number in decades. Public health officials warn the nation’s status as “measles free”...
Letter to the editor: Our representatives must stop Trump
Well, Donald Trump cozies up with Benjamin Netanyahu and starts a war. He, they, don’t realize the Iranians will decide when this conflict ends. The ceasefire is an elixir to quiet the masses. The fact remains he is still supported by too many people who turn a blind eye toward...
Letter to the editor: Sheriff’s complaints perplexing
I find Sheriff James Albert’s complaints about transporting prisoners perplexing. He claims it should not be his department’s responsibility and if that duty was to be taken away, it would save taxpayers $250,000. How? Whether local police or Pennsylvania State Police transport prisoners, it is still going to be up...
Editorial: 911 dispatchers are unseen first responders
When the worst happens, we rely on the people who answer the call to be there. We need the police to stand between us and violence. We need firefighters to walk into flames. We need paramedics and emergency medical technicians to stop the bleeding. But while those are the first...
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ shameful behavior
The Senate Democrats have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security for over 60 days now, over their objections to ICE and Border Patrol agents enforcing the immigration laws they helped pass in Congress. This is absolutely insane behavior, especially in a time of active military conflict with a...
Anita Chabria: Jackie Speier would like her former congressional colleagues to zip up and shape up
It seems like a simple ask that male politicians don’t sexually harass or even rape women, but also, it seems like an open secret in Congress that sexual misconduct is too
common. Take Eric Swalwell, whose epic political
immolation has captivated the national political news, including a TMZ-obtained video of...
Patrick Range McDonald: Seniors face unfair rents and homelessness. They need rent control
From mobile home parks in Maine to modest apartments in California, seniors desperately need rent control to protect themselves against skyrocketing rents charged by predatory landlords. Our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, many of whom live on fixed incomes, face serious, life-
altering consequences if politicians don’t protect them. They need...
Editorial: The U.S. and Iran should turn this pause into peace
Even as the U.S. and Iran flirt with a return to negotiations, each appears convinced it can dish out more pain — and absorb more — than its opponent. They’d both be wiser to accept the compromises needed to bring their six-week conflict to a close. Exactly what derailed marathon...
Letter to the editor: Pa. budget should focus on spending, not revenue
While I’m happy to see those people in Harrisburg start “early” on a budget, I have zero confidence. There is one fact that I have conspicuously noticed in recent years. All the talk about budgets in Pennsylvania has been around “additional revenue sources.” Not one word about spending. This is...
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 20
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 20....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 20
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 20....
Christopher Cokinos: Artemis II does for our era what Apollo 8 did for 1968
Millions in the streets. An unpopular war. Violence. And in the middle of all that: a moonshot. The parallels between today and 1968 are eerie. Nearly 60 years ago, civil rights marches and anti-Vietnam-war rallies burst across the country. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Police...
Hope Reese: The election that unseated strongman Viktor Orban is the most important I’ve witnessed
Last Sunday night, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat in one of the most important elections I’ve ever witnessed. The right-wing strongman stepped down from power in Hungary after a rule of 16 years — years that spanned the adult lifetime of a generation of young people, who have...
Letter to the editor: Gas company transparency would help our environment
Pennsylvania’s orphan oil and gas wells and its brownfield properties are often treated as separate challenges, but they share the same root cause: Economic value was created without fully accounting for long‑term cleanup costs. Across the commonwealth, tens of thousands of abandoned wells remain from generations of energy development. At...
Letter to the editor: Is 12-year term limit on county officials a joke?
Regarding the article “Voters to decide on placing term limits on Allegheny County officials” (April 17, TribLive): 12 years? At first, I thought this was a joke. Benjamin Franklin wrote the Pennsylvania Constitution and in it limited lawmakers to one year, with no pay. Oh, how things have changed. A...
Letter to the editor: Analyzing Trump’s rhetoric
I often wince at the things President Trump says. Trump recently warned Iran that “… a whole civilization will die tonight” unless “something revolutionarily wonderful” occurs. I think he was bluffing in the hopes that he wouldn’t have to use any more conventional military attacks to get their cooperation. He...
Editorial: Good start, Harrisburg. Now finish the budget
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is giving people reason to be optimistic. The lawmakers gave their approval Tuesday to the 2026-27 budget. The good news? This is the earliest a budget has moved this far in nine years. The bad news? This is not the finish line. Pennsylvania’s legislators —...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump and the Bible
Although it was widely reported at the time that Donald Trump did not place his hand on the Bible when he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025, that news was quickly eclipsed by other headlines he created that week. But it is getting a second look after...
Jay Sefton and Dr. Mark Basquill: Opening a window to protect children
Born, raised and sexually abused by priests in Pennsylvania, we are two licensed mental health professionals with a combined 50 years of experience in the field of psychology. We’re also the co-authors of “Unreconciled,” a solo play about a Pennsylvania survivor of childhood sexual abuse seeking healing and justice. As...
Mary McNamara: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?
LOS ANGELES When I was a child, I watched “The Jetsons” and “Lost in Space” and imagined my adult self living in a world of high-tech ease: flying cars, self-cleaning rooms, high-speed trains, personal jetpacks and wise-cracking robotic companions capable of solving any problem in a trice. Instead I got...
Letter to the editor: Nonprofits need to step up and help Pittsburgh firefighters
This week, WTAE-TV aired a story regarding the Pittsburgh fire department’s vehicles and their condition (I should say their long-past-working condition). They need help. Thank you to the University of Pittsburgh for making a five-year commitment to the city of Pittsburgh. What happened to Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, Allegheny...
Letter to the editor: Why do people need trucks?
High gasoline prices continue to frustrate drivers, especially as global instability has constrained supply, a situation unlikely to resolve quickly. The solution is to conserve. If we use less, demand decreases, and the price with it. A few suggestions follow. Pass a law that if you want to buy a...
Letter to the editor: Congress is the problem
Whether you love or hate President Trump, he is not the problem. Congress is. How many of today’s problems are due to Congress? Here’s some examples: Congress has passed all required spending bills on time only four times in the last 50 years. That’s a 92% failure rate. Congress has...
Editorial: How long is too long? A question of term limits
There are some jobs you just can’t have forever. In Pennsylvania, that’s written into law in some places and left entirely to voters in others. Governors are limited to two terms. That wasn’t always the case. It changed in 1967. Milton Shapp became the first to win a second term...
Lynn Schmidt: Trump’s screed against the pope desecrates our Catholic faith
As an American Catholic who has sat in a church pew my entire life, received the Holy Eucharist, marked more than 50 Lents with ashes and been taught from childhood that the pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth, I never thought I would have to say this: The...
