Letters to the Editor category, Page 295

On Tuesday I picked up my kids from church youth group. “Dad, we had an amazing experience,” said my oldest daughter. “We went to a nursing home. We met two people who were almost 100 years old. They lived through World War II!” It was a nice experience for them....

I wanted to add to Mary Ann Thomas’ article on the closure and sale of Oak Lake (“Auction at Oak Lake Golf Course in Upper Burrell draws hundreds,” Oct. 26, TribLIVE). The original 9-hole course was designed and built by brothers Bert and Judd Dunbar of Lower Burrell, along with...

In his op-ed “In betrayal of Kurds, Trump was winging it — again” (Oct. 21, TribLIVE), Jonah Goldberg writes about his displeasure with President Trump pulling troops from Syria. He explains that on three other occasions, Trump’s predecessors had taken advice or out and out followed the advice of government...

I’m glad someone finally published something about missing birds (“Missing: Nearly 3 billion birds that used to live in North America,” Sept. 19, TribLIVE). If you do your research, you will discover that wind turbines kill a year roughly 500,000 birds each year. It’s estimated that 900,000 bats are also...

JCC & Planned Parenthood The Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh will host a Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania fundraiser Nov. 9 titled “Drag Bingo In Support of PPWP.” That the family-friendly JCC will host a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood is indicative of a general misunderstanding in the Jewish community about...

Regarding the letter “Stick with evidence on climate change” (Oct. 28, TribLIVE), I wish writer Allen Clark had done so. As many as 99% of climate scientists are in agreement that human-caused warming is occurring (easily Googled), and if that isn’t enough for you, just look at the incontrovertible facts....

I just read the article “Delmont firefighters say criticism from council hurts fundraising, recruitment.” First, take out the word Delmont and insert the name of just about any other Westmoreland County VFD — these witch hunts have been going on and getting worse. Yes, this department had, allegedly, some dishonesty/theft...

Regarding the article “President Trump visit spurs road, school closures in Downtown Pittsburgh” (Oct. 21, TribLIVE): Could it be the union school teachers were also off work and available to protest Trump’s successes? Our tax dollars at work! Joe Turek Elizabeth...

Regarding the letter “What church would venerate Trump?” (Oct. 17, TribLIVE): I don’t consider President Trump as Jesus or my messiah. He is, though, president of the United States. In the Bible, David was an adulterer and murderer, but God forgave him and made him King of Israel. Moses was...

Veterans are willing to give their lives for their country, but politicians are not willing to give up their jobs for their country. Trump has his party lackeys defending him on every issue, probably in morbid fear he will turn on them. It seems Trump will try to destroy anyone...

Regarding Lynne Henry’s letter “Strange way to treat God`s creatures” (Oct. 18, TribLIVE) and the article “Fox hunting returns to Ligonier Township this weekend” (Oct. 3, TribLIVE) gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. To me, fox hunting is outright animal cruelty and should be banned,...

Gov. Tom Wolf is persistent if nothing else. Wolf has proposed a severance tax for five consecutive years. The interesting part is that each year, the severance tax is to fund another program, project, line item. This year Wolf has spent a great deal of time selling his RestorePA program....

The Starr investigation, 20 some years ago, into President William Jefferson Clinton’s shady, possible criminal dealings in Whitewater land management brought about an endless barrage of details, some sordid. In the end, an exhausted and exasperated American public learned the House of Representatives filed charges of perjury regarding an extramarital...

Letter-writer Louis D’Emilio (“Columbus Day feature biased,” Oct. 20, TribLIVE) doesn’t fully capture the remarkable achievements of Christopher Columbus. Enduring 13 years of rejection before finally receiving his commission from the Spanish throne, he began the first of his four voyages at age 40. By 15th-century standards, he was quite...

I have a serious complaint to make to the New Kensington mayor and city council: The streets are a disgrace. They are absolutely disgusting, and are a slap in the face to residents. The solution is not patch on top of patch. Repaving is the answer. I have been a...

Western Pennsylvania has been losing animal habitat rapidly (“Where have the wild birds gone? 3 billion fewer than 1970,” Sept. 19, TribLIVE). Fracking, pipelines and other energy-related adventures have not only affected birds in terms of forest and meadow lost, but we also have noise and bright lights that blur...

After the recent shooting homicide on Cuyler Avenue in Jeannette, Mayor Curtis Antoniak stated on camera, “I will say, that once again, this is not Jeannette.” His wife made a similar comment following the shooting homicide outside the main gate at McKee Stadium in September. There have been five shooting...

Leaders of Dor Hadash and New Light congregations who lost members in the Tree of Life massacre in October 2018 wrote to Attorney General William Barr weeks ago asking the U.S. Justice Department to avoid pursuing the death penalty. They asked instead that the Pittsburgh killer be incarcerated for the...

Just a few thoughts for Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Attorney General Josh Shapiro: income tax, sales tax, the lottery, casinos — now you want more revenue from recreational marijuana. According to your estimate, it would bring in an additional $586 million. I assume that will be...

Who is the government? Is our government a “father figure,” a “big brother” or an “elite club”? No! President F.D. Roosevelt said, “Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and...

I’m so sick and tired of Westmoreland County’s “boys club” beating up on Commissioner Gina Cerilli. The accusations lodged against her are ludicrous. Corruption? If there was anything going on in the commissioners’ office, wouldn’t you think the Westmoreland County district attorney and the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office would be...

I’m all for commonwealth-regulated, legal, “recreational” marijuana use by all Pennsylvanians over the age of 21 (including law enforcement officers). Such change will provide significantly increased tax revenue for our commonwealth, significantly reduce burdens to our legal system (and its taxpayers) and expand personal “life, liberty and the pursuit of...

You may not know David Iwig, Jeanne Smith and Paul Adams of the Hempfield Area School Board used their reverse appeals program as an excuse to file nine pending lawsuits against the county, arguing “there is a lack of uniformity in the assessment of real estate within Westmoreland County.” They...

Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and see news reports that our great president finally gets Congress to approve funding for our broken bridges, unsafe roads and buildings, securing our borders, a better health-care system and more for our country instead of daily stalls and brawls? Tricia Cunningham Washington...

On marijuana legalization, I’m undecided. I believe that several things need to happen in Pennsylvania before it would be a “yes” for me. A lot of revenue would be generated by legalizing marijuana. I would like that revenue to remove property/school tax for any individual over the age of 59....