Editorials category, Page 47
Editorial: How many state parks is enough?
Pennsylvania is filled with natural beauty. The rivers. The forests. The mountains. The state is teeming with wildlife from the valleys of the southwest to the Appalachian peaks of the north-central region and the slopes to the sea of the Chesapeake watershed. It’s a vital part of what makes the...
Editorial: How will we handle schooling in the next emergency?
There was little question that the coronavirus pandemic would have widespread ramifications. It would hit the economy. It would hit social services. It would hit government and retail, and let’s not forget hospitals. But from the beginning, one of the main concerns was how it would impact education. The answer...
Editorial: Is this the right year to cut ballot drop boxes, Westmoreland County?
If you are a Westmoreland County voter who uses the drop box at the courthouse to cast your ballot, you are out of luck. On Wednesday, a plan to provide that option again died. It wasn’t that it was voted down. Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher put it on the table....
Laurels & lances: Growing, going, giving
Laurel: To a grand gourd. Westmoreland County made a good showing with a super squash. Eric Gunstrom of Harrison City was awarded first place in the 58th annual Barnesville, Ohio, Pumpkin Festival with a monster vegetable weighing in at 2,405 pounds. It took an investment of about 30 hours per...
Editorial: Judah Samet provided example in sharing stories of Holocaust, Tree of Life
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year. It is the start of the High Holy Days — a time of celebration and a time to revel in the honeyed sweetness of life and goodness of God. It is marked by the phrase “Shanah tovah,” meaning “good year.” This year, Rosh...
Editorial: Did GOP lawmakers overplay hand with amendment package?
Gov. Tom Wolf is taking a step back and following a new path in getting a Pennsylvania court to agree that a package of amendments proposed by the state Legislature didn’t play by the rules. The governor took the recommendation of the state Supreme Court and backtracked to take his...
Editorial: Impact of gun violence transcends victims and must be addressed
“Three shot at Kennywood.” “Man shot in McKeesport.” “One man fatally shot, one wounded in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.” “Vehicles struck by gunfire in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood.” “Two juveniles shot in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden. “ Those are the headlines from one weekend’s violence in the Pittsburgh area. Just one weekend. Why?...
Editorial: Fix income ceilings for property tax and rent rebates — permanently
The Pennsylvania Legislature has done a great job of streaming things that matter to lawmakers — namely their raises. The lawmakers have made sure those increases are simple and efficient. A cost of living adjustment has not just been optional; since 1995, it’s been the law. For almost 30 years,...
Editorial: How much is Penn State’s public-private hybrid status worth?
When is a public meeting public, and when can it be private? It’s a question we have pondered a lot — mostly because every level of government and variety of public agency seems to try the boundaries like kids testing a substitute teacher’s resolve. The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act is the...
Editorial: Without gift ban, Harrisburg is the Wild West
When an elected official receives something, there are different ways to look at it. It might be a completely legal donation. These follow election laws and are documented accordingly. If you want to know if Person X donated to Politician Y, there is a database to search to find an...
Laurels and lances: Trials and errors
Laurel: To moving ahead. The Tree of Life shooting happened in October 2018. The world hardly seems like the same place today, separated by so many things that have happened between then and now. Pittsburgh has a different mayor. The country has a different president. We saw huge losses and...
Editorial: Archivist’s role shouldn’t be political
Let’s stop making things political that don’t have to be. There is nothing inherently political about being a librarian. It’s a job that involves caring for and fostering the use of books. It requires organization, attention to detail and the ability to help someone locate what they need, whether it...
Editorial: Volunteers are vital to Southwestern Pennsylvania
The oft-used phrase is “it takes a village to raise a child.” In updated parlance, it isn’t so much a village as it is a volunteer — or lots of volunteers. It is hard to calculate everything in our lives that is done by someone who isn’t collecting a paycheck...
Editorial: Voluntary exclusion could help with addiction
Addiction is a complicated thing. It is a craving for something that creates a pleasurable response in the brain, prompted by the way chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin swirl around in the system. We generally associate it with regulated or illegal substances such as opioids or nicotine or alcohol,...
Editorial: Season tickets could be good for more than Steelers games
Season tickets are a great way for fans to not only see their favorite teams but also to show that their commitment goes deeper than a T-shirt or a bumper sticker. Steelers season tickets are a way to timeshare a slice of Acrisure Stadium — that still feels weird —...
Editorial: Fix medical marijuana loopholes before growing to recreational use
Pennsylvania has a marijuana problem. The state legalized weed for medical use in 2016. Dispensaries started opening their doors two years later, with the government picking up a 5% tax on sales. That translates to millions in revenue for the public coffers. Dispensaries were barely opened when the discussion of...
Editorial: Hallam’s Airbnb ban shows struggle between safety and freedom
The problem with checks and balances is sometimes they don’t just check other people. Sometimes, they check us, too. It isn’t just dramatic irony. It’s an illustration of equity. The head of the Internal Revenue Services should be just as likely to be audited as anyone who turns in a...
Laurels & lances: Cleaning up and cracking down
Laurel: To preserving natural beauty. Southwestern Pennsylvania is defined as much by its water as it traditionally has been by its industry. However, the area’s rivers have both accommodated the businesses that built up around them and been negatively impacted by that development over the years. Reversing the pollution of...
Editorial: Suicide is military’s last battlefield
There is one thing that soldiers and sailors, Marines and airmen understand from the moment they undertake their task. It is that their lives are counted. They are the real weapons of war — more than bullets or bombs. They are the single greatest commodity in the logistics of defense...
Editorial: Westmoreland County should focus on doling out opioid settlement dollars it has before eyeing next lawsuit
Westmoreland County is planning to file another opioid lawsuit. The county — like communities across the nation — has been pursuing those who made money off the opioid epidemic for years. It’s the kind of opportunity not seen since the tobacco settlement of 1998, when states were able to take...
Editorial: School breakfast will help hunger, but lunch would be better
It is unthinkable that 12.5% of households with children deal with hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released those numbers last week. Single women with children struggle the most. Although households at or below the poverty level deal with hunger the most, they aren’t alone. Feeding America says 18.1% of...
Editorial: Turnpike debt problems must be Harrisburg priority
When it comes to editorials, there are two things that most Tribune-Review readers agree on and utterly despise, without regard to party or politics: The Pittsburgh Pirates could screw up a one-car funeral, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission would increase the tolls on that one car astronomically. Pennsylvania Auditor General...
Editorial: Remember the shared grief of Sept. 11 attacks
We remember the losses our nation and our state felt on Sept. 11, 2001, with this editorial from the 20th anniversary of the tragic events (updated to reflect 21 years). For two decades, America has had one shared cultural touchstone. Every Sept. 11, we are transported to the day when...
Editorial: Candidates need to participate in debates
Pennsylvania will get at least one debate. It seems odd to suggest that not having debates during a midterm is at all possible, and yet the top two races in the Keystone State have kept that question unanswered for weeks. It’s absurd to consider skipping them. Pennsylvania has one of...
Laurels & lances: Listening and racism
Laurel: To listening to the people. Actually, Brackenridge’s problems started with listen to a few people complain about basketball hoops and hockey goals. In response to some complaints about traffic obstructions and property damage from kids playing sports on or near neighborhood streets, the borough proposed an ordinance that would...
