Opinion category, Page 67
Letter to the editor: Pecarchik cleaned up register of wills mess, is most qualified for office
The writer of the letter “Wian right pick for register of wills” (April 11, TribLive) insinuates that Katie Pecarchik was complicit in political maneuvering by the court-appointed conservator, and/or was entangled in the office’s troubled history. In actuality, Pecarchik cleaned up the years-long backlog left by Sherry Hamilton. Does the...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s war on coal miners
The U.S. government is ending the leases of four Mine Safety and Health Administration offices in Pennsylvania and has plans to cut 200 jobs at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of OSHA (“Pa. mine safety, research offices targeted for closure as president touts coal,” April 8, TribLive). This drastic reduction...
Letter to the editor: There’s another Liberation Day coming
Well, Liberation Day has come and gone. The good news is that we’re making a slow recovery, although people have lost possibly trillions in their individual retirement accounts. Hopefully these people will recover from the massive losses they incurred. The bad news is that President Trump instituted tariffs, and the...
Editorial: Pope Francis provided a voice for many — and an example to be emulated
Requiescat in pace. That is the Latin phrase abbreviated as R.I.P. on so many memorials. The common English use “rest in peace” does not do it justice. “Rest in peace” is a direction or an order. A more accurate translation is “May he rest in peace.” The simple addition of...
Letter to the editor: Correctional officers’ life expectancy
The correctional officers’ life expectancy at the Allegheny County Jail is 61 years of age, 16 years below the life expectancy of the average American. Experts agree that a critical difference in what makes this expectancy so low is the constant exposure to the possibility of physically intervening in a...
Letter to the editor: What will colleges do about escalating costs?
Regarding the article, “Faced with a perfect storm, small local colleges try to navigate the future” (April 13, TribLive): the “Skyrocketing Tuitions” chart and other publicly available data shows the extent of how much college tuition costs have increased relative to other economic indicators since 1980. The chart shows that,...
Jim Howell: Shapiro’s proposal to protect seniors and the lottery deserves bipartisan support
Given the charged political environment that we are enduring, I am hopeful that lawmakers will come to a consensus in support of a key component of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget proposal: the need to protect older Pennsylvanians who rely on programs funded by our state lottery. Our state lottery...
Christine Flowers: Big part of being Catholic is speaking out over injustices
My alma mater was wrong. Villanova should have barred a young man from walking at graduation after filming a young woman being sexually assaulted. Instead, he basically skated. No arrest, no charges, no penalties. It took an intrepid journalist with a solid moral compass to bring the story to the...
Letter to the editor: Pa.’s gas prices due to high taxes
Regarding the letter “Oil prices vs. gas prices” (April 14, TribLive): Pennsylvania has the third highest gasoline taxes in the country. When the federal levies are added to those imposed by the state, Pennsylvania consumers are paying 77 cents per gallon in taxes. I suspect the 77 cents per gallon...
Letter to the editor: Pecarchik’s hard work, results make her best choice for register of wills
As a critical thinker, I found there to be no logic to the letter “Wian right pick for register of wills” (April 11, TribLive). It appears her support of Jon Wian is based solely on the fact that he wasn’t involved in the mess created under the former register. If...
Letter to the editor: Shapiro’s leadership refreshing
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s leadership is a dazzling contrast to the leadership at the federal level. His proposed 2025-26 budget has an emphasis on public service, not aggrandizement. Gratefully, Shapiro is working to counter the mean-spirited approach of the Trump administration that unlawfully terminated the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program (LFPA),...
Editorial: The financial crisis of 2025? Better to be ready
If there’s one thing investors have learned in recent days, it’s that there’s no way to guess what America will do next. With its on-again, off-again tariffs, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to shock markets. Amid such radical uncertainty, a financial crisis isn’t out of the question. Policymakers need...
Letter to the editor: Why we’re protesting Trump’s actions
I attended the recent “Hands Off” rally in Pittsburgh for many reasons: unreasonable tariffs, attacks on science, education, health and health care, voting rights, free speech and freedom of the press, inhumane deportations. We have been living in chaos and attacks on our democratic way of life ever since the...
Letter to the editor: Making SNAP healthier will save lives
Make America Healthy Again seems to be starting. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making moves to eliminate sugary foods and soda pop/energy drinks from the SNAP program. Numerous Republican-led states also are taking steps to eliminate unhealthy, sugary items from the program. These are...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 21
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 21....
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 21
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 21....
Letter to the editor: Support good work of Greensburg VFD Bloodhound Team
I have noticed a growing number of news alerts asking for the public’s help in finding people who are missing from various institutions, such as nursing homes and senior care facilities, as well as Alzheimer’s patients and children. Recently I learned about the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department’s Bloodhound Team and...
Letter to the editor: We should be buying American
Hearing the news about the president’s tariffs on other countries, especially for those on China and Japan, got me thinking about growing up in the ’50s and ’60s. My dad was injured while serving during World War II. He never asked for anything from the government after his discharge but...
Editorial: Hunting for joy at Easter
Easter is about a joy that isn’t given. It is sought. On the Fourth of July, joy lights up the sky. On Halloween, we knock on doors and ask for it. On Thanksgiving, it is spread out on the table. On Christmas, it is wrapped up and tagged and placed...
Letter to the editor: Parents deserve a say on kids’ apps
As a former state senator and now a grandfather, I’ve spent years focused on strengthening families and communities. But today’s digital world presents new challenges, especially for parents trying to protect their kids online. Smartphones and tablets give children nearly unlimited access to app stores filled with content that ranges...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Americans deserve better
Surrounded by coal miners, Donald Trump recently announced that he is going to bring back the flagging coal industry, calling the signing of several executive orders “historic action to help American workers, miners, families and consumers.” “This is a very important day to me because we’re bringing back an industry...
Counterpoint: Conventional wisdom behind birthright citizenship is flat error
Once upon a time, doctors were convinced that using leeches and drawing the blood of patients cured illness. No matter how widely accepted that error was, leeches didn’t cure anything. The same is true for the belief that anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen. Please...
Point: A defense of birthright citizenship
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending automatic citizenship — known as “birthright citizenship” — for children born in the United States to two noncitizen parents. His argument rests on interpreting the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” found in the...
Letter to the editor: SAVE Act is about discrimination, not integrity
The GOP-led Congress has passed a bill called the SAVE Act that purports to safeguard the integrity of future elections. Let’s do the math. Election integrity equals voter suppression equals racial discrimination. Always has, always will. This is a racist bill. If you don’t believe me and think that there...
Letter to the editor: Pecarchik best pick for register of wills
Katie Pecarchik has more of the experience needed for the Office of Register of Wills than the two other candidates. In the past she was deputy clerk, first deputy and acting register of wills. She has 21 years of experience in this office. She came out of retirement to get...
