Editorials

“Is there a doctor in the house?” is a cliché. But U.S. Rep. Susan Wild wants to keep one out of the Senate — and she thinks the press is hurting her cause. Read more

The first public hearing of the January 6 Select Committee revealed that Rep. Scott Perry, R-York, contacted the White House in the waning days of the Trump administration to request a presidential pardon. This flawed and desperate request makes us question Rep. Perry’s ethics and loyalty to his oath of office. Read more

Just when it didn’t seem things couldn’t get worse — gasoline at $5 to $8 a gallon, supply shortages in everything from baby formula to new cars — comes the devastating news that many of us will endure electricity blackouts this summer. Read more

According to the state of Pennsylvania, an internet connection of 1.5 megabits per second qualifies as “broadband.” That 30-year-old standard is barely fast enough to perform essential tasks, like making Google searches and reading this newspaper’s editorials. Streaming video or making a video call over 1.5 mbps internet would be like trying to suck a milkshake through a coffee stirrer. Read more

Who says bipartisan solutions to high prescription drug prices are impossible? Read more

Watching the new Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio two-part HBO Max documentary was a great time-traveling ride. From the hippy-dippy weatherman on the “Ed Sullivan Show” to hosting the first SNL episode to playing the genial conductor on “Shining Time Station,” the decades flashed before my eyes in “George Carlin’s American Dream.” Read more

Doug Mastriano could be our next governor. Read more

Why is abortion the most divisive issue in American politics? Because Americans are fundamentally compassionate and fair-minded people. They don’t want to bully pregnant women, and they don’t want to hurt babies. What decent person wants to impose (as pro-choice advocates put it) a “forced birth” on a woman? And what caring human being wants to (as pro-lifers say) “stop a beating heart”? Read more

A growing number of people think that America is changing for the worse because it is straying from its Christian roots. As Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has put it, “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God.” Read more

As Major League Baseball begins its delayed season opening on April 7, let’s add another tradition to America’s treasured pastime — reciting the First Amendment before the game begins. Read more

The conversation surrounding marijuana has shifted over the years. Read more

In a combination of overstatement and bad timing, the Legislature’s nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office needlessly has complicated the simple question of whether the state government underfunds about 200 of its 500 school districts. It’s of particular concern to the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre Area districts, two of the most badly underfunded. Read more

As Gov. Tom Wolf proposed a new budget Tuesday that would mitigate the government’s inequitable education funding, legislative Republicans continued to defend that unfair funding in court. Read more

State lawmakers must seize on an opportunity to upgrade public transit in Pa. Read more

Regarding the motion picture industry, most people look forward to sequels about as often as brand-new movies. Read more

PennDOT’s bid to toll nine interstate bridges across the commonwealth as part of a public-private partnership still has several hurdles to clear. But its toll collection partner — the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission — has already contracted for the nine toll gantries in question. Small wonder that the car-driving, toll-paying public suspects that their voice doesn’t really matter. Read more

More than a year after President Joe Biden carried Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes in the most highly scrutinized and repeatedly verified election in state history, state Senate Republicans plan to spend at least $270,000 of public money on a partisan rehash. Read more

Fossil-fuel advocates often lament that government subsidies for renewable fuels put more traditional power sources at a competitive disadvantage. Read more

An ancient craft has brought renewed energy to Johnstown. Read more

Families, adults with intellectual disabilities and autism, organizations that provide services, and disability advocates are witnessing the collapse of Pennsylvania’s intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) system. Day programs have closed or scaled back services, at least 6,500 people have lost services in the past 18 months, and families are facing unemployment and financial ruin to stay home and care for adults with disabilities. The reason is clear: the payment rates set by the Department of Human Services have not kept pace with the cost of providing home and community-based services (HCBS), so provider organizations are unable to recruit, hire and retain Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) to work in these programs. Read more

Great news: Google has turned us into armchair experts on everything. In just a few minutes, we can know better than experts who have committed their entire careers to complicated scientific subjects. Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed telehealth by creating a sudden imperative for remote delivery of medical care to the benefit of patients and providers alike. That transformation has catapulted telehealth and its many benefits to the forefront of mainstream medicine. The challenge now: Make those benefits permanent and expand them further to improve value in care delivery. Read more

