Editorial: Trump plays victim as Hurricane Florence hits Carolinas
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
To argue over a death toll as a political tool is disrespectful and useless, but to do so in the midst of another deadly hurricane shows that Trump's priorities lie in defending himself and not the American people.
Breathe easier: More air quality regulations needed
By Brian Gentry, Contributing Editor
September 6, 2018
With the federal government waging a war against the environment, state and local authorities must enforce air quality regulations to protect public health.
Editorial: US caused undue stress over WHO breastfeeding resolution
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
July 11, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When Ecuadorian delegates introduced a resolution at the World Health Assembly in May imploring governments worldwide to encourage breastfeeding and discourage inappropriate promotion of baby formula as a better choice, it was seen by most other countries as uncontroversial and expected to pass quickly. B...
US actions toward Venezuela contradict professed concern
By Gabriela Cadahia | For The Pitt News
June 27, 2018
Venezuela, once the richest country in Latin America, is currently in the midst of an economic collapse of unprecedented magnitude. Falling oil prices and political corruption have sent the country into a spiral of hyperinflation and hunger that has forced 1.8 million people to flee in the past two ye...
Editorial: ABC prioritized views over values with ‘Roseanne’ revival
By The Pitt News Editorial Staff
May 30, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The revival of working-class sitcom “Roseanne” was cut short Tuesday after two months on ABC — and unlike “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” it probably won’t be picked up by another network after the creator and star of the sitcom, Roseanne Barr, compared black former White House aide Valerie Jarret...
Diplomats hustle to prepare for still-uncertain Trump-Kim summit in Singapore
By Eli Stokols and Tracy Wilkinson |Tribune Washington Bureau
May 30, 2018
Filed under National News
The Trump administration moved on multiple fronts Tuesday to prepare for a possible nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, as U.S. diplomats scrambled to revive the meeting that Trump had publicly scrapped last week. Most importantly, the White House said Secretary...
Stormy Daniels performs in Pittsburgh amid national controversy
By Christian Snyder, Editor in Chief
May 16, 2018
Filed under City, News, Uncategorized
Storms have been in Pittsburgh’s forecast ever since spring broke — but May 3 and 4 held a different kind of storm in Downtown’s forecast. The adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, performed two shows on both Wednesday and Thursday at Blush, a strip club on 9th...
Editorial: US made mistake in moving embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
May 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For the past seven weeks, protesters in and around Palestine have taken to the streets to demand their right to return to areas they were forcibly expelled from when the state of Israel was created. And on Monday, at least 60 protesters were killed by Israeli forces — the same day the United States ...
Emily West: Politics as (un)usual
By Prachi Patel & Christian Snyder
March 31, 2018
Filed under Silhouettes 2018, Top Stories
Two years ago, Maureen West often found herself settled in her home office, hooked on watching CBS news on her computer. Every now and then, she’d spot someone on her screen and take a snapshot. When she saw her friends, West would whip out her phone and flaunt her pictures. “Look at this ...
Scandals trump news that matters
By Ana Altchek | Columnist
March 29, 2018
You may or may not have heard about the school shooting that took place last week at Great Mills High School in Maryland. Two students were shot, and the teenage murderer committed suicide briefly after. The day of the shooting, my friend in the area was shocked and feared for her community. But when s...
Editorial: Biden Twitter bout promises more brash leadership
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 27, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
For those who fear a woman would be too emotional to be president, last Thursday’s Twitter scrap between two men — one currently in that position, one potentially the next in line — might change their minds. Behaving characteristically like an upset toddler, President Donald Trump called out f...
Lamb vs. Saccone: National attention on Pa’s 18th District
By John Hamilton / Managing Editor
March 13, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, City, News
Voters are going to the polls today in Pennsylvania’s 18th District to decide between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone in a uncharacteristically close race in the deeply Republican district. The 18th District favored President Donald Trump by 20 points in 2016, but polls show a v...
