Joe Biden spent a nauseating 64 minutes reading a love letter to fringe leftists from his teleprompter on April 28. Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris did their best jack-in-the-box imitations behind him, jumping up to applaud approximately once per minute. Chuck Schumer, making better use of hi…

On March 28, 1781, Washington County was created by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania and during those 240 years, our form of county government has not changed. We still have three elected county commissioners as well as an elected district attorney, sheriff, controller, treasurer, regist…

Editor’s note: Gryffyn Jones, a home-schooled student in seventh grade, is the first-place winner of the 2021 Law Day Essay Contest, sponsored by the Washington County Bar Association, Bar Foundation and Observer-Reporter. This year’s theme focused on “Advancing the Rule of Law.” A complete …

Pushing for broadband expansion for all Pennsylvanians is not something new for me – several years ago, I realized our state had a serious problem regarding reliable, affordable access and I began to further investigate why, as a state, we had fallen so behind. Since the pandemic, access and…

The first full week of May is National Travel and Tourism Week – an annual tradition since 1983 for the United States’ travel community. According to the U.S. Travel Association, this week is a time when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to celebrate the value travel …

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to loosen its grip on Pennsylvania, the state’s economy appears to be strengthening. But an analysis by scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy shows the rebound has been lackluster and prospective government policies could retard it further.

It is never out of bounds to ask the question, what is the role of government in American society? With political and social institutions no longer functioning properly, the question now becomes an imperative.

Democrats in Congress ramped up efforts this week to create a nationwide work program to transition away from fossil fuels, as union leaders representing the country’s coal miners acknowledged the need for a change.

Days after a group of state senators took preemptive aim at so-called vaccine passports, another state lawmaker is pushing a sweeping ban on private businesses requiring immunizations.

On March 11, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) became law. The plan is the most significant piece of legislation to help American families since The New Deal. It has overwhelming and bipartisan support from the American public, with 75% of Americans in support, including nearly 60% of Republica…

Pennsylvanians were rightfully furious last month when the Wolf Administration and Attorney General Josh Shapiro botched a simple advertising requirement that will delay justice for thousands of Pennsylvanians who were victimized by sexual abuse when they were children. Their failure to adve…

You may read about them in the newspaper or see them along local roads, plowing snow in the winter or patching potholes in the spring.

For those of us who were either raised in Washington and Greene counties, or adopted this region as our home, coal mining has not only provided good paying jobs, it is a way of life for many. When a coal company decides to mine, none of us are surprised. Southwestern Pennsylvania is blessed …

Allegheny County Council could not muster enough votes to override the county executive’s veto of a mandatory paid sick-leave ordinance for private businesses.

One year after COVID shutdown orders radically changed the way we live our lives, Pennsylvania is slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy as the Wolf Administration begins to belatedly relax certain restrictions. Pennsylvanians are eager to return to life and once again dine out at a …

Student debt is a growing problem, increasing from $250 billion in 2004 to over $1.5 trillion today. President Biden has asserted that he’s willing to forgive $10,000 in debt for each student, while more progressive Democrats (Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, e.g.) want to forgi…

Many Democrats and Independents have become discouraged that Republicans are unwilling to engage the Biden administration on policy issues that are of immediate domestic concern and important to the American people. Political commentator Ezra Klein may be on to something when he points to a …

Is the U.S. Supreme Court infallible in ruling what is or is not constitutional?

NEW CASTLE – For over 100 years, the sprawling Shenango China plant warmly greeted just about every person who entered this Lawrence County city. Its 30 acres of multipane windows reflected off the Shenango River when they entered the city.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved most deadly to vulnerable populations like our beloved senior citizens. In March of 2021, Gov. Tom Wolf, along with blue-state governors like Andrew Cuomo in New York, made the tragic and flawed decision to order nursing homes to receive COVID-positive patients.

The first full week of May is National Travel and Tourism Week – an annual tradition since 1983 for the United States’ travel community. According to the U.S. Travel Association, this week is a time when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to celebrate the value travel …

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to loosen its grip on Pennsylvania, the state’s economy appears to be strengthening. But an analysis by scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy shows the rebound has been lackluster and prospective government policies could retard it further.

It is never out of bounds to ask the question, what is the role of government in American society? With political and social institutions no longer functioning properly, the question now becomes an imperative.