Bravo to Philadelphia Orchestra music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin for urging the Biden administration to create a cabinet-level arts and culture post. In an open letter recently, Nézet-Séguin — who is also music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera — said the pandemic’s crippling impact on the creative economy makes “a voice at the table” in Washington, D.C., even more critical. Read more

I belong to the group of people that usually have many New Year’s resolutions. Read more

For American healthcare consumers, the New Year will be very happy, indeed. Read more

COVID-19 has killed nearly 350,000 Americans. And with case counts and hospitalizations soaring, many more deaths are sadly in store. Read more

If ever there was a question about the need to improve America’s infrastructure, it has certainly been dispelled, as the cost to the United States due to lost productivity continues to climb. Read more

The state Department of Transportation plans to accelerate major rehabilitation or reconstruction of five to 10 major bridges across the state by establishing tolls for their use. Read more

The Department of Defense (DOD) is backing a growing grassroots effort nationwide to designate local schools as military friendly because of the huge benefits they provide the children of U.S. service members when transitioning into new schools. Read more

Here are all the ways to vote in this election, safely and securely Read more

Some Pennsylvania dairy farmers, after years of struggle with volatile and evolving markets for their product, entered 2020 cautiously optimistic about their financial situation. “Then, COVID-19 hit. And by mid-March, a government-ordered shutdown forced dairy-buying restaurants closed, instead sending customers to clear out grocery store shelves,” LNP ‘ LancasterOnline’s Sean Sauro reported for a story that appeared in the Sept. 27 Sunday LNP. “It was an abrupt change in the farm-to-consumer supply chain — one that left processors unable to quickly adapt, leading to waste and yet another round of profit loss.” Read more

Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico has been criticized by city council members for what they regard as premature concerns about municipal finances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

Gun shops are among the few businesses that have thrived amid the COVID-19 public health emergency, all the more so since the Wolf administration classified them as “essential” businesses exempt from state-enforced closure. Read more

Babies are at far greater risk of brain damage than previously thought. Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered massive changes in consumer behavior. Read more

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police should never have happened. It was murder and a dark moment in America. The looting, terrorism and burning of American cities by so called protestors is criminal and a dark moment in America. Read more

Normally when 2 p.m. arrives on Saturdays here in Latrobe, a certain peacefulness resounds and it’s as if the world is standing still. There is little movement and silence takes over. That’s been typical ever since I lived in this town. Now, however, that same silence has caused a certain stillness brought on by a disease that has spread around the world. To make it worse, government has mandated rules we stay inside causing more lack of movement. Read more

Recently, Apple and Google caused a stir among cybersecurity experts and privacy advocates in particular with their announcement that they are jointly working on an application to enable contact tracing through their respective devices’ Bluetooth systems. But these digital applications could pose privacy and security concerns of which communities should be aware. Read more

Social distancing is necessitating a fundamental shift in how many of us connect with others in the world. Those of us with no prior experience self-isolating are learning that the undeniable importance of expressing care for ourselves and for others in our community by keeping our distance from them does not make it much easier in practice. Read more

It would be an understatement to say the novel coronavirus has disrupted everyone’s life and livelihood. More than 1,200,000 have had COVID-19 and more than 72,200 have tragically died. Read more

During their future career choices and work lives, most of today’s college students will be confronted with unexpected, challenging circumstances that they will need to manage and navigate, using their best judgment, talents and instincts. Read more

It’s human nature to want to hold someone responsible for a crisis. It can even become an overwhelming, emotional need. So it’s understandable that people who are being furloughed, laid-off, or having their wages cut might blame their employers. Read more

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to loosen his coronavirus lockdown has unleashed a national debate over when it will be safe to reopen our economy. Read more

For those of us who study health care and admire the role that markets play in lifesaving miracles, COVID-19 has thrust us into the worst of times and the best of times. Read more

It was the usual nightmare driving on the Beltway, the six-lane Indy 500 racetrack that encircles the Washington region on a terrifying 64-mile loop through Maryland and Virginia. Read more

It took 120 years and nearly 5,000 innocent deaths, but Congress finally acknowledged the nation’s inexcusable past by approving legislation to make lynching a hate crime under federal law. Read more

Elected officials are still employees. Read more