Editorials category, Page 22

Sometimes having fewer people to do the job might mean more work for the employees but a lower bottom line for the payroll. You have a store to staff, for example. You want 10 people to work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. You only have five. You shuffle those...

In Alabama, there is mourning for the loss of four people who were attending a 16th birthday party Saturday in Dadeville. There is concern for the health and well-being of 32 more who were injured. But people are frustrated by the lack of answers about what happened and who is...

It’s that time again. If you haven’t filed your federal income tax return, it’s due today. For about half of Americans, it doesn’t matter. They’re the ones who have already filed their taxes by March — 36 percent in February, shortly after their paperwork for 2022 income was in hand,...

Gambling is among the most heavily regulated and taxed businesses in Pennsylvania — except for the variety available at the local convenience store. Electronic “skill games” look much like casino slot machines. But skill games require input beyond money — the answer to a trivia question, a quick-reaction challenge or...

PennWest University is taking steps to save costs. The university is in its infancy under this name. Until the 2022-23 school year, PennWest didn’t exist. It was born of the merging of three Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities: California, Clarion and Edinboro. The purpose of the merger was...

It was March 29 when Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, charged with espionage and held in a foreign prison. On April 10, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined the journalist was wrongfully detained. It took just 12 days. Teacher Marc Fogel of Oakmont...

Laurel: To a summer tradition. Kennywood will be open. No, don’t check your zipper. Just rest assured that the West Mifflin amusement park will operate as usual this summer. There were questions about that in March when Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said he would go to...

The idea of a dedicated fund to support the state police is a perfect illustration of Pennsylvania’s ongoing governmental challenges. Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to pay the annual bill for the agency — about $1.4 billion — by replacing the $500 million or so that comes from the Motor License...

Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani no longer plans on seating a death-penalty jury for cases brought to trial. Capital punishment technically is something that could happen in Pennsylvania. It’s a penalty that is on the books. It is used only for first-degree murder but requires...

If you want to know why a gift ban is important, look no further than U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. On Thursday, a ProPublica investigation outlined years of travel and generosity from Texas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow to Thomas, who has sat on the country’s highest court since...

When school districts send tax bills, they should include a notice of how much they pay to the scandal-plagued Public School Employees Retirement System. Due to PSERS’ history of limited transparency and mismanagement, legislative malpractice and financial practices for the benefit of the finance industry, each of 500 Pennsylvania school...

Today is a day of faith. It is, in fact, about more than one faith. For many, even most, in the United States, today is Easter Sunday. It is the most important holy day to Christians around the globe, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus. For the Jewish community, it falls...

The Pennsylvania Legislature is no stranger to dissension. The state isn’t Democratic or Republican, after all. It isn’t even a muddled, muted purple. It is a patchwork of red and blue by county and city. That pattern is repeated in the House and Senate chambers. And that can lead to...

Laurel: To responding to the faithful. This year, two important events coincide for Catholic sports fans in the Greater Pittsburgh area: The Pirates’ home opener falls on Good Friday. This left a dilemma. Do you observe the papal direction to not eat meat on the holy day of obligation? Or...

On April 1, the continuous enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP programs came to an end. Continuous enrollment came from the Families First Coronavirus Act, a federal measure passed in March 2020 to help Americans cope with the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic. A major factor was making sure people who...

Tightening rules on elections has been a hot topic in recent years. It’s an idea that has gotten top-down attention. Donald Trump brought heat to it with questions about the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. It has been picked up by leaders in state governments, including state Sen. Doug Mastriano,...

“And that was the start of a downward spiral,” U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said. The Braddock Democrat was speaking to CBS journalist Jane Pauley in a “Sunday Morning” interview. The nationally televised interview was just two days after Fetterman’s discharge from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he spent...

The Pennsylvania Turnpike was created under a simple concept: Drivers would pay tolls, and the revenue would be used to pay for operations, construction and maintenance. Instead, state lawmakers have used the turnpike to generate money for the government, forcing it since 2007 to borrow $450 million a year for...

Norfolk Southern was hit with a lawsuit Thursday. The U.S. Department of Justice filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in reaction to the Feb. 3 train derailment near East Palestine. Some train cars held hazardous materials, including the chemical vinyl chloride. The spilled...

Evan Gershkovich has been arrested in Russia. A Wall Street Journal reporter, he is charged with espionage. It is the first time Russia, as the nation it is today, has arrested an American journalist. Many outlets point to the 1986 arrest of U.S. News & World Report journalist Nicholas Daniloff,...

Laurel: To honoring the past. Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the last American troops leaving Vietnam. In Pittsburgh, that date was remembered with a Vietnam Veterans Day service at the memorial on the North Shore. It was a reminder of not just a date in the past but of...

How dare you? This short sentence — equal parts earnest question, alarmed utterance and angry interjection — is directed at the person or persons, organization or movement behind computer-generated “swatting” calls made Wednesday reporting active shooter situations. Allegheny County 911 received calls about Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic. Both schools...

Gun violence has become common to the point of being mundane. In Allegheny County, the crime level has drawn concern from the community, businesses, law enforcement and politicians. Shootings bleed together, becoming hard to separate from one another. There were 119 homicides in Allegheny County in 2022, most attributed to...

There has always been a complicated relationship between colleges and the communities where they are located. The schools are economic engines that drive employment and business. At the same time, they can drive real estate prices out of local reach or create law enforcement issues with problems like binge drinking...

Why would a candidate not be expected to support his own campaign? Westmoreland County commissioner candidate Paul Kosko of Hempfield hasn’t gotten in line with the county Republican Committee, and it is costing him his involvement in the party. In February, the committee announced its endorsement of a full slate...