Opinion category, Page 708
Letter to the editor: Elm Street paving
Elm Street paving On Aug. 12 South Greensburg borough council voted to pave the brick hill on the 1600 block of Elm Street. The brick street was built in the 1930s and has required minimal repair. I understand a grant will pay for it, but most of the residents like...
Donald Boudreaux: Three critical economic realities
Although research on its frontiers is often expressed in dense mathematics and murky jargon, economics’ core is quite straightforward. And it’s as important as ever for public policy. Here are three keys for doing practical economics well. First: recognize that many economic “problems” or “failures” are not real; they are...
Lori Falce: The real magic in the library
The magic of Harry Potter is very real. The words that are inked onto the pages of four-inch thick books? They have power. They just don’t have it the way the Rev. Dan Reehill of St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville thinks they do. Reehill had the books pulled out...
Laurels & lances: Soldiers, screens and schools
Laurel: To telling the stories of heroes. Sutersville fire Chief Mark Ghion conducted countless hours of research into the lives and deaths of 14 soldiers from that borough who were killed while serving their country in World Wars I and II and Korea. His work, “14 Sons of Sutersville,” has...
Letter to the editor: New Kensington water charges & bills
After a price adjustment in 2018, the Municipal Authority of New Kensington notified customers about another increase in 2019. The authority stated in January that the water rate hike would be 12%. Bills will increase more than that. The authority previously itemized water bills, showing the actual usage cost and...
Letter to the editor: Trump alienating our allies
I think it’s time for the “chosen one,” the “King of Israel,” the “Messiah,” to admit he’s lost the trade war with China and put his ego aside and start concentrating on doing the work of the people of this great country. And really, fighting with Denmark? What in the...
Letter to the editor: Was Trump divine intervention?
We came together as a nation only after a ragtag militia made up of farmers, shopkeepers and the like defeated the greatest standing army in the world at the time. And men the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Franklin and Adams, et al. were brought together at the same...
Jennifer Elliott: Pennsylvania school screenings missing vital asthma test
With students back in class, schools across the state are providing annual vision and hearing screenings to help ensure student well-being. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not mandate a screening for the most common chronic childhood disease: asthma. Such screenings should be required in Pennsylvania, which has the second highest percentage of...
Timothy L. O’Brien: Mike Pence’s Doonbeg visit proves he’s a giver
Go ahead and forgive yourself if you find some details of Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Ireland confusing. Although Pence has official meetings in Dublin (on Ireland’s east coast) he and his federal entourage have found lodging in Doonbeg (on Ireland’s west coast). Why Doonbeg? Well, Pence has ancestral...
Editorial: Threats aren’t pranks
It’s not funny. You can call it a prank or a practical joke. You can say it was all in good fun or that no harm was meant. You can say whatever you want but it doesn’t make it true. The fact is that there is nothing amusing about telling...
Letter to the editor: Climate change, effects are clear, proven
Kudos to Al Duerig’s response (“Wild claims about climate change, Trump, reparations”) to Rudy Gagliardi’s letter (“Trump will get my vote”) on Trump and climate change. When I read Gagliardi’s letter, I thought that maybe it was Rudy Giuliani using an alias. Giuliani, one of the heroes of 9/11 and...
Letter to the editor: Gas taxes, tar & chip
I just came back from an enjoyable vacation in a rural area of Ohio. At no time was I on a tar and chip road. And gas prices were 50 cents less than they are in Pennsylvania. Maybe someone can tell me where the money goes: 59 cents on every...
Letter to the editor: Climate change scam, sacrifice
Scams proliferate daily as we concern ourselves with billions being taken by crooks, while we casually overlook the trillions being taken by globalist bureaucrats in the name of “climate change.” Their scam originates by scaring people into believing that the earth is in peril by unclear scientific, and often questionable,...
Keith Williams: How 3 workers fought union coercion — and won
It’s not every day that ordinary Pennsylvanians willingly disrupt their lives to stand up for their constitutional rights. Even rarer is achieving an impact that affects thousands of people in just a few short months. But that’s exactly what three Greensburg state employees accomplished this year. Megan James, William Lester...
Pat Buchanan: Will Bibi’s war become America’s war?
President Trump, who canceled a missile strike on Iran after the shoot-down of a U.S. Predator drone, to avoid killing Iranians, may not want a U.S. war with Iran. But the same cannot be said of Bibi Netanyahu. On Aug. 21, Israel launched a night attack on a village south...
Jeff Piccola: Governor’s charter school ‘reforms’ unnecessary
Gov. Tom Wolf recently proposed a series of so-called reforms to Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law. He asserts that it is one of the worst in the nation. If you look at the law from the perspective of high cost and failing school districts, he may be right. Charter schools, which...
Editorial: Is ATV information best safety device?
It’s not against the law for a child to drive an all-terrain vehicle. It’s not against the law for a child to ride on one either. But is it always a good idea? On Thursday, Annabel Whittingham, 5, of Fox Chapel was on an ATV in her yard with her...
Bob Bozzuto: A Labor Day to celebrate
During our busy lives, there are few chances to step back and take in the big picture of the momentum built by America’s workforce. On this 125th Labor Day, we can point out historic achievements and positive impacts that continue across the labor market. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of...
Letter to the editor: Trump keeps fighting for America
I would like to respond to the letter “Disagreeing with Trump supporters.” The writer’s call to veterans not to support President Trump because he didn’t fight for America is unbelievable. Neither President Obama nor Hillary Clinton served, so how did they “fight for America”? I voted for Trump and will...
Letter to the editor: GOP must address Trump’s hate talk
Up until now, I have believed that the best way to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 is to focus on advocating for the federal government to do more to help the lower and middle classes with their economic and financial struggles to survive and to pay their bills. So, I...
Letter to the editor: Hopefuls offer no excitement for Democrats
A lot of my Democrat friends are feeling discouraged with the current crop of their presidential hopefuls. As they all try to out-socialist each other on the debate stage, the base wonders if any of them can defeat President Trump. Candidates who no one knew were running are dropping out...
Editorial: What will quiet the crime?
Downtown Pittsburgh crime is making a lot of noise right now. It’s not just the loudest alarm bell — a series of knife-related incidents that included a woman being killed right in front of a police officer. There are the more persistent buzzings of everyday problems. There is the panhandling....
Editorial: Science before law in measuring marijuana
Sometimes you need a good scientist to figure out the law. The law can tell you not to speed. It takes science to figure out how fast you are going. The law can tell you not to drink and drive. It takes science to figure out how many beers you...
Editorial: Hand gestures aren’t hand guns
You have a right to bear arms. But maybe not hands. On Tuesday, a state appellate court decided not to overturn the disorderly conduct conviction of Stephen Kirchner, 64, of Lancaster County. Kirchner walked past a neighbor’s home. The man made an obscene gesture at him. He returned the favor...
Editorial: What is a worker?
You can’t replace a worker. A worker isn’t an employee. The words might be listed as synonyms in the thesaurus, but there are big differences. An employee collects a paycheck. Hasn’t everyone known an employee? That person whose main skill involves keeping a chair from floating away? Someone who gives...