Special election signals shifting national politics
By Brian Gentry | Columnist
March 12, 2018
Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, a slice of pro-President Donald Trump territory located just south of Pittsburgh, is poised to flip from Republican to Democratic in today’s special election. Democrat Conor Lamb, a 33-year-old former Marine, may snag the seat from Republican Rick Sacco...
Don’t pin blame on violent games
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
February 28, 2018
Imagine being able to punch a ninja through the chest, rip out their heart and then squeeze it to drink the remaining blood left for nourishment. All it takes is two fatal words — “finish him” — to violently kill an opponent this way while playing “Mortal Kombat.” In fact, the violence in t...
Editorial: Despite new district map, parties still responsible for success
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 21, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
The Supreme Court released a new Pennsylvania Congressional District map Monday, redrawn to correct the state’s 2011 Republican-drawn version of the map, which the Supreme Court ruled as being an “unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.” Democrats feel encouraged by the new map, while Republicans are understandably concerned this new congressional map...
Editorial: Military parade an exercise in wastefuleness
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
February 8, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Though he was democratically elected, President Donald Trump seems to relish every opportunity to look like an autocrat. His first year in office has seen everything from attacks on the free press to a resilient personality cult — soon, he’ll even get a military parade. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed at a pre...
State of the Union guests are people, not props
By Maggie Durwald | Columnist
February 5, 2018
From war veterans to heroic police officers to victims of gang violence, President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address last week provided the kind of emotions and theatrics one would expect from a reality TV showman of his caliber. He introduced a lineup of tragic and inspiring stories from American ...
Editorial: Trump calls for unity, shows none
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 31, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump took a brief hiatus from Twitter Tuesday night to deliver his first State of the Union address, touting high hopes for unity across his audience — which seemed divided and stiff with discomfort. It took no more than a wide pan of the camera around the room for Nancy Pelosi...
Editorial: Trump, Conway misstate facts on feminism
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 29, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In an era of women’s marches, the #MeToo trend and fourth-wave feminism, it’s astonishing how frequently the movement for women’s rights is still widely misunderstood. And President Donald Trump took the opportunity this weekend to exemplify the intellectual disconnect. After an interview Saturday with the preside...
Op-Ed: A conservative reflects on Trump’s first year
By Marlo Safi | Op-Ed Contributor
January 23, 2018
During my tenure as assistant opinions editor for The Pitt News in 2016, I wrote a scathing column about Milo Yiannopoulos’ visit to Pitt after the College Republicans hosted him. I was on the verge of apoplexy in this tirade — I was livid that this loud-mouthed charlatan who resembled Liberace in his bo...
As Trump announces ‘Fake News Awards,’ GOP senators assail his attacks on the press as anti-democratic
By Noah Bierman | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
January 18, 2018
Filed under National News
On a day President Donald Trump promised to deliver "Fake News Awards," two Republican senators as well as several Democrats warned Wednesday that his unceasing attacks on a free press are undermining a fundamental tenet of democracy and emboldening despots abroad. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who...
Editorial: Nuclear scare proves unpreparedness
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
January 16, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In less time than it takes to log into a two-factor authenticated Pitt email account, an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency caused pandemonium in the state with the click of a mouse. During a routine checkup of the state’s nuclear response system Saturday, a worker responsible f...
Immigration officials make arrest on Craig Street
By John Hamilton, Janine Faust and Salina Pressimone
January 11, 2018
Filed under 2. Featured, Crime, News
Immigration officers arrested a person on Craig Street Thursday afternoon as part of a targeted raid in the Oakland area, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Thursday night. ICE officials said the Pittsburgh sub-office conducted an operation that lead to the arrest of one person at the Un...
Rep. John Conyers quits House committee post amid sexual harassment probe
By Tracy Wilkinson | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
November 27, 2017
Filed under National News
Sexual abuse allegations continued to roil U.S. politics Sunday, with Democrat Rep. John Conyers Jr. stepping down from a powerful House post and President Donald Trump again voicing support for Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Conyers announced he was stepping down as ranking member...
