Laurels & lances: Playoffs & no-shows
Laurel: To an ice-cold matchup. The Pittsburgh Penguins facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is everything a sports fan could want. It is the pure distilled essence of hockey — two teams that would gladly beat each other into the ice...
Editorial: Nuclear decay, bureaucratic delay
On April 7, a process 20 years in the making began. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started excavation at a Parks Township nuclear waste site. This isn’t like other abandoned industrial sites. In Western Pennsylvania, those are familiar — old factories, mine sites, places with lingering chemicals or unstable...
Editorial: Who is John Fetterman really?
There always have been elected officials whose appeal defies their demographics. Former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin spent years as the token Democrat in deep-red West Virginia. Democrat Camille “Bud” George was the godfather of Central Pennsylvania politics for decades despite swimming in a sea of Republican constituents. Pennsylvania knows this...
Editorial: Call for peace is not political
On Saturday, Greensburg Diocese Bishop Larry J. Kulick gathered people at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral to bow their heads and share hope for a common goal: peace. The vigil came at a time when many people are feeling growing tension —at the gas pump, on TV, on social media—as hostilities continue...
Editorial: Youth sports shouldn’t be a privilege for the rich
It’s often said a parent’s love can’t be measured, but a recent survey on youth sports may come close. For each day a child plays a sport, researchers found, parents expend three hours and 23 minutes in effort: organizing and driving, watching games and practices, making snacks and doing laundry....
Editorial: Jail notification shouldn’t be optional
When you fill out a form to do anything, there is certain information you expect to provide. Name. Address. Phone number or email. Those are the ways you are identified, how your residency is established and how you can be contacted. Then there is a next of kin or emergency...
Editorial: For some, staying home during NFL Draft isn’t an option
In preparation for the vast crowds expected to flood Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft, proactive steps are being taken. Businesses are allowing — or encouraging — employees to work from home. Pittsburgh Public Schools will have students attend remotely. Allegheny County courtrooms won’t close down, but they won’t be working...
Laurels & lances: Blastoff & beer
Laurel: To blasting off. The University of Pittsburgh is reaching for the stars. This week, all eyes were on the skies as Artemis II took off with the most ambitious space mission in decades. The 10-day trip sent four astronauts toward the moon, circling the far side before returning with...
Editorial: Is a Knox Box a simple way to speed emergency response?
Good government is a constant battle to keep people safe without stepping on personal freedom. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates automotive deaths decreased by 45% to 65% because of seat belt use. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention credits helmets for reducing motorcycle deaths by up to...
Editorial: Building the workforce Western Pennsylvania needs
It would be easy to look at the closure of schools such as Triangle Tech and assume demand for skilled trades is slipping. That isn’t what the data shows. National Student Clearinghouse data, in fact, shows vocational education enrollment increased nearly 14% in fall 2024. The reasons for those closures...
Editorial: Political violence is all target, no aim
We have become inured to the way politics bleeds into everything. Harrisburg and Washington are defined by division. We have come to expect the animosity. In our neighborhoods, it spills over into red-versus-blue fights over things as small as yard signs and bumper stickers. At its worst, it turns deadly....
Editorial: A promising plan to spur housing gets wrecked by Congress
Among the few things Americans agree on these days is that housing is too expensive. With a shortfall of at least 3.7 million homes, the obvious solution is to build more. Regrettably, a once-promising effort in Congress intended to do just that now seems to be falling apart — a...
Editorial: Take a seat at the holiday table
The stories of Easter and Passover are very different. Easter is the story of sacrifice and redemption. It is the heart of the Christian faith. Passover is the story of survival and freedom. It is central to Jewish identity. There is overlap. It often happens with the calendar, as it...
Editorial: Mental health support protects and serves
The issue of health and safety of police officers gets attention. These are the men and women whom communities depend upon in emergencies. They face physical risks, from something as accidental as a car crash to something as intentional as a gunshot. But the risks aren’t only physical. Police officers...
Laurels & lances: Rules & repercussions
Laurel: To writing rules. Westmoreland County Housing Authority is taking a closer look at visitor policies across its communities. When problems arise — especially those tied to safety — it makes sense to put expectations in writing instead of relying on what officials call “common sense” — especially when the...
Editorial: Pittsburgh’s place in the new space race
We don’t know who invented the first wheel. We do know everything that came after it — SUVs and bicycles, gas stations and turnpike exits clustered with fast-food drive-thrus. We know a lot about space travel. We know how it evolved from flight and rockets and an insatiable curiosity about...
Editorial: What does the $119 million bid mean for Hempfield Area High School project?
Is the long saga of the Hempfield Area High School renovation finally coming to an end? No. At best, it has reached the start of the middle. A journey that began in 2020 sputtered to get moving. Despite years of meetings and the hiring of architects, a site manager and...
Editorial: Fear of the unknown bills
All across Western Pennsylvania, the financial pressure is gripping tight. The gas pump, the grocery checkout, the tax bill. You name it, it’s getting harder to handle. But how does anyone know where the most pressure is felt? By asking. The most recent Quinnipiac University poll had 65% of respondents...
Editorial: The cost of waiting to protect children
Pennsylvania has spent years trying to atone for child welfare failures. There were generations of abuse in churches. The Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal put the state under a national lens. There have been persistent questions about ChildLine hotline reports that went unanswered. There was also the moment nearly...
Editorial: The truth about a balanced budget
What is so hard about a balanced budget? The math is supposed to be simple. Know how much money is coming in. Don’t spend more than that. But let’s be honest. That can be a challenge for a family of four. It doesn’t get easier when you are talking about...
Laurels & lances: Exemption & effort
Laurel: To being acknowledged. Monroeville officials appear to have secured a tax exemption for the Monroeville Convention Center, reversing an earlier denial by Allegheny County. After purchasing the facility in 2024 for just over
$5 million, the municipality made the case that the center serves a public purpose — much...
Editorial: This isn’t gallows humor
Drive down Uschak Road in Derry Township, and a wooden shape can loom from a front lawn. It rises high and thin, with a dangling rope knotted in a loop. It isn’t a flagpole. It is a gallows. No one put it there as a threat. Bryan Piper put it...
Editorial: Teen suicide prevention requires early intervention
There are some injuries where you have to wait to respond. You can’t put a cast on a leg before it breaks. You can’t give chemotherapy before someone has cancer. Taking out an appendix proactively is not only useless, but it’s also wrong. Then there are the ones that require...
Editorial: Frictionless betting changes March Madness
There was a time when placing a bet took effort. That time is gone. What once required a trip to a casino or a call to a bookie now fits in a pocket. But the bigger change isn’t just how easy it is to place a bet. It’s how common...
Editorial: Should Pittsburgh Public Schools close for the NFL Draft?
Pittsburgh has had NFL Draft fever since the announcement that football’s second biggest day would take place in the Steel City. But does that mean that everything was considered when the plan was being made? Pittsburgh Public Schools revealed it will be shifting to remote learning April 22 to 24....
