Editorials category, Page 84
Editorial: Levin Furniture buy was smart move
There is something deeply satisfying about a happy ending. What happened last week with Levin Furniture is that kind of story. True, a tale of last-minute redemption involving couches and glossy contemporary dining tables is probably not going to be a contender at the Oscars any time soon. (But, Tom...
Editorial: Senate expenses are public records
Nobody has a right to ask how you spent your money. As long as it’s your money. Once you start spending public money, all of that changes. The taxpayers get to know if someone they elected is charging them for nightly lobster and filet mignon dinners. They get to know...
Editorial: Pittsburgh should OK zoo accreditation
If Disney’s “The Lion King” has taught us anything, it’s that everything in the animal world is a vast circle of life. It’s a cycle of prey and predator, birth and death, eat or be eaten. Apparently it’s also about laws and leases, alligators and elephants and accreditation. It started...
Laurels & lances: Statue, saved and Sunshine.
Laurel: To representing the ladies. Nellie Bly was always breaking barriers. When few women were working outside the home, the Armstrong County native was an investigative reporter. Before women could vote, she was forcing the world to take notice of her with record-shattering world travel and undercover tales of insane...
Editorial: Will primary matter in Pennsylvania?
The presidential primary is always an interesting exercise in Pennsylvania. An exercise in futility, that is. For a year, the state has watched the Democratic hopefuls strut onto the stage and have their say. A few acknowledged the general electoral importance of Pennsylvania with announcements and appearances. Homegrown former congressman...
Editorial: Answer distress call for EMTs
If you need help, you call 911. They send a firetruck if something is on fire, or a police car if a crime is occurring. If someone is sick or hurt, they send an ambulance. The emergency medical technicians that staff an ambulance are critical links in the health care...
Editorial: Strip District defined by history
Pittsburgh is not a city that objects to a little industrialism. In fact, there may be no city built on industrialism quite the way Pittsburgh was. It wasn’t just a city where things were made. It was a city that made it possible for things to be made in other...
Editorial: The people have a right to know
Elected officials are still employees. A mayor may not be answerable to a council member. The governor might not have to get the attorney general to approve his vacation. The president doesn’t have to get Congress to approve a sick day. But all of them were elected to do a...
Editorial: The right prescription for pandemic
Coronavirus has a lot to teach us. Or rather, the way the world has responded to it does. There are those who are overreacting and those who are underreacting. There are those in denial and those in overdrive. And then there are those who are controlling the message. We can...
Editorial: Keep a leash on bullying
There is something about voicing an opinion online that can turn a forum of ideas into a kennel. Instead of thoughtful insights, honest questions, legitimate concerns and reasonable critique, it can easily turn to snarling, barking and howling as commenters compete to be heard above the din. It is part...
Laurels & lances: Vandals, cleanup and delivery
Lance: To defacing nature. Over the weekend, vandals spray painted graffiti all over hundreds of feet of the natural sandstone that lies along the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park. This wasn’t some underpass or derelict old building where vandalism is still unwanted and makes a city or a neighborhood...
Editorial: A thoughtful, intentional Lent
What did you give up for Lent? The traditionals are things like chocolate and alcohol. Modern, digital Christians who observe the 40-day period leading up to Easter might abstain from things like Facebook or Twitter. Diehards eschew meat the whole time, regardless of Vatican II-era changes. Some gratefully limit that...
Editorial: B. Smith’s story worth remembering
Barbara “B.” Smith was a lot of things to a lot of people. A native of Everson in Fayette County who graduated from Southmoreland High School, she went into modeling and became a groundbreaker for black women in the fashion industry. She was a restaurateur and cookbook author. She was...
Editorial: Tech teaches life lessons
Technology is often demonized in the lives of kids. Too many phones. Too many screens. Kids need to pick up a book. Kids need to try to use their brains instead of relying on a device. Kids have too much technology and not enough creativity. But technology is as creative...
Editorial: Are fewer divorces good news?
For decades, we have heard the troubling statistic about American families. Half of marriages end in divorce. Well, the odds are improving. Especially in Pennsylvania. A 2017 Psychology Today study reviewed those numbers and found a new bride and groom had a 75% chance of staying together. Aw. We knew...
Editorial: Legislation strangled by partisanship
The political landscape is as partisan as a war zone, but “bipartisan” seems to be every politician’s favorite word. If a legislator does something with even one member of the opposing party, you will hear crows of “bipartisan support.” Without that one member, there is a great wailing and mourning...
Editorial: Boy Scouts bend their own laws
A Scout is trustworthy. That is the first point of the Scout Law, the 12 principles outlined by Boy Scouts of America as rules to live by. The organization defines the idea. “Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.” It will be surprising if at least...
Laurels & lances: Locks, fights and hope
Laurel: To a place in the plan. Infrastructure development is always a popular touchstone with politicians, so it isn’t surprising when it gets brought up. It’s definitely nice to be remembered at budget time, however. And that’s what happened with President Trump’s recent budget proposal. The plan includes $6 billion...
Editorial: Time for Nalani Johnson Rule
Time in a child’s life ticks by fast. A baby grows and changes every day. A week can be the difference between pants that fit and pants that don’t. And an hour can be the difference between life and death. On Tuesday, cellphones across the area blared as an Amber...
Editorial: What is the future of hemp industry?
Growing a new industry isn’t as simple as having an idea. It’s not even as simple as having a product. An industry is bigger than a business. It’s about suppliers and manufacturers and distributors. Even with enough supply and healthy demand, if any of the cogs in the middle break...
Editorial: School’s paper donation situation
Ask and ye shall receive. It’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, though, it does, like it did with Sto-Rox School District last week. On Friday, guidance counselor Katie Couch looked at the total lack of copy paper in the district and the months left in...
Editorial: Home prices up, inventory down
People love to see a great house. HGTV is popular for a reason. People want to see what other people’s houses look like, and what their houses could look like, and whether they should think about buying another house or remodeling the house they already have. That old adage is...
Editorial: Pitt virus collaboration is healthy
COVID-19 is coming to town. You are forgiven if you don’t immediately place the name. It’s gone through a number of changes in recent weeks. It’s the new official designation for the disease you are more likely to know as coronavirus. The problem is that coronavirus isn’t a virus. It’s...
Editorial: Brain drain requires smart solutions
They call it brain drain. It’s the harsh truth that Pennsylvania kids can’t afford to stay in Pennsylvania when they get higher education, and it dances around the edges of a lot of the problems with the state’s colleges and universities. While the Keystone State boasts plenty of opportunities —...
Laurels & lances: Transparency, therapy, reflection
Lance: To keeping secrets. Every day, there are lawsuits that are sealed for a variety of reasons. On Tuesday, sealed paperwork was filed in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas containing the details of the settlement between UPMC and Paris Cleaners Inc. on one side and, on the other, the...
