Opinion category, Page 610
Editorial: Elected officials should wear masks in public meetings, or stay home
Masks have been a hot-button issue in these pandemic days. Whether it is an online video of a confrontation over wearing a mask in a private business or something closer to home, some people rebel against wearing masks in public settings. Wearing cloth masks, especially indoors, is widely regarded by...
Paul Petrick: Name change would dishonor the original Cleveland Indian
As Northeast Ohio baseball fans anticipate the start of a truncated season of Cleveland Indians baseball, they are suddenly faced with the possible end of their beloved ball club as they know it. On July 3, the Indians released a statement explaining how the team was “committed to engaging our...
Scott Martelle: Federal agents deployed by Trump spirit away protesters. What country is this?
Taking a page from the playbooks of autocrats around the globe, President Donald Trump has deployed federal agents to patrol the streets of Portland, Oregon, where, dressed in camouflage uniforms that identified them only as “police,” they have reportedly used tear gas to dispel protesters — and more darkly, cruised...
Letter to the editor: How about extra payment for essential workers?
I’m writing to find out where the talk about the essential workers’ hazard pay went. I have worked through this whole pandemic and put my family at risk every time I walk into my home after work. There are people who don’t have jobs who got a stimulus check, and...
Letter to the editor: Student success barometer for country’s health
If you are wondering what is wrong with America lately, just look at “education.” Annually we pay over $600 billion to educate more than 50 million students. So what do we get for our money? Half of our students are not proficient in either mathematics or science and 40% are...
Letter to the editor: Pay cut may help politicians find solutions
As a sign of solidarity and an exercise in empathy and understanding, I propose our elected officials take a 100% pay cut until the current heath and economic crisis is brought under control. The money could be redirected to patients with mounting bills, small businesses and essential workers. Perhaps our...
Letter to the editor: There should be only one ‘race’
Do Black lives matter? Such a question/concern should never even have to be raised. Can hope exist for real social justice and achievable joyful life, unencumbered by divisions innumerable when people have to declare that their lives matter? Yet, there may be hope if we accept that race is a...
Letter to the editor: Pa.’s natural gas industry follows rigorous rules
Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s report on natural gas, as described in the editorial “Grand jury report on fracking indicts the state” (July 7, TribLIVE), is “factually and legally inaccurate.” Those aren’t my words; those are the words from the dedicated Department of Environmental Protection professionals who also described the report...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: We need more than tweets to solve our issues
Presidential campaigns are complicated. Election Day comes after years of political maneuvering, primary elections scattered across the land, late summer nominating conventions and televised debates that are part policy and part showbiz — all ending in November after months of media coverage. While some of that will be different this...
Bryan Iams: To keep America competitive, we must prioritize infrastructure funding
It is more important than ever for our country to invest in areas that help get more people back to work. Lawmakers should prioritize the passage and implementation of a comprehensive infrastructure program that would immediately provide employment opportunities for many Americans. The U.S. was in dire need of these...
Editorial: Names of jurors in Held trial should be released
A jury has a job. Everything that happens in a criminal trial plays to an audience of 12. The jury is entrusted with the solemn responsibility of hearing evidence and legal arguments and setting aside preconceptions to determine whether or not someone committed a crime. It’s arguably the most important...
Sounding off: A Biden win would benefit Republicans
A Joe Biden victory is the best hope Republicans have. Because if Biden loses, President Trump will continue to drag down the party for four more years. Republicans are already in serious danger of losing more seats than anyone ever imagined because they have protected and enabled Trump. If the...
Sarah Charlier-Vermeire: Our children deserve better
When I first heard of a local district’s plan to reopen schools in the fall, with seemingly little in the way of mitigation efforts beyond the use of face masks, I was utterly appalled. I openly proclaimed that I would never trust my children in the hands of a district...
Letter to the editor: If Trump cared, he wouldn’t hold rallies
What does it say about the character of a man who would willingly and knowingly put thousands of people’s health and lives at risk seemingly for the sake of flattering his ego and feeding his lust for power? Surely if President Trump’s record was as sterling as he would have...
Letter to the editor: We need to band together to deal with crises
I can’t understand why we keep changing from one thing to another. The coronavirus has cost us many lives, and many more if we keep fooling ourselves that it is not serious or deadly. Everything was being dealt with until May 30; then our nation turned itself into a riot...
Letter to the editor: Trump could win if he becomes diplomat
Our country and our culture are being undermined and destroyed by terrorists. What we are doing about it is not working. We treasure our federal system of government. If President Trump is forced to call in the Army, it sets a dangerous precedent for him and for the country and...
Letter to the editor: Refusal to wear mask endangering lives
Some people are complaining about their civil rights and freedoms being taken away by Gov. Tom Wolf’s mask mandate. Some realize the danger we are facing from this killer virus and are happily following the advice of scientists and medical experts. Others are saying “No one is going to tell...
John Stossel: Too much faith in models
Between 2 million and 3 million Americans will die! That was the prediction from “experts” at London’s Imperial College when covid-19 began. They did also say if there was “social distancing of the whole population,” the death toll could be cut in half, but 1.1 million to 1.46 million Americans...
Walter Williams: Despicable behavior of today’s academicians
The Michigan State University administration pressured professor Stephen Hsu to resign from his position as vice president of research and innovation because he touted research that found police are not more likely to shoot Black Americans. The study found: “The race of a police officer did not predict the race...
Stuart Fisk: Syringe programs save lives
As Pennsylvania continues to grapple with covid-19, it is urgent that we do not lose sight of the overdose crisis that has ravaged our state in recent years. Pennsylvania has the third highest rate of overdose deaths and the ninth highest rate of new HIV infections in the nation. In...
Colin McNickle: Allegheny Co.’s law of diminishing educational returns
If graduation criteria for Pennsylvania high school students set to begin with the class of 2022 were in effect today, a large percentage of students in a diverse group of 16 Allegheny County school districts would not meet the basic requirements, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public...
Letter to the editor: Democratic leaders failing on covid-19 response
Once again, Joseph Sabino Mistick shows he is just another political hack (“Medicine and science, not politicians, will keep us safe,” July 11, TribLIVE). While his comments are true about the politicians cited, all Republican, he ignores the most egregious examples of failure, all Democrats. I believe the governors of...
Letter to the editor: Public cybercharter schools provide quality education
Recently, the Hempfield Area School Board sent a letter discouraging families from choosing public cybercharter schools, which are often the best educational opportunities for their children. I have worked within a public cybercharter school for 15 years. As public school educators, it is our responsibility to both ensure all students...
Letter to the editor: The Common People’s Four Freedoms
In 1942 U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace gave a speech about the “Century of the Common Man.” He stated that the American Common Man (people) would be willing to die and go abroad to defend the “Four Freedoms” articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom of religion...
Letter to the editor: Media should be more equal in reporting
Although I have no case in point, I absolutely refuse to believe that no white person has ever been killed by a Black officer in the commission of a crime or as a suspect of a crime. Why is that? It’s not on the news, there are no protests or...
