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Ignoring recalls may result in real tragedy

About 12 million vehicles were recalled from 2015-24 for safety defects that could result in air bags not deploying. The recalls were well-publicized. In fact, many vehicle owners, upon learning about a recall, were unhappy about the fact that a trip to the service department outside of routine maintenance would be necessary. Still, most owners were satisfied that service department visit could someday prevent a catastrophic situation for them and also for passengers, if their vehicles were involved in a crash. It made sense to schedule the service as soon as possible. But now it ...

Take political pay raises off autopilot

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Wouldn’t it be great if your income automatically increased based on the cost of living? Higher food, gas or electricity prices would sting less. Rent increases might still hurt, but not nearly as much if paychecks rose alongside them. That is the reality for some in Pennsylvania. State lawmakers and other elected officials see their salaries rise annually based on the Consumer Price Index. So do those elected in Westmoreland County. But Westmoreland officials may not see that continue. TribLive has been pushing for years to take elected officials’ ...

Hope springs eternal despite struggles

This Christmas, many people here and around the world continue to wonder what percentage of humans on this planet really believe that Jesus Christ came to Earth to save the souls of mankind. Likewise, there no doubt is great wonderment also as to whether the phrase “fear of the Lord” really is believed and practiced as a real part of people’s lives. Thinking about happenings such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the destruction of — and suffering in — Gaza, the mass shootings witnessed in this country and the general turmoil that is inflicted on the lives of many innocent and ...

It’s time for cameras in Pa. courts

Those who follow news reports of criminal cases have likely seen photographs and/or video captured during out-of-state court proceedings and wondered why they don’t see similar scenes from inside Pennsylvania’s courtrooms. The short answer is: Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 112 prohibits cameras in courtrooms. The longer answer begins: Pennsylvania is only one of five states in the nation with very rigid restrictions that need to be updated for the sake of transparency and accountability. During the recent preliminary hearing held in Manhattan for Luigi Mangione, ...

Lawmakers need to answer tough questions

Pennsylvania lawmakers’ immediate first order of business after giving approval to a 2025-26 state budget — more than four months after the June 30 budget deadline — should have been approval of a process to repay counties and school districts for their interest costs necessitated by the budget impasse. For the benefit of anyone who has forgotten, lawmakers’ budget irresponsibility necessitated borrowing by counties, school districts and others in order to continue operating until legislators abandoned their political game-playing at others’ expense. Actually, the only ...

Altoona on tap to see housing high

Most people have heard the phrase beginning with “Year of the,” denoting an emphasis on one particular topic or group of topics — also possibly including a number of sub-topics of similar scope or substance. For Altoona, if all falls into place as deemed possible and workable, 2026 might well merit designation as the “Year of the House,” because of how housing-related preliminary work already underway is establishing the groundwork for exciting possibilities, going forward, for this forward-looking city. The effort that’s underway must continue — uninhibited. Leaders ...