Editorials category, Page 23
Editorial: Will Innamorato’s 500 houses plan work?
Some ailments are acute. They are like an asthma attack — sudden, unpredictable and requiring an urgent and immediate response. Others are chronic and demand steady and sustained supervision, like the steroid inhaler an asthmatic might take daily to strengthen the lungs and stave off an attack. Acute and chronic...
Laurels & lances: Fire and EMS
Laurel: To pulling together. A fire can can devastate a residence. Even when there is no loss of life, it can upend a family and send people scrambling to find shelter and replace the necessities they have lost. But what happens when the residence lost is the place people go...
Editorial: More mental health treatment options are start to solving many social problems
The former Inn at Lenape Heights Event Center and Golf Resort was sold in January for $2.5 million. It prompted a flurry of questions as people in the Manor Township community were left wondering about the impact. The closing took away a hotel, restaurant and location for weddings and other...
Editorial: The sad history of Pennsylvania’s inability to pass a budget
The three branches of government can each do or not do their jobs independent of each other most of the time. The governor of Pennsylvania never has to ask permission for staying inside the lines of his executive tasks. The Legislature doesn’t need the governor’s OK to introduce bills or...
Editorial: Pride is a colorful celebration of acceptance
A rainbow is just a trick of the light. There isn’t really a ribbon of color stretched across the sky. It’s just the way the sun falls through a mist of water suspended in the air after precipitation. The water acts like a cut-glass crystal, slicing through the light to...
Editorial: MLB finally embraces all of the major leagues, including the Black ones
Who holds Major League Baseball’s record for the highest batting average in a single season? It’s not Ted Williams, with his .406 average in 1941, the last time anyone topped .400. It’s not Ty Cobb, with his stunning .420 average in 1911, or even Nap Lajoie, whose .426 average in...
Editorial: Does Penn State worship too much at its football altar?
Penn State is a football school. There’s no denying that. The university may excel in other sports and other areas, but football is the foundation upon which its national brand is built. That can be a good thing. Plenty of schools have leaned into it. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio...
Editorial: When will U.S. say yes or no to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel merger?
The world seems fine with Japan’s largest steel company acquiring the grandfather of steel production in America. In December, Tokyo-based Nippon Steel made a $14.9 billion offer to merge with U.S. Steel. In April, U.S. Steel stockholders approved the proposal by an overwhelming 99% of shares represented. And yet a...
Laurels & lances: Rebuilding and reversal
Laurel: To rebuilding. Rick and Beth Napoleon lost their home with the August 2023 explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The blaze consumed three houses across the street from the Napoleons, but they were not the only ones with damage. Many houses required extensive repair. The Napoleon home was beyond...
Editorial: Pittsburgh City Council games system with quorums and briefings
It is common for people to try to avoid the law by identifying its outlines and walking right up to that border. It happens in banking, where people will try to avoid the scrutiny that comes with criminal activities by staying under the $10,000 reporting threshold. People will try to...
Editorial: Should Pennsylvania lawmakers vote remotely?
The pandemic changed the way many people worked. Specifically, it changed where they could do that work. There was a reason. If people were working from home, they weren’t spreading the virus. Working from home became popular. It was cheaper to work without the commute. It was affordable to make...
Editorial: Israeli and Palestinian leaders once shared a peace prize. Now they may share war crimes charges
It is somehow fitting that the International Criminal Court prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants against leaders of both Hamas and Israel in connection with mass slaughters carried out since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s response. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar,...
Editorial: Remembering sacrifice on Memorial Day
For Memorial Day, a classic Trib editorial: On this Memorial Day, be grateful that Americans’ willingness to sacrifice for freedom’s sake, instilled by each generation in the next, remains as strong as ever. Today, Americans honor those most worthy of such gratitude — those who gave their lives in our...
Editorial: Biden is changing U.S. stances on marijuana. He should bring Marc Fogel home from Russia for medical marijuana use.
On Thursday, Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel spoke to TribLive about his time in a Russian penal colony, where he has been sentenced to 14 years. His alleged crime: possession of medical marijuana legally prescribed in Pennsylvania. He had a simple and heartfelt plea to President Joe Biden: “Just please, bring...
Laurels & lances: New hire, new housing
Laurel: To a new hire. The first president of Pennsylvania Western University announced her departure on Valentine’s Day 2023. That was followed by interim president Lorraine Bernotsky being named the new leader of West Chester University. She will depart PennWest June 30. It has taken more than 15 months to...
Editorial: Is the NFL Draft or a Super Bowl better for Pittsburgh?
Is the NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh in 2026 really that big a deal? From a financial perspective, it definitely could be. It seems unlikely Pittsburgh will see a Super Bowl on the North Shore anytime soon. The February weather in Southwestern Pennsylvania is too changeable for 120 million eyes...
Editorial: Elected official shouldn’t require babysitting to do her job
The drama in the Westmoreland County Register of Wills office continues. It started with judges ordering Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton to comply with certain timelines. She didn’t. There was a hearing that revealed more of the dysfunction in the office, including a large backlog of uncompleted work delaying...
Editorial: John Fetterman should be careful throwing political stones
Those who live in glass houses are often cautioned about the casual tossing of stones. On Friday, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, decided to pick up some rocks and juggle. “In the past, I’ve described the U.S. House as ‘The Jerry Springer Show,’ ” he posted on X.com. “Today, I’m apologizing...
Editorial: The rematch is set: Biden vs. Trump debates have the right balance
The last time the Democrats and Republicans held a White House rematch with the same contenders was 1956, when Ike beat Adlai Stevenson for the second straight time. Earlier, there were redos with William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan (McKinley won both in 1896 and 1900) and Grover Cleveland vs....
Editorial: Body cameras can protect police but only if policies allow it
Body cameras for police have become expected. In January, a report from the Police Executive Research Forum — an independent research group focused on law enforcement issues — pointed to how the devices changed over a 10-year period. There were 200 policing experts pulled together in 2013 to discuss this...
Editorial: Is paying former city employee with credit card an ethics problem?
Do we really need to keep explaining ethics to government officials? Looks like it. OK, one more time. Ethics are the moral principles governing what we do. They apply in a variety of arenas. There are business ethics, medical ethics, educational ethics, legal ethics. What we’re talking about here is...
Laurels & lances: Superintendents and cyclones
Laurel: To the next step. First Hempfield Area School District got an architect for the high school renovation. Then it got a project manager. Then it got an owner’s representative. Then it asked for bids, which went way over budget. Then it threw the bids out and went back to...
Editorial: Does quadriplegic inmate deserve compassionate release after 49 years?
Ezra Bozeman was convicted of second-degree murder in 1975. The jury came to that decision 10 months after the crime occurred, when Morris Weitz was shot and killed during a robbery at a dry cleaner’s shop in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood. Bozeman was sentenced to life in prison. He has...
Editorial: What can Pennsylvania do about truancy?
Schools can be caught in a no-win situation when it comes to getting kids in the doors. Students are required to attend school until they turn 18 or graduate. It might be a public or private or charter school, but they have to be learning to read and write and...
Editorial: Cyril Wecht changed forensics and true crime
There is no denying that Cyril Wecht was a leading figure in his field. The forensic pathologist’s career was about death and the puzzles that surround it. He reviewed evidence in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and consulted on the investigation of Robert F. Kennedy’s shooting death. He weighed...