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but memes should never hurt us
By Neena Hagen | For The Pitt News
November 9, 2017
The Senate is used to strange occurrences, but Nov. 1, our legislators discussed a group of memes which are purportedly evidence for Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The U.S. intelligence community thinks the memes were part of a sophisticated network of propaganda used to suppo...
Rejecting his legacy, Flake boldly speaks out
By Ana Altchek | For The Pitt News
November 2, 2017
Growing up in a town between Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey, I was exposed to a diverse population — both racially and economically. And while I am grateful I grew up in a place that encouraged a progressive mind-set, this naturally precluded conservative views. A lot of people in my town thought this was ...
Bush 2020? One great speech can’t erase eight years
By Brian Gentry | For The Pitt News
October 25, 2017
Defying all expectations of his speaking ability, former President George W. Bush gave an eloquent speech last week criticizing the Trump administration. “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism — forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America,” he said. The for...
Editorial: Military rhetoric marks harmful double standard
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 23, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
From what we’ve heard in the past week from the Trump administration about respecting a former four-star general, you’d think it would show greater deference for other members of the military. A political dispute that began last week highlighted this sharp contrast between words and actions. A...
JFK documents promise transparency, not conspiracy
By Ben Sheppard | Columnist
October 16, 2017
Three shots rang out from Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. Those fatal shots killed President John F. Kennedy, wounded the American spirit and left many burning questions — some of which may soon find answers. The National Archives’ plan to declassify documents regarding ...
Editorial: Trump breaks promises on CHIP funding
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 15, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Policy changes stalling have been a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s first several months in office. But for a politician who’s promised health “insurance for everybody,” Trump should find the events of the past two weeks an especially striking reversal. The Children’s Health Insurance Program — a federal project designed to provide health care coverage fo...
Editorial: Trump’s big, empty tax promises
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
October 12, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
President Donald Trump visited Harrisburg Wednesday, Oct. 11 to discuss his plans for tax reform in front of a crowd of roughly 1,000 people. The crowd comprised mostly of truckers and small manufacturing business owners — the types of people Trump promised to help while campaigning for the presiden...
Trump’s NFL comments ignore players’ real concerns
By Will Schulman | For The Pitt News
October 6, 2017
After taking the gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter dash at the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos shocked the world — the two Olympians held up black gloved fists for the entire anthem. When Colin Kaepernick, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback, decided last year to kneel for th...
Editorial: Trump’s revisionist history leaves everyone behind
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 28, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Presidential endorsements of Senate hopefuls can often make the difference between a candidate winning and losing the election — though that wasn’t the case in Alabama this week. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence publicly supported Republican Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama’s...
Editorial: Don’t forget about Puerto Rico in wake of Maria
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 27, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When it made landfall in Puerto Rico Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria was the largest storm the island faced in the last 80 years. Almost the entire population of the island — nearly 3.5 million American citizens — still do not have electricity. Many also do not have running water, and 95 percent of ...
Good gaming journalism needs know-how
By Thomas Wick | Columnist
September 25, 2017
As I watched the video game character move back and forth on the screen, struggling and failing to make a simple jump, I couldn’t help but cringe. I was shocked to discover the identity of the player grappling with a game tutorial with so much difficulty was an “experienced” gaming journalist. Video gam...
Editorial: Critics of anthem protests aren’t patriotic
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 24, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
When the Steelers walked onto the field before yesterday’s game against the Chicago Bears, the booing they received wasn’t just because they were the away team. Shortly before the game began, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told Jamie Erdahl of CBS Sports that Pittsburgh’s NFL team would rem...
The Blame Game: Trump’s simple, yet divisive rhetoric
By Vaibhavi Patria | For The Pitt News
September 21, 2017
In his mind, President Donald Trump can never go wrong — his actions are justified, his words are nothing but the truth and his band of followers is loyal and ever-growing. And when he’s not praising himself, he’s shifting the blame to others. “I inherited a mess, it's a mess at home and abroad. A mess,...
