Opinion category, Page 739
Letter to the editor: Hempfield voters will have say
Still stunned by outrageous property assessment challenges by the Hempfield Area School Board targeting individual homeowners, I thought that there is no better time to revisit the topic than now. Hempfield homeowners were set upon by bounty hunters (actually attorneys, but why argue semantics?) hired by a majority of the...
Letter to the editor: Donate to charity instead of politicians
I have a novel idea. Instead of donating to a politician, why don’t we donate that money to a charity? This way the politicians will be able to do their jobs instead of prostituting themselves for campaign donations. If we donate to charities, maybe cancer could be cured or the...
Letter to the editor: Will Westmoreland well testing lead to tax?
I suppose I should be encouraged that the county would be so concerned with the quality of my well that they will spend $250,000 in federal money to establish a “baseline” for private wells throughout the county (“Westmoreland County could be region’s first to get water wells tested by feds,”...
Donald Boudreaux: What if real wars were fought like trade wars?
Uncle Sam and Beijing are now waging a full-blown trade war against each other. But trade wars are very different than real wars — you know, the violent struggles in which belligerents on one side try to kill and maim belligerents on the other side, and often also to seize...
Letter to the editor: Doug Weimer lives by Scout Oath
The Boy Scout Oath and Law have been lived by over 2 million young people who have become Eagle Scouts since the founding of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Doug Weimer, running for Hempfield Township supervisor, became an Eagle Scout and continues to live by the principles of...
Lori Falce: What can Brown v. Board of Education do for you?
It’s a question that has been asked of many judicial nominees in recent years. “Is Brown v. the Board of Education settled law?” More surprising than the question is the lack of answer. Lately, what has always been a softball is being bounced on the fingertips like a hot potato....
Laurels & lances: Music, mistakes, reeling and ruling
Laurel: To a real disc jockey. The kind who remembers not just pushing buttons, but spinning vinyl. There will be one fewer of those on the air waves after July 31. That’s when WDVE’s Sean McDowell will retire. Good for him and his 40-plus years behind the microphone. Sad for...
Letter to the editor: Jon Wian will be an advocate
As a licensed title agent and the Westmoreland County treasurer, I am casting my vote for Jon Wian for Westmoreland County recorder of deeds. Wian’s long list of credentials gives voters the opportunity to have someone with industry knowledge leading one of the most used offices in the county. Wian...
Letter to the editor: Vaccine curiosity
I find it curious that every time there is an outbreak of flu, chicken pox or the latest — measles — there is an accompanying alarm and outcry for vaccination — not, interestingly enough, from the people who have not been vaccinated and are supposedly at great risk, but instead...
George Will: Ex-Im bank & the essence of socialism
WASHINGTON Briefly suspending their warnings about the rising tide of socialism, a large majority of Senate Republicans recently joined with almost all their Democratic colleagues in affirming the essence of socialism, which is government allocation of capital. The Senate’s revival of the Export-Import Bank is a redundant reminder that the...
S.E. Cupp: Trump’s escalation of Obama’s shadow war
If I gave you a pop quiz on recent current events, I bet you’d do pretty well, thanks to a 24-hour cable news cycle, late night talk shows, social media and popular culture. You undoubtedly know that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their first child. You can likely go...
Editorial: Can student loan debt be opioid solution?
Solutions can be obvious if we open ourselves to seeing them. Doctors and scientists have a way of looking at something as both a problem and a solution. Something can be poison in one dose, medicine in another. HIV is being manipulated to fight cancer. Radiation can fuel a bomb,...
Letter to the editor: LIFEPAC politicized?
So stunned, I have to ask: Is LIFEPAC, the single-issue, pro-life group, politicized? Since 1980, LIFEPAC’S mission has been to “identify and support all pro-life candidates.” The process of “identifying” included the candidate filling out a questionnaire. Then, LIFEPAC would create a blue-and-white flier and deliver a thousand to churches...
Letter to the editor: Wian for Westmoreland County recorder of deeds
With the May primary election just around the corner, there is one candidate who stands out as the clear choice for Westmoreland County recorder of deeds: Jon Wian. While serving as deputy treasurer, Wian has demonstrated the leadership skills, work ethic and dedication needed to successfully run a county row...
Letter to the editor: Donald Trump & George Washington
President Trump is, and has been, pulling out every stop to hide information about himself, his tax records, bank and business dealings, etc. He calls it harassment and a coup attempt to be asked about such things. Well, the coup may have already taken place in 2016. Who can trust...
Colin McNickle: Reversing Greater Pittsburgh’s population decline
As the population continues to decline in Greater Pittsburgh’s seven-county region, sound public policies that could help to remedy the losses go unimplemented, remind scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates as of July 1, 2018, the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)...
Pat Buchanan: Are all the world’s problems ours?
In 2003, George W. Bush took us to war to liberate Iraq from the despotism of Saddam Hussein and convert that nation into a beacon of freedom and prosperity in the Middle East. Last Tuesday, Mike Pompeo flew clandestinely into Baghdad and met with the prime minister. The visit was...
Editorial: Bishops right with priest suspensions, disclosures
Priests are people, too. They do good things and bad things and sometimes very bad things. They make sacrifices and they make mistakes. Priests are no more likely to lie, cheat, steal or hurt someone than a teacher or a banker, a barber or a chef. The statewide — and...
Letter to the editor: Where are the good guys in politics?
There are so many corrupt politicians that it impossible to identify the good guys. The same goes for the Department of Justice and the FBI. Why do Americans stand for this? John W. Newhouse Shaler...
Letter to the editor: Changes needed on Plum school board
I moved to Plum several years ago with the hopes of sending my kids to quality schools. My son just started kindergarten this year, and I fear for his future if we don’t see changes on the school board. First, I find it hard to understand how a board can...
Letter to the editor: Voting and voter suppression
Anticipating Election Day, May 21, I am forced to face two of my greatest disappointments: citizens who don’t take the time to vote, and the Republican Party’s promotion of voter suppression. The right to vote is the bedrock principle of our democracy. For someone to casually forego this opportunity is...
Tom Purcell: ‘Do over’ proms pursue perpetual adolescence
Prom season is upon us. We all know what that means: More American adults are doing their proms all over again. A New York Times headline about a growing number of adults says they are taking “A second shot to have the best night of their lives.” And carrying on...
Editorial: U.S.-China trade war is scary roller coaster
If you have any money in the stock market, you’re going to want to close your eyes, catch your breath and hold on tight. The roller-coaster ride that is the daily ups and downs of trading is headed for a whole new set of death-defying loops. We know why. In...
Letter to the editor: Keep Logan, Weimer as Hempfield supervisors
Doug Weimer and Tom Logan have done a great job as our Hempfield Township supervisors and we need to keep them in. This year more than ever it’s important to look at the candidates and see what they have done, not what they are saying they will do. These two...
Letter to the editor: Where’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
I am very concerned about the condition and whereabouts of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We’ve heard unsubstantiated stories of her working out with trainers, walking a mile a day, sparring with Chuck Norris, etc. We’ve seen and heard a few vague photos and sound clips, also. All after...
