Editorial: A year defined by accountability
When it comes to editorials, our focus is always on our people — what hurts, what helps, what can be fixed. Sometimes that means being hyperlocal, examining issues that may start on a single street or in a single community but carry meaning across the region. Other times it means...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 29
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 29....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 29
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 29....
Lynn Schmidt: When medical misinformation costs lives — balancing free speech and public health
In my corner of the world, it feels like 2020 all over again, experiencing the push and pull between losing someone I love due to medical misinformation, all while holding respect for free speech. The tension between combating medical misinformation and protecting free speech represents one of the most challenging...
Kathleen Enright: As Americans look for unity, the charitable sector provides a model
As the United States confronts the limits of its own divisions, it can feel as though blame has replaced problem-solving in nearly every area of public life. That perception has led to public trust in just about every major institution — from government to media, religious institutions and nonprofits —...
Editorial: Broadband decisions must outlast politics
Congress made a bipartisan promise a year ago: Every home and business in America would have access to high-speed internet. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act put
$42.5 billion into the Broadband Equity, Access and
Deployment program on a simple premise: In a world where work, education and health care...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump’s renaming frenzy will fade when he does
In what could be a chapter from some “authoritarian’s handbook,” President Donald Trump has used much of his second term naming publicly funded institutions and projects after himself. The decision a week before Christmas to change the name of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to...
Lori Falce: Is mental illness a crime?
The news was impossible to ignore. Two people were found dead in their home after a relative contacted police. The loss was profound, the victims beloved in their community. The crime was brutal — and felt all the more so when investigators focused their attention on the couple’s son, who...
Laurels & lances: Charity & clarity
Laurel: To a spirit of giving. Western Pennsylvania communities deserve credit for stepping up — again — at a time when generosity is harder to give. This year’s Toys for Tots campaign was more important than ever as families through the region struggle with high prices and stretched paychecks. Hundreds...
Martin Schram: Teaching the world’s lost leaders
Just about a week ago, we saw how fast a viral video could virally whip around the world. It was taken during Australia’s Hanukkah-by-the-Sea family-fest that turned into a mass shooting tragedy. Yet it ended with that astonishing, made-for Hollywood heroic twist. It was quickly seen by just about all...
Counterpoint: Ban kids from social media? Yes, absolutely.
Should the United States follow Australia’s lead in banning children under 16 from social media platforms? Absolutely! Australia has set a new global standard by requiring platforms to act in children’s best interests. Its new law raises the minimum age to 16, requires age verification, and holds platforms financially accountable...
Point: Throwing parental rights on the barbie won’t fly in the United States
The world’s first social media ban of users under age 16 is in effect in Australia. Whatever parents’ genuine concerns and understandable frustrations around their kids’ safety online, the Aussie approach is not the answer and should not be emulated by U.S. lawmakers. The Australian ban covers Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat,...
Jonah Goldberg: How do you solve a problem like Candace Owens?
Candace Owens has a very popular internet show in which she trots out deranged conspiracies about, among other things, the demonic nature of Jews, the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (probably by Jews and their pawns, in her estimation) and the allegation that French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife is...
Cal Thomas: Why stop at the Kennedy Center?
Earlier this month I attended the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with my wife and two friends to listen to a wonderful performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” The Kennedy Center has been among the few places in Washington (sports arenas are another) where one can get through a...
Sharon Sedlar: When students fear for their lives, families deserve genuine choices
Sending kids to school shouldn’t be an act of courage — but for many families, it is. Just one mile from my home, at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, there was a stabbing. During this horrifically violent episode, kids texted with their parents to let them know they were ok....
Robin Abcarian: Australia just banned kids from social media. Shouldn’t we all?
Earlier this month, Australia became the first country in the world to enact a social media ban for kids under 16. As the children of Oz wept and gnashed their teeth (I presume), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged them to “start a new sport, learn a new instrument or read...
Letter to the editor: McCormick OK with ketamine but not marijuana?
I’m gonna need someone to explain this to me like I’m 5. Help me please. Pennsylvania has a medical cannabis market. Thousands of patients use the system annually to therapeutically manage chronic conditions. Pennsylvania took in nearly $87 million from gross receipt taxes in 2024 (not including any local taxes)....
Letter to the editor: We must focus on renewable energy sources
I agree that we need to look for ways to reduce our energy use. So, as I read the op-ed “New energy sources needed now” (Dec. 17, TribLive), I was distressed because it was promoting the use of nuclear energy and carbon-capture technology. Both of these options are extremely expensive...
Letter to the editor: Who needs gerrymandering?
So, let me get this straight. The tie in the recent East Deer commissioner seat election was decided by “drawing lots” within the walls of the epicenter of the Democratic Party’s seemingly forever stranglehold on Allegheny County politics. I wonder if James Carville orchestrated the proceedings. I should have sent...
Letter to the editor: Death of common sense
When did the slow and agonizing death of common sense in America begin? Some believe it’s as recent as 2024 when 70 million people voted for an “appointed” candidate and her sidekick. Think Bugs and Daffy with a mallet. Maybe it was when we accepted lockdowns and a “minimally” tested...
Letter to the editor: Pharmacists care
One Christmas Eve, while I was closing a pharmacy in Pittsburgh, a woman rushed in with her young son, crying from an ear infection. She had run across the parking lot hoping to make it before we locked the doors. I had already begun to close, but there was no...
Letter to the editor: Approve clean projects to bring down price of electricity
In her story “Why your electric bill is rising this winter and how to prepare” (Nov. 29, TribLive), Megan Trotter states “the price of power has surged because of international conflicts, growing energy consumption and the rising price of natural gas, which made up 43% of electricity generation in 2023...
Letter to the editor: Follow the money on marijuana
Everyone should have the right to choose what they put in their body. But when it comes to “weed,” it’s time to listen to science instead of a 22-year-old budtender claiming “Purple Kushberry Magic” cures depression, headaches and arthritis or an MD collecting $200 to certify the self-diagnosis you walked...
Letter to the editor: Pa. leaders failing us on guns
College campuses should be safe spaces for students. But in the U.S., they aren’t, as this month’s mass shooting at Brown University proved. After reading Megan Trotter’s article “Pittsburgh-area natives share their stories of Brown University shooting” (Dec. 15, TribLive), which detailed how Brown students from the Pittsburgh area were...
Letter to the editor: Let’s rename GOP ‘Cult of Trump’
The letter “Let’s change Dems’ name to Communist Party” (Dec. 16, TribLive) manifests as many falsehoods as you’d hear at a Trump rally. It’s true that most Americans would like to have some safety nets to help the less fortunate, but that’s hardly communism. The writer presents no points that...