Unlivable wages: why the federal minimum isn’t enough
By Elise Lavallee | Contributing Editor
September 15, 2017
If you were on campus last Friday, you might’ve seen an RV sporting a cartoon photo of Donald Trump hiding behind a smiley face mask. This unusual RV serves as the mobile headquarters for the 2017 Trump and Walmart Make America Worse Tour. Dighan Kelly, a sophomore urban studies and French major, organi...
DeVos takes backward step on sexual assault
By Erica Brandbergh | Columnist
September 11, 2017
For a cabinet member who’s already one of the most controversial in the Trump administration, it would have seemed difficult for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to become even more divisive. Then she started to talk about rape on campus. DeVos gave a speech on Sept. 7 at George Mason University...
Editorial: Stand strong to protect DACA recipients
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
September 6, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions, Top Stories
Imagine living in the United States your entire life — from your earliest memories, you’ve been here. And in 2014, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protected your status, keeping you safe from the ever-looming threat of deportation. But as of Tuesday, because your parents immigrated illegally sho...
Editorial: Don’t let presidency divide the same side
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
August 29, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Religion often claims to be the moral compass of a society. But when religious leaders take political sides, rather than moral, the people are left with a compass that points in two different directions. Leaders of multiple faiths convened on the 54th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “...
When representatives don’t represent, don’t reelect
By Saket Rajprohat | Senior Columnist
August 28, 2017
How does something extremely unpopular become law in our democracy? Congress. Over the past few months I have attempted to keep up with fast-paced news like the GOP’s health care bill’s rapid push through Congress by Mitch McConnell or the votes on the Restoring Internet Freedom Act — two b...
Oakland organizations brace for potential budget cuts
By Henry Glitz | News Editor
August 21, 2017
Filed under City, News, Top Stories
Scattered on the walls throughout the Carnegie Museum of Art’s galleries are small red, white and blue stars with small texts accompanying each. The nearby plaques explain the reason for the stars existence — to highlight the impacts of federal funding on museums and the importance of museums...
Pittsburgh goes green, despite what you might’ve heard
By Levko Karmazyn | For The Pitt News
August 21, 2017
When President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the Paris climate agreements, he said that he was elected to represent the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris — a statement that was met with fiery outlash from important figures such as Mayor Bill Peduto, who said that Pittsburgh will in fact continue to abide by the Paris agreements....
Putin announces cut of 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, stepping up confrontation over sanctions
By Laura King and Sabra Ayres | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
July 31, 2017
Filed under National News
Touching off the Kremlin's most serious diplomatic confrontation with Washington since President Donald Trump took office six months ago, President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday that the United States would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff by 755, by far the biggest such forced reduction...
Pentagon caught off guard by Trump’s ban on transgender troops
By Vera Bergengruen | McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS)
July 26, 2017
Filed under National News
The Pentagon was blindsided by President Donald Trump's announcement on Wednesday that his administration would block transgender people from the U.S. military, and the Defense Department has no idea yet how it will affect troops already serving. The president's declaration on Twitter, saying transgender...
Two more Republican senators announce opposition to health care bill, dooming latest GOP plan
By Lisa Mascaro | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
July 18, 2017
Filed under National News
Republican efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate on Monday evening as two more GOP senators announced they would oppose the latest plan backed by their party's leadership. The announcements by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas brought to four the number...
Editorial: In age of ‘fake news’ we must hold the president accountable
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
July 12, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Fake news is like a bad game of telephone — one source reports their truth, then everyone else runs with it, imparting their own spin upon it. Serious problems arise when people get their news from just one source, because that source could be the last person in the line. And when the presiden...
Donald Trump Jr. emails reveal knowledge of Russian government offer to aid father’s campaign
By David S. Cloud | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
July 11, 2017
Filed under National News
Donald Trump Jr. was offered "high level and sensitive information" in June 2016 as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump," according to emails he released Tuesday. The emails said a person described as a Russian government attorney had "official documents and information" that...
Young voters: Lead by example to fight nationalsim
By Christin Snyder / Opinions Editor
June 27, 2017
“I mean, I voted, but why does it matter? London will never