Opinion category, Page 61
Letter to the editor: Questions for Duquesne Light
Duquesne Light has been an incredibly poor steward of what should be a public utility. I grew up in the foothills outside Boulder, Colo. We regularly experienced 100 mph winds and almost never lost power. Now I live in Pittsburgh, where every gentle breeze or mildly hot day knocks out...
Letter to the editor: We need candidates of good character
Attaching any word to “Christian” or to “Christianity” limits what it means or in some cases makes it not “Christian” at all (i.e., Christian nationalist). A portion of the country and a great many of our political leaders will defy logic and contort themselves, often comically, but ultimately tragically, to...
Editorial: What is happening with John Fetterman?
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, does not seem pleased with scrutiny over his behavior. It hasn’t been about his language processing in the wake of his 2022 stroke. It hasn’t been about the depression that saw him hospitalized in 2023. It isn’t about his quirky fashion choices or even his...
Letter to the editor: VOTE411.org offers help for voters
The League of Women Voters of Westmoreland County (LWVWC) works to help voters become more informed and make their voices heard in the upcoming primary election on May 20. This election has over 360 candidates running in over 230 statewide judicial, county, municipal and school board races in Westmoreland County...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Pittsburgh needs its bridges
Everyone traveling into Downtown Pittsburgh from the East End through Schenley Park has been stopped in their tracks by a sign that has stood on the edge of the park for a good part of Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration. Against a bright orange background, it reads “All Bridges Closed Ahead.”...
Mark Gongloff: Pope Leo XIV might be the climate champion we need
In picking a new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Vatican had a chance to honor the late Pope Francis’ legacy as the greenest pope in modern history. In choosing the American (and Peruvian) Cardinal Robert Prevost — henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV — his fellow cardinals...
Point: Deception and destruction — Musk and DOGE’s real goal
Waste, fraud and abuse. These are the seemingly magic words the world’s richest man incants to justify the chainsaw he’s taking to our government in the form of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, as Elon Musk steps back to a part-time role, the question remains: Were these words...
Counterpoint: DOGE’s swift but not-so-terrible sword
Critics swing between accusing the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of overreach and declaring it a failure at cutting government. Here are some reality checks: DOGE-like efforts are not new. George H.W. Bush’s Council on Competitiveness was created to ease regulatory burdens. Led by Vice President Dan Quayle,...
Letter to the editor: High school grads, consider the trades
Listen up, graduating high school seniors: In today’s world, except for STEM disciplines, most college degrees are a huge waste of money and your time. A plumber, an electrician, an HVAC technician and other skilled tradesmen make darn good money and don’t carry a heavy debt load. They can have...
Letter to the editor: Gainey shows up, deserves vote
I’ll be voting for Ed Gainey in the primary because he showed up for Greenfield when Corey O’Connor, our city council person at the time, would not. Carnegie Mellon University wanted to privatize Junction Hollow, the park that links Oakland to Four Mile Run, in order to build the Mon...
Letter to the editor: O’Connor nearly killed paid sick leave
Corey O’Connor is claiming credit for Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave policy in TV ads and mailers in his campaign against Mayor Ed Gainey. But the truth is, he almost killed it. I know this because I was there in the negotiating rooms. As executive director of Pittsburgh United, I helped...
Editorial: No excuse for not letting Pittsburgh City Council, controller know about emergency coordinator’s absence
“That’s my bad.” Pittsburgh Emergency Management Coordinator Darryl Jones used those incredibly underwhelming words to explain not making it clear to City Council or Controller Rachael Heisler that he was leaving the state or who would be in charge while he was gone. That’s the apology you offer for not...
Letter to the editor: ICE’s treatment of students troubling
My heart sank when I saw a young female Tufts University student, on TV, being taken by several men in black with their faces covered. She was grabbed without warning and with no knowledge of the reason. It looked as if she was being kidnapped. As we learned, the student...
Letter to the editor: Letters from left not based in reality
Occasionally an anti-Trump letter to the Trib is insightful and interesting. Usually, however, they read like wild, dissociative ramblings. A couple of recent letters exemplify my point. “Economic hardship ahead” (April 26, TribLive) warns of impending doom we can expect from Donald Trump’s presidency. In it, the writer wails of...
S.E. Cupp: The Democrats must start running now for 2028
Among the many problems Democrats faced in the 2024 election — former President Joe Biden’s obvious decline, a rejiggered ticket at the 11th hour, a slumbering economy and a border crisis that Dems took too long to acknowledge — was their terrible timing. When Biden won in 2020, it was...
Stuart Fisk: Medical professionals respond to call for higher dose naloxone
While well-intentioned, Scott L. Bohn’s op-ed “Equipping first responders for the age of synthetic opioids” (April 28, TribLive) calling for expanded use of high dose and long-lasting opioid overdose reversal agents misstates the need for these products and ignores current research and best practices for reversing opioid overdoses. The consensus...
Matt Shorraw: Medicaid, CHIP, environmental justice must be legislative priorities
As budget negotiations continue in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lawmakers are faced with a defining decision: Will they protect the health and dignity of millions, or allow devastating federal cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to take hold? This choice isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet —...
Greg Fulton: Remembering the Steelers’ ‘Tuskegee Airmen in cleats’
It’s 50 years ago when the Steelers had a string of years, 1975 to 1980, where most experts would say they had the best defense in the NFL, and some might assert the best in the game’s history. This defense, known as the Steel Curtain, was a major reason the...
Robert F. Powelson: Pittsburgh’s water woes — why slamming the door on private solutions is a bad idea
Pittsburgh, you have a problem. A water problem. And City Council is flirting with a permanent decision that could make it a whole lot worse by asking voters to ban any future partnerships with regulated, private water companies. This referendum is shortsighted and ignores the reality of the city’s crumbling...
Letter to the editor: Renaming Veteran’s Day is absurd
This latest proclamation from the 47th president on May 1 on Truth Social, regarding renaming Veterans Day, is absurd. His rationale is the U.S. doesn’t know how to celebrate victories. As the wife of a Vietnam veteran and a nurse who worked half my career in the VA caring for...
Letter to the editor: Darren Miller for Murrysville Council
I’m proud to support my dear friend, Darren Miller, in his run for Murrysville Council. Last week, after a storm dropped a tree across my driveway, making it inaccessible, Darren showed up 20 minutes later with a chainsaw in hand to help. He didn’t wait to be asked. He simply...
Lori Falce: Let them have dolls
Christmas isn’t just a festive holiday. Not in the U.S., at least. Christmas is also business — big business. Overall, the National Retail Federation puts sales during November and December at about 19% of the annual total. For perspective, the monthly average is around 8%, which means those last two...
Laurels & lances: Hoping, paying & reopening
Laurel: To not giving up. Cherrie Mahan, 8, was last seen at a Winfield bus stop in February 1985. Forty years later, although Cherrie has been legally declared dead, there is still a search for answers in her case. Steve Ridge, a private investigator from Iowa, has stepped up with...
Letter to the editor: Consequences of Trump’s decisions
I admit and apologize for this article that lacks continuity and a flow of thought. These points are my opinion. President Trump has surrounded himself with abusers, convicts, drunks with no expertise. To me their jobs are way over their heads. Trump makes us less safe by alienating allies. He...
Paul Kengor: Ruining America’s national pastime
While watching the dreadful Pittsburgh Pirates recently, I was struck by something very confusing. It was extra innings, and each team somehow started the inning with a runner on second base. The runner magically materialized on my TV after the commercial break. I tried to figure out when that player...
