Letters to the Editor category, Page 157

You reported that an apparently disgruntled John Peck, who was defeated by Nicole Ziccarelli in his reelection bid to continue as Westmoreland County district attorney, has, according to Ziccarelli, “so far refused to cooperate with the transition” (“Westmoreland County DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli says transition team not getting cooperation from predecessor,”...

The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board has the statutory responsibility of providing “oversight of the health and safekeeping” of the residents and “investigate allegations of inadequate prison conditions” at the Allegheny County Jail. Since April 2020, there have been 11 deaths of jail residents (“Allegheny County Jail inmate dies,” Dec....

Millions of people around the world will make New Year’s resolutions. Some decide it’s time to get back to the gym; many make the decision to unplug from social media; and, becoming more popular, people will make a resolution to go vegan. This was my own New Year’s resolution 10...

To Richard Patton (”We need a real Pennsylvanian in Toomey’s seat,” Dec. 24, TribLIVE): Hear, hear! But more important than actually being from Pennsylvania is that we get a true conservative Republican. No RINOs! So welcome any candidate that fits your request and mine. And to RINO Pat Toomey: Bye!...

Why on earth did Penn Hills hire a cop under investigation for killing a young Black man in Wilkinsburg (“Arbitrator judge reinstates former Wilkinsburg police officer to Penn Hills,” Dec. 15, TribLIVE)? If he is found guilty, what is Penn Hills to do with him? Penn Hills residents, please be...

Tricia Cunningham’s op-ed “Corman, Mastriano act tough on election integrity, but they caused the problems” (Dec. 18, TribLIVE) denigrates Republican state Sens. Jake Corman and Doug Mastriano for advocating a complete audit of the 2020 elections on the basis that they both voted for Act 77 which was partly to...

Pittsburgh City Council is currently considering Councilwoman Erika Strassburger’s proposed legislation to ban single-use plastics (“Experts join discussion about potential plastic bag ban in Pittsburgh,” Dec. 18, TribLIVE). An important issue connected to this legislation is the health consequences on all of us by continuing the manufacture of plastic bags....

So letter-writer Bruce Cooper (“Biden’s climate order is not enough,” Dec. 21, TribLIVE) wants to tax carbon emissions at $20 per ton. Have you, Mr. Cooper, considered who will ultimately pay that tax? It’s not the utilities or the petroleum companies. They will simply pass along the added cost to...

“Build Back Better” is purported to be legislation that transforms our economy from the so-called trickle-down effects of capitalism, which benefits only the rich, to one that presumes to grow from the bottom up and the middle out, that works for the good of lower and middle classes. A significant...

After reading the story “Westmoreland County signs on to $26B settlement in opioid lawsuit” (Dec. 20, TribLIVE), I couldn’t help think that settlement money will do nothing to stop a single addict from using and/or overdosing. The interesting part of the story was learning that J&J is the parent company...

“It is another step driven by former President Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.” (“New front in Pa.’s GOP election ‘investigation’ draws challenges,” Dec. 18, TribLIVE). I guess if you repeat it being baseless enough times while ignoring and not reporting on any such claims, then sure, they’re baseless. Thomas...

It has been almost one year since the Biden/Harris administration, aided and abetted by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, assumed control of the nation. Let’s review what they have done for us in that period. We now have borders being exploited by illegal immigrants from all over the world, record...

I recently received a “news letter” from my state representative, Leslie Rossi, encouraging her constituents to apply for covid-19 vaccination exemption assistance. Is she not aware that she was elected in a special election because our former representative died from an apparent brain aneurysm that could have been related to...

The longer President Biden and Democratic leaders go without being arrested for ignoring immigration laws and their oaths of office, the more worried I get. We are getting unvetted illegals from all over the world daily. Even the mainstream media is in a low tone admitting that we have the...

The Alzheimer’s Association has announced a new campaign called “Time to Talk,” which focuses on the benefits of early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, but only about half of those with the disease have a diagnosis. While...

It is ironic that, of all places, Andrew Cuff praised Johnstown in his op-ed “Western Pennsylvania is dying — or is it?” (Dec. 18, TribLIVE). I can pick two sentences and turn them on their heads. First of all, it’s disingenuous to focus on the negative? True. But Johnstown has...

After years of hearing the term “social justice,” you might think you understand the term. I believe we can now definitively say that the term means whatever the “woke” mob wants it to mean. One thing is for certain: It has nothing to do with justice. Taking the case of...

In his column “Pa. Democrats have a union problem” (Dec. 12, TribLIVE), Michael Torres attempts to prove that the Democrats are in trouble because they are siding with hard-working Americans and defending unions (one of the few institutions that actually works to protect working people). Donald Trump, leader of the GOP,...

State Rep. Leslie Rossi is right: Give everyone “exemption assistance” who needs it and wants it (“Westmoreland Co. lawmaker offers to help with vaccine exemptions as covid-19 infections surge,” Dec. 15, TribLIVE). I have a niece who was fired because she would not get the vaccine because of her rare...

Regarding the story “Crews may have found 1887 time capsule in Lee statue base” (Dec. 18): It is not often when an act so precisely defines so many words — arrogance, irony, hypocrisy. To remove a war statue because the history offends you, and then to open a time capsule...

Relative to the pandemic and why the United States has something like the 70th highest rate of vaccination in the world and is lagging behind our allies is what I see as the incredible growth of anti-government ideology and propaganda. It began to grow around 1980 when Ronald Reagan would...

We are one nation under the Constitution of the U.S. created in 1787 by representatives of “We, the people.” The Founders also incorporated a Bill of Rights in 1791 to protect individual rights and liberties, and citizen independence protected by freedom of speech, peaceable assembly, religious liberty and freedom of...

With Dr. Mehmet Oz throwing his hat in the Senate race, I ask myself, why not? In recent elections, we have had a diversity of candidates. Hey, we have a caterer as a coroner in Westmoreland County. Caitlyn Jenner is running for governor of California, a position formerly held by...

While many of us are celebrating the holidays with our families, please take a moment to thank the many dedicated and brave workers at Pennsylvania’s senior care facilities, including nursing homes. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, nursing homes have been ground zero for the virus. What may surprise...

When Sandy Fox (“Amazon warehouses are sacrifice zones,” Dec. 18, TribLIVE) wrote about the majority of these Amazon facilities happily roosting in neighborhoods that tend to be challenged because of their socio-economic makeup, it would have been an important fact to add that Churchill is located next to Wilkinsburg. It’s...