Democrats in Congress ramped up efforts this week to create a nationwide work program to transition away from fossil fuels, as union leaders representing the country’s coal miners acknowledged the need for a change.

Days after a group of state senators took preemptive aim at so-called vaccine passports, another state lawmaker is pushing a sweeping ban on private businesses requiring immunizations.

On March 11, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) became law. The plan is the most significant piece of legislation to help American families since The New Deal. It has overwhelming and bipartisan support from the American public, with 75% of Americans in support, including nearly 60% of Republica…

Pennsylvanians were rightfully furious last month when the Wolf Administration and Attorney General Josh Shapiro botched a simple advertising requirement that will delay justice for thousands of Pennsylvanians who were victimized by sexual abuse when they were children. Their failure to adve…

You may read about them in the newspaper or see them along local roads, plowing snow in the winter or patching potholes in the spring.

For those of us who were either raised in Washington and Greene counties, or adopted this region as our home, coal mining has not only provided good paying jobs, it is a way of life for many. When a coal company decides to mine, none of us are surprised. Southwestern Pennsylvania is blessed …

Allegheny County Council could not muster enough votes to override the county executive’s veto of a mandatory paid sick-leave ordinance for private businesses.

One year after COVID shutdown orders radically changed the way we live our lives, Pennsylvania is slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy as the Wolf Administration begins to belatedly relax certain restrictions. Pennsylvanians are eager to return to life and once again dine out at a …

Student debt is a growing problem, increasing from $250 billion in 2004 to over $1.5 trillion today. President Biden has asserted that he’s willing to forgive $10,000 in debt for each student, while more progressive Democrats (Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, e.g.) want to forgi…

Many Democrats and Independents have become discouraged that Republicans are unwilling to engage the Biden administration on policy issues that are of immediate domestic concern and important to the American people. Political commentator Ezra Klein may be on to something when he points to a …

Is the U.S. Supreme Court infallible in ruling what is or is not constitutional?

NEW CASTLE – For over 100 years, the sprawling Shenango China plant warmly greeted just about every person who entered this Lawrence County city. Its 30 acres of multipane windows reflected off the Shenango River when they entered the city.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved most deadly to vulnerable populations like our beloved senior citizens. In March of 2021, Gov. Tom Wolf, along with blue-state governors like Andrew Cuomo in New York, made the tragic and flawed decision to order nursing homes to receive COVID-positive patients.

Prior to the Biden-Harris regime assuming power, there was minor speculation as to what their administration might look like. I say minor because it would assuredly be filled with far left radicals and its agenda would be as far left as possible. The hope was that maybe there would be a few …

Those in some quarters are predicting dire business, consumer and commuter behavior consequences should the state Department of Transportation toll nine interstate bridges across Pennsylvania to pay for much-need repairs and maintenance.

Fifteen years ago, Regina Adams came to the U.S. from Russia on a university exchange student visa. While here, she got a job and set her sights on practicing and improving her English.

The filibuster is an archaic Senate procedure that was primarily used by segregationists to stop passage of Civil Rights legislation during the 20th century. In the 21st century, it is primarily used by a minority of senators to stop legislation that is too popular to stop by conventional po…

Since Gary Stout’s excessive exaggeration on Republican governance in Washington County fails to define either “good government” or “partisan politics,” perhaps I should address our common understanding of these terms before refuting his poorly researched, baseless and inflammatory accusatio…

In July 2017, I was asked to describe conservative principles and what this new “Trumpism” was. I wrote the following:

Although the pandemic created economic challenges never experienced by this generation of businesses and residents, Washington County recently received encouraging news concerning its economic performance and the business activity that occurred in 2020. The results further highlighted the re…

After months of COVID-19-related restrictions, a sunny day in spring should be viewed as an embraceable reminder of better days ahead.

With a new majority on the Washington County Board of Commissioners, we have shifted our approach of governance and have begun reviewing all county operations. Our most recent review uncovered excessive expenses related to the jail and for medical care for its inmates.

Prior to the November 2019 election that saw Republicans take control of Washington County government, I warned of what the result would be if the Democratic majority were removed by voters (Observer-Reporter, Sept. 8 2019). My fear was that replacing a well-functioning board that placed goo…

Lenny McAllister, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, recently stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercharter schools in Pennsylvania didn’t miss a beat.

When it comes to fighting COVID-19 and its mutant variants, the two national approaches that have played out over the past year are clear. First, there was the Trump policy of relying on the former president’s questionable instincts backed by fringe scientists who agreed with him. No new reg…

In response to the editorial in the Feb. 21 edition of the Observer Reporter, The Meadows Standardbred Owners Association (MSOA) takes serious exception to the biased slant of the editorial.

The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy is reiterating its long-standing call for the state Legislature to repeal Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Law.

“Schools that teach” sounded great as Gov. Wolf’s campaign slogan in 2014 and 2018. But two years into Wolf’s second term, many parents are just wishing for “schools that open.”

Washington County has a vibrant history of charitable nonprofit and service organizations that promote underserved residents and important civic events. From the disabled and mentally ill to our libraries, the Whiskey Rebellion Festival and the Washington Symphony, the array of activities su…

It is remarkable that an elected official like President Joe Biden can serve in public life for over 50 years and yet remain so misunderstood by most Americans. The Trump wing of the Republican Party and many other conservatives have labeled him as a far-left progressive, ready to take the c…

Note: In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 212th birthday today, I offer a look at the life of the 16th president of the United States. I began doing Lincoln impersonations while teaching at Mt. Lebanon High School beginning in 2001. I have also presented Mr. Lincoln at senior citizen centers, chur…

The coronavirus pandemic hammered Pennsylvania’s economy in 2020. But the key to economic recovery – once a more predictable regimen of vaccinations is firmly in place and COVID-19 begins to abate – must be a careful study in what government should and should not do, stress researchers at th…

These hardly are halcyon days for Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Its operations have been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. And there’s great uncertainty ahead, what with the discombobulated vaccination regimen and new COVID-19 mutations being reported on a regular basis.

In challenging times, it is important that we look for positives, and Washington County received some encouraging news concerning our tourism industry from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED). In their most recently released annual report, the Economic …

In 2020 the United States was stress-tested to its limits by the pandemic, social unrest, the chaotic White House and the disruptive presidential election. It is not too early to look ahead, with some optimism, to what the economic, social and political recovery might look like later in 2021.

The Trump-rally-turned-invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6 provides an opportunity to examine the role of public protest in a democracy. First, it is important to recognize that incompetence and their clear lack of a coherent plan should not reduce the threat these “protesters” posed; were it …

Since the beginning of the pandemic, policymakers that govern the collection of mortgage payments, whether they were from the Federal Housing Finance Administration, which governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, the Veterans Administration for VA loans, the Federal Housing Administration f…

Jesus once told a story of a man beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. After some religious people passed by without helping, the man now known as the Good Samaritan chose to stop and get the victim medical help.

President Trump’s first inaugural address, given during his first few weeks in office, was a bizarre description of America as a “hellscape.” After hearing it, former President George W. Bush observed, “well that was some weird s---.” Little did we know that Donald Trump was not describing A…

The events of Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., were reprehensible and repugnant. But these repulsive deeds began hours before rioters stormed our U.S. Capitol building. The United States Senate and House of Representatives met earlier to begin certifying the results of the Electoral College and c…

Awash in rising debt because of dubious public policies and struggling to overcome the financial effects of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) could find its very ability to operate in jeopardy, finds an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Pub…

As I begin this commentary, there is an insurrection taking place at the U.S. Capitol. A riot has ensued following a speech by President Trump. He has urged his armed and surly supporters gathered in front of the White House to take matters into their own hands. The doors of the Capitol have…

The prayer on Sunday, Jan. 3, that opened the 117th Session of Congress has created quite a stir. The representative offering the prayer, the Rev. Emanuel Cleaver, created unintended headlines with some interesting word choices. He has been criticized by many, and has since offered his own e…

Pennsylvania has always been an energy powerhouse. The first domestic oil well was drilled in Titusville in 1859. Our coal deposits helped us win world wars, forge iron into steel and power an economic transformation that continues to lead the world economy. Our state remains a national lead…

In great times of need, people rely on the good deeds of others. Small acts of kindness, like giving someone a ride to a job interview, bringing coffee to your co-workers, or just being there for someone who needs a shoulder to cry on, are prevalent around us, and these gifts cannot be more …

Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman explained in a Dec. 19 op-ed the decision by the two Republican commissioners to purchase the Crossroads Center building for $10 million. In my view, his commentary was fraught with inaccuracies and omissions that requires a response. This review w…