Editorials category, Page 51
Editorial: Audits are where school districts have to show their work
Hear the word “audit,” and you tend to think about your taxes. It’s that process everyone dreads when filling out the annual return — having the Internal Revenue Service crawl through every number, line by line, to find mistakes. The personal fear makes it seem like a bad word. It...
Editorial: Police and mayoral departures show public services needs
“They didn’t feel they were appreciated.” That’s what Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert told WESA in July 2021. He was talking about how his officers were retiring, resigning or otherwise leaving their jobs. He attributed it largely to taking other law enforcement jobs. On May 27, Schubert announced he was...
Editorial: Violence curbs business success
If you care about money, you need to care about curbing violence. Fudge Farm is closing its East Carson Street location on Pittsburgh’s South Side. A small business closing is not surprising in a high-inflation economic climate. That’s especially true for food service businesses that have been fighting for workers...
Editorial: Excela-Butler merger should preserve community focus
Excela Health plans to merge with Butler Health System. “I think it’s going to make Excela stronger,” said Latrobe city manager Terry Carcella. “The bigger you are, the better you are.” That’s a little simple, but let’s hope it’s true. The merger lowers the number of hospital organizations in the...
Editorial: Nelson’s college voucher bill leaves many questions
Pennsylvania needs to find a solution to funding its state and state-related universities and addressing the crippling student loan debt Keystone State students receive with their diplomas. It has been a growing problem for years as tuition costs climb. Many people blame the universities themselves and a top-heavy increase in...
Editorial: McCormick-Oz debacle is lawmakers’ fault
The counting of the ballots ground the neck-and-neck race to a near halt, becoming contentious as the candidates argued over whose votes would be counted and whose wouldn’t. If you think this is about David McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz and the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate battle in...
Laurels & lances: Honor, celebration and relaxation
Laurel: To giving honor. Across the region, this week began with solemn celebrations remembering the commitment and sacrifice of fallen soldiers. Memorial Day was commemorated with parades, with services and with a blizzard of red, white and blue decorations at area cemeteries. Even the mothers who lost their soldier children...
Editorial: Without gift ban, bribery is all but legal in Pennsylvania
Everyone knows what a bribe is. It’s the little tit-for-tat that greases the wheels. It’s an enticement that muffles the opposition. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s an opportunity. Sometimes it’s even legal. Slip a bill to a host at a restaurant for a good table. No problem. But sometimes it’s...
Editorial: De’Avry Thomas won’t be the last victim
Violence grabs attention the more graphic and awful and unthinkable it is. The Uvalde, Texas, shooting that left 19 kids ages 9 to 10 and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary and injured at least 17 others is the most glaring and timely example. It is the most recent terrible...
Editorial: Why can marijuana card companies advertise but doctors can’t?
When it comes to making health decisions, there are a lot of people bucking for seats at the table. The federal government wants its say. The state government definitely jumps up and down and waves its hands. There are the insurance companies. There are the pharmaceutical companies. Sometimes churches want...
Editorial: Remembrance and honor
For Memorial Day, a classic Trib editorial: On this Memorial Day, be grateful that Americans’ willingness to sacrifice for freedom’s sake, instilled by each generation in the next, remains as strong as ever. Today, Americans honor those most worthy of such gratitude — those who gave their lives in our...
Editorial: Apprenticeship could solve workforce, student loan problems
As school years are ending and students are graduating, there is a lot of moving on to start new phases of life. The focus for that tends to be on starting college. That’s an important step and helps prepare the next generation of doctors and lawyers, teachers and engineers. But...
Laurels & lances: Running, skimming, counting
Laurel: To hitting stride. A national program is working with girls at Highlands Elementary. Girls on the Run is, as the name would imply, largely about helping girls in third through fifth grades with building their physical fitness through running. But that’s only half the story. The program is also...
Editorial: In the wake of the Texas school shooting, is there any hope left?
The children of Uvalde, Texas, are no different than the children of Greensburg or New Kensington or Pittsburgh. The parents of Uvalde are no different than the parents of Latrobe or Sewickley or Tarentum. The kids of Robb Elementary were looking forward to school ending on Thursday and the start...
Editorial: State-related schools should be more answerable to Right-to-Know Law
It should go without saying that an agency that is state-related should be subject to the same demands as other state organizations. Except it isn’t. Plenty of groups or institutions that live off their official-sounding titles when it comes time to ask for money try to distance themselves from those...
Editorial: Let’s cut the politics and speed up vote counting
Six days and counting. Still counting. That’s the story of the Pennsylvania race to the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, the decision between Dave McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz — the leading two candidates on a crowded slate of GOP candidates. The votes were cast by 8 p.m. May 17....
Editorial: Gambling money not reliable in economic down times
In March, Pennsylvania casinos had their best month ever. From slot machines to table games and more, the gambling houses were rolling in green, bringing in $462.7 million. In April, the numbers dipped. Not by a lot. They didn’t fall so much as stumble to $461.6 million. They remain 14%...
Editorial: Preventing ghost towns means being open to change
When we think of ghost towns, we think of those gold rush communities in places such as California and Colorado and Nevada. Remnants of the Old West. The skeletons of thriving communities that were lost when the gold was gone and the people went in search of new opportunities. We...
Editorial: Inflation hitting government always hits taxpayers
Inflation is sending prices through the roof, from making breakfast and cleaning your house to buying a car and renting an apartment. All of them are not only up but also continuing to climb. Restaurants are marking more menu items as “market price” because of the rapid fluctuation, elevating a...
Laurels & lances: Primary election edition
Laurel: To the voters. The discrepancy in voter turnout for a primary versus a general election is often decried. So is the differences in the lines at the polls in a presidential year as opposed to the other three years in the cycle. Heck, we pointed out just that in...
Editorial: Understanding intimate partner violence is team effort
Hate crimes are different from other crimes because they have an impact more broad than on just the intended victim. They are a form of terrorism that is hard to address with other anti-criminal actions. That is why the U.S. Department of Justice addresses them. But while hate-motivated attacks are...
Editorial: Confidentiality agreements are counter to transparency
In a lot of ways, a government agency and a corporation are similar. They are arranged in hierarchies. They have people making decisions on behalf of the organization. They can be legally bound to do certain jobs. They both live and die by mountains of paperwork and legal agreements. But...
Editorial: Every Pennsylvania vote matters
Elections often are talked about in terms of what makes them consequential. An election is supposedly important because of a presidential year or the midterms when congressional seats are on the line. It ostensibly matters because it decides the governor or the attorney general or the state legislators. That message...
Editorial: Avoiding bidding process isn’t an emergency
There is a difference between an obstacle and an emergency. An obstacle is something in the way. It is a pothole. A detour sign. A hurdle in the path of a race. An emergency is an all-hands-on-deck situation. A house on fire. A train derailment. A flood. Notice the difference...
Editorial: The high cost of electricity — or electric deregulation?
If you think you are feeling faint at the gas pump, it’s about to get worse at the mailbox. Just wait until you see the June electric bill. This week, the Public Utility Commission revealed that electric suppliers are set to raise prices by 6% to 45% as of June...
