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Local Columns

A triumph worth celebrating

Monday’s news that a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer will be ready for FDA approval this month sent stock markets soaring and everyone celebrating. It is wonderful news for humanity. A vaccine will slow the deaths, end the lockdowns, allow businesses to reopen, free children to return to ...

Every small purchase makes a big difference

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and with it comes “Small Business Saturday,” always the Saturday after Thanksgiving, this year slated for Nov. 28. This is a day set aside across the nation to celebrate small businesses and their contributions to our communities. We as consumers are ...

My beloved Gina’s last kiss

“I hold it true, whate’er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most. ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.” —Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) “In Memoriam” The death of a loved one is never easy. Three of my grandparents died during my college ...

The red wave no one saw coming

PINE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Had you spent any time in this northern suburb of Pittsburgh listening to voters, finding out what matters to them when it comes to schools, community growth, economic prosperity and the emotional impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns, you would have at least been skeptical of ...

Heroes who fight human trafficking

Over the last few months, while many of us were preoccupied with politics and the pandemic, U.S. Marshals bravely carried out a series of nationwide operations that rescued hundreds of human trafficking victims in at least seven states. These victimized women, runaway youngsters and children ...

Trusting science during COVID-19

Science helped to save my life. I was born in Lewistown with a rare genetic disorder of the immune system called Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, a disease that killed my uncle 30 years prior. When I was 3 years old, I had a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Many of you provided love and support ...