Letters to the Editor category, Page 254

As our state faces inevitable social and economic change in light of recent protests and the current pandemic, Pennsylvania needs to abolish the death penalty. According to the United States General Accounting Office, a defendant’s race directly influences the likelihood of a death sentence, with Black individuals most likely to...

After watching young people marching in protests, destroying and looting property, toppling statues and blocking traffic, it makes me wonder if these are the children of “helicopter” parents. Maybe they never got to fight their battles during their growing years and now they react like this as adults, thinking they...

Letter-writer George Silowash (“Effectiveness of cloth masks”) brings up an interesting point. That is, his thoughts regarding viral particles remaining in a mask after evaporation of the exhaled respiratory droplets. It’s unclear to me whether the virus would adhere or be readily reinhaled. However, even if they were “free” and...

Walter Williams has to be one of the most insightful and intelligent op-ed writers that I have ever read. His perspective on an appreciation of black history (“Insults to Black history,” June 26, TribLIVE) demonstrates his ability to grasp the American culture and race relations for the last 80 years....

A billboard in the Delmont/Export area says, “China lies, Americans die.” China has a history of being secretive, and the government did not quickly inform the world of covid-19. But blaming China alone is dangerous; it promotes antagonism against Asian Americans. This includes President Trump’s constant Asian descriptions of the...

Plastic waste is becoming a massive public cost. According to PennDOT, the state spends $13 million a year just to clean up roadside litter, and that does not include the millions spent to clean plastic bags out of stormwater and sewage overflows. And yet, instead of doing something to tackle...

To Superintendent Gary Peiffer and the Greensburg Salem School Board: I read with sadness and a great deal of concern that you made the decision to eliminate the elementary band position at Greensburg Salem (“Greensburg Salem keeps taxes flat, cuts librarians and band teacher.”) My sadness is for the harm...

How do you screen police better and train them better while cutting their budget? Maybe it’s time we defund our radical high schools and colleges. In my opinion, our kids are not educated; they are indoctrinated into communism. Is this what our high-priced teachers and professors are paid to do?...

When editors choose news articles for the front page, do they bother to read them? The AP story “Trump rally shows cracks in campaign” (June 22) reads like a hate-filled diatribe written by a left-wing activist. Where was the objective reporting? Where was the rebuttal quote from a Trump supporter...

President Trump campaigned on making ’Merica first with nostalgia for the past, his slogan calling to make ’Merica great “again.” And indeed, he has recreated many of the most notable moments in past American history. He made ’Merica first all right. We’re first in total covid-19 infections and deaths. Here’s...

Zack Cole took a cheap shot at Dr. Rachel Levine (“Trafford councilman criticized for transphobic joke about state health secretary,” June 24, TribLIVE). As an elected official and a representative of the people, he should have used better discretion. But like he said, he speaks his mind “regardless of possibly...

I would like to try to understand the disdain and even hate some socialist Democrats have toward our police. I realize the hate for the cop who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck — who, in my mind, was trying to murder him. Thankfully he was accused of murder,...

Before everyone loses their minds over the state grand jury report on fracking (“‘We started getting sores all over us’: Grand jury report blasts DEP, health department over fracking failures in Pa.,” June 25, TribLIVE), let’s remember a few things about how this report was put together. Attorney General Josh...

As a lifelong resident of West Newton, I am concerned about the proposed Invenergy gas-fired power plant along the Youghiogheny River and Great Allegheny Passage trail. This Elizabeth Township facility will impact not only my community but many that border the river and the trail. These communities bear the burdens...

The America I grew up in had a merit system. We were self-reliant and didn’t want handouts. I don’t care what color your skin, hair or eyes are because all lives matter equally. I expect a level playing field. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I look to a day when...

Please — let me get this right because I’m confused by all I’m seeing and hearing on all local TV newscasts and to a lesser degree by newspaper and radio reports. Because of an increase in covid-19 diagnoses in Allegheny County, almost all of them among young people — especially...

We were delighted to read about Gregory Barr’s reuse of the historic John C. Plumer House (“Historic West Newton house converted to Airbnb rental,” June 28), and hope generations of visitors will enjoy it. Unfortunately, the article’s descriptions of the sale of the property and the restrictions imposed by the...

Passion! Most everyone I talk to is passionate about what they observe and believe as it relates to their perspective about what is going on in our country. Passion is often so strong it resembles rage. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s about racism, wearing masks, Marxism, socialism, patriotism,...

When last I heard, those Taliban fellows are all sworn to kill every one of us Americans. Now there’s a story going ‘round that Putin has offered some of those same Talibans a bounty to “assassinate” American soldiers in Afghanistan. Why would Putin offer to pay some of those thuggy...

In response to “Greensburg Salem keeps taxes flat, cuts librarians and band teacher” (June 29, TribLIVE): At the June 29 Greensburg Salem School Board meeting, Superintendent Gary Peiffer and school board President Ron Mellinger assured the public they have tried every possible creative solution to save numerous eliminated positions. If...

As I was watching the July 4 fireworks on TV, I remembered my first night in Vietnam. The company commander told me to report to C Barracks until they formally could give me an assignment. I walked down the hill and was met by a young Black soldier. “Come on...

I feel compelled to respond to the letter “Our leaders must speak out on racism” (June 27, TribLIVE) regarding state Sen. Kim Ward’s warning on the Greensburg rally for George Floyd. I believe these protests are organized by Marxists who are using race as a vehicle to achieve their political...

The new attempt by President Trump to destroy the Affordable Care Act illustrates yet again that Republicans are desperate to take away the access of everyday people to health care. The fresh horror now is that they are doing this during a time of record unemployment due to an unprecedented...

So all the people who rioted in the streets, destroyed their neighbors’ property, started fires and committed crimes against the police suddenly think they’re entitled to do whatever they please. If a crime was not committed in the first place, there would be no reason for the police to be...

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler’s op-ed “Trump built greatest American economy before. He’ll do it again.” (June 22, TribLIVE) is nothing more than an ad for Trump. He drank the Kool-Aid. Leonard Mucci Derry Township...