Editorials

The answers about what happened July 13 are coming, but they are coming slowly. Four weeks after the shooting at the Trump rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, there has already been testimony in front of a joint panel of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees. The...

Deepfakes are getting attention as we creep closer to the election. These are things that spread like a bad flu with increasing reliance on technology. Often, they are a political weapon. Thousands of people in New Hampshire received robocalls ahead of the primary, with a voice that sounded like President...

Laurel: To being a crime stopper. Bad things happen all the time, and people often wonder what would happen if someone was in the right place at the right time. Sharpsburg Mayor Kayla Portis can tell you because it happened Monday. Portis said a random passerby made all the difference...

In 1999, the opioid addiction epidemic began. That was around the time when school districts and police departments began to have meetings with parents and residents about the dangers. In the ensuing 25 years, the addiction problem has continued. Much like the trajectory of addicts’ journeys, the main players on...

In September 1897, a letter in the handwriting of a child arrived at The New York Sun. Upon its receipt, the editor summoned Francis P. Church, an editorial writer. “Here,” he said, “take this letter and write a reply to it.” Church, somewhat disgruntled over what he considered to be...

Gov. Josh Shapiro will not be the vice president of the United States. At least, he won’t be on the ticket this year. The Democratic nominee and current VP Kamala Harris unveiled her running mate pick after two weeks of speculation. The honor went to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota...

Westmoreland County commissioners want to track where county-owned vehicles are going. It makes sense. The county owns or leases 180 vehicles. Cars, trucks, SUVs, vans — all of them are intended to help county employees or elected officials provide the services residents need. The government is one of the largest...

A small bit of justice came to two very evil men when they met their ends in Beirut and Tehran last week. Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was blasted to oblivion by Israel in Beirut after Hezbollah fired an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket into the Golan Heights, killing a dozen Druze children...

A Rube Goldberg machine is the intersection of inspired engineering, cartoonish imagination and childlike faith. Familiar from Goldberg’s own illustrations in the 1930s and Saturday morning programming like “Tom and Jerry” and “Scooby-Doo,” they are contraptions that string together improbable parts to accomplish a seemingly simple task. A marble rolls...

Laurel: To a sense of purpose. When you mention “volunteering” and “dementia,” people have an image in mind. It’s about people coming to a nursing home and doing something with the patients. Maybe they read. Maybe they play music or just sit and talk. But it’s about an able person...

On Thursday, Evan Gershkovich did what he has been waiting to do for 491 days. He left his prison cell in Russia. He got on a plane. He started his journey home. For former Marine Paul Whelan, the wait was longer — 2,043 days. For Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu...

The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act was signed into law in 2023 after passing through Congress with surprising bipartisan support. It amended a 1934 law governing how inmates in an institution can have access to people outside the walls of their jail or prison. It requires the Federal...

We cannot accept antisemitism. It shouldn’t happen in America. It shouldn’t happen in Pennsylvania. It cannot happen in Pittsburgh. In every other place in the country and the state, antisemitism is an ugly word that speaks of an ugly history. It reflects disgusting, individual attacks. It is about policies and...

If you have a mailbox, you may have gotten a postcard advertisement from U.S. Steel. If you watch television, you may have seen a commercial about Nippon Steel. If you spend time online, you may have seen a pop-up ad about the sale of the high-profile Pittsburgh-based American steel company...

Every year, the world has a chance to be better for a few days. Right now, more than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries have gathered in France for the Olympic Games. They will compete in 329 events over 32 sports. There are the classics such as running and cycling. There...

Former president Donald Trump will return to Pennsylvania. On Friday, it was announced the Republican presidential nominee would campaign Wednesday at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg. It is another sign things are returning to normal after the July 13 campaign rally in Butler. Gunman Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel...

Laurel: To recognizing a reality. Not everyone drinks alcohol or indulges in other substances. Some people don’t drink because they’re in recovery from alcoholism or other substance abuse. Some people can’t drink because of a medical condition, like pregnancy, diabetes or liver disease. Some may have an emotional or psychological...

Football season doesn’t mean the same thing in the Latrobe area that it does in Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, football season is a fall phenomenon. It is tailgating and Sunday afternoons, Monday nights and powering through games sometimes cold enough to freeze a Terrible Towel. It is months of fans living...

Members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security did something Monday that lawmakers rarely do. They did not meet in a formal room, sitting at glossy wood desks, perched behind nameplates underscoring their importance to a political process. Instead, a group of lawmakers from both parties went into the...

On Friday, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage by a Russian court. He was sentenced immediately. The penalty was 16 years in a maximum-security prison. The sentencing has given rise to speculation about negotiation for Gershkovich’s release. Russia likes to trade prisoners only after they have...

On Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden posted to social media a letter that was both surprising and anticipated. He bowed out of the presidential election. It was surprising because it is really unheard of at this point in an election year. The closest analog is when Lyndon B. Johnson stepped...

Paying for health care in America is a complicated business. In recent years, the government has taken valuable steps to reduce the harm that unexpected medical bills and unscrupulous debt collectors inflict on consumers. But a newly proposed rule, which would strip all health care bills from credit reports, is...

Butler County has been Trump country from the beginning. North of the Democratic island of Allegheny County, Butler County is not hesitant in its support of former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump. In 2016, 66.7% of the county picked Trump over Hillary Clinton. In 2020, support barely wavered, dropping...

It might seem like the dysfunction in the Westmoreland County Register of Wills Office is a new thing. The department — responsible for filings and services regarding estates, wills, adoptions and more — has been in the spotlight all year. There was a hearing in January that saw Register of...

Every week in this space, we give a spotlight to some of the best and worst news. Sometimes it’s a smaller aspect of a bigger story. Sometimes it’s a piece from one community that might have been missed by others. This week, we know what the lance is. Everyone knows...