Opinion category, Page 659
Sounding off: Reducing litter, keeping America beautiful
Regarding the article “Study: Pa. roads average 1,030 litter items per mile”: I have done my best to keep a stretch of rural road near my home free of litter. I pick up beer and pop cans, cigarette butts, plastic bottles, and bags from convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. Trash...
Letter to the editor: Cost of gun-carrying permit makes no sense
It does not make sense that a law-abiding citizen has to pay to get a permit to carry a firearm to protect himself from a perp who does not have a permit and is out to harm him. Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
Letter to the editor: Elderly need property tax relief
Gary English was correct in his op-ed “Tax-shifting schemes won’t provide property tax relief” (Feb. 18, TribLIVE) criticizing the proposed Pennsylvania legislation House/Senate Bill 76. In order to maintain our failing school system, money has to come from someone. But not the elderly! As an “elder,” HB/SB 76 works for...
Letter to the editor: We need action on our littered world
In the coming months, visitors from all over the country will descend on the Laurel Highlands and visit amusement parks, state parks and historical sites. They will travel routes 30, 22, 981 and 982, to name a few. Among the sights they will see are our trashed highways littered with...
Letter to the editor: Residents’ concerns key for future of Shenango coke plant
Regarding the article “Residents urged to weigh in on future of Neville Island’s former Shenango coke plant” (Feb. 19, TribLIVE): It is great that the Shenango Reimagined Advisory Council has been at work on this issue for the past year, and recognizes the importance of including voices from the community...
John Stossel: ‘Stranger danger’ sometimes goes too far
South Carolina mom Debra Harrell worked at McDonald’s. She couldn’t afford day care for Regina, her 9-year-old daughter, so she took her to work. One day, Regina asked if she could just play in the neighborhood park instead. “I felt safe there,” she says, “because I was with my friends...
Walter Williams: Locusts & climate change in Africa
Here are a few headlines about an African tragedy: “Africa’s Worst Locust Plague in Decades Threatens Millions” (The Wall Street Journal), “‘Unprecedented’ Locust Invasion Approaches Full-Blown Crisis” (Scientific American), “Somalia Declares Locust Outbreak a ‘National Emergency’” (The National) and “UN Calls for International Action on East Africa Locust Outbreak” (Bloomberg...
Editorial: Pittsburgh should OK zoo accreditation
If Disney’s “The Lion King” has taught us anything, it’s that everything in the animal world is a vast circle of life. It’s a cycle of prey and predator, birth and death, eat or be eaten. Apparently it’s also about laws and leases, alligators and elephants and accreditation. It started...
Letter to the editor: Wolf favors funding Planned Parenthood — no surprise
Of course Gov. Tom Wolf wants to join other liberal states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey in using taxpayer dollars to fund Planned Parenthood. These governors all have “Ds” after their names — and not surprising at all, since the Democratic Party favors funding Planned Parenthood. How sad!...
Letter to the editor: Billionaires should buy peace instead of elections
I see a lot on the news about Michael Bloomberg and Jeff Bezos spending gross amounts of money to fight climate change. You cannot beat Mother Nature (floods, earthquakes, droughts, etc.). In my opinion, they are buying elections of presidents, senators, governors and attorneys general to do their will and...
Letter to the editor: Homeowners tired of being fleeced by taxes
Letter-writer Dwayne Buffer (“Officials keep sticking it to electorate,” Feb. 19, TribLIVE) was right on. School boards and elected officials across the state fail to balance their budgets and overspend, and just raise our taxes with a stroke of a pen. Not long ago before we had gambling in Pennsylvania,...
Letter to the editor: China & our health care
Experts say China could shut down the American health care system in several months because of our dependence on Chinese production of pharmaceutical and medical supplies. It is estimated that 97% of all antibiotics and 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed for domestic production come from China. Generic drug...
Donald Boudreaux: The most important two-letter word in the English language
A civilizing feature of any society is the right to say “no.” Indeed, societies can be usefully ranked from good to bad according to the respect that they accord to individuals’ right to say “no” to those who would take their property. The importance of being able to say “no”...
Lori Falce: Voting for a woman president
I once stood on a mountain of shale at a strip-mine site the day before Thanksgiving with several local politicians and one female state official. As the guys took their time, yukking it up with all the time in the world, she stood further back with me, impatiently glancing at...
Laurels & lances: Statue, saved and Sunshine.
Laurel: To representing the ladies. Nellie Bly was always breaking barriers. When few women were working outside the home, the Armstrong County native was an investigative reporter. Before women could vote, she was forcing the world to take notice of her with record-shattering world travel and undercover tales of insane...
Letter to the editor: Living in Pa. is taxing
I agree with letter-writer Dwayne Buffer (“Officials keep sticking it to electorate.”) Gov. Tom Wolf hasn’t seen a tax he didn’t like. He seems to spend all his waking hours coming up with new ways to soak the common citizen. Pennsylvania has one of the highest gas taxes in the...
Letter to the editor: Political recycling program
I would like to promote a new recycling program. Each time we go to vote for any politician, we should look at their time in service. If they have been in office more then two terms, there is a very, very good chance that they are corrupt. We must change...
Letter to the editor: Voting is peaceful way to revolt
For a while now, I’ve been thinking. Politicians who have been elected to the position of the people’s representative and monitor of the republic have changed their station to a position of authority, and answer to no one. The electors are now responsible to answer to politicians. Simply put, the...
Letter to the editor: Sinkholes & other hazards
I ride bicycles around town, like I’m supposed to, and it’s been great for the abs. But with all the sinkholes cracking open like eggs, I’ve decided to go with a pogo stick. That way, when the sidewalk or street breaks under me, I’m safe. I got a shock-absorbing device,...
Letter to the editor: Game commission needs to attract young hunters
Regarding the article “Game Commission member, sportsmen rep clash over Saturday start to deer season”: I am against changing the first day of antlered deer season from Monday to Saturday. Many other licensed hunters are, too. Our reasons include the disruption of the Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday family shopping and...
Editorial: Will primary matter in Pennsylvania?
The presidential primary is always an interesting exercise in Pennsylvania. An exercise in futility, that is. For a year, the state has watched the Democratic hopefuls strut onto the stage and have their say. A few acknowledged the general electoral importance of Pennsylvania with announcements and appearances. Homegrown former congressman...
Timothy Lydon: Amazon & the weakening of community
The most salient and lasting reason to not support Amazon is that it weakens your community. The virtue of commerce is that it brings you in contact with your fellow citizens. The rewarding nature of these exchanges cannot be felt by proxy. On the day Bari Weiss’ book “How to...
Editorial: Answer distress call for EMTs
If you need help, you call 911. They send a firetruck if something is on fire, or a police car if a crime is occurring. If someone is sick or hurt, they send an ambulance. The emergency medical technicians that staff an ambulance are critical links in the health care...
Letter to the editor: God won’t change his word
Regarding the letter “What God would say about Trump, Dems” (Feb. 15, TribLIVE): I couldn’t believe what I read. God will not change his word for anyone, including Donald Trump. There are so many Scriptures that describe people like Trump, and none of it was good. The way I see...
Letter to the editor: Pat Toomey is unfit for office
Sen. Pat Toomey has voted to approve seven judges deemed “unqualified” by the American Bar Association, including Sarah Pitlyk, who was appointed in December 2019. Pitlyk has never tried a case, civil or criminal, as lead or co-counsel, and never examined a witness in court, according to the ABA. She...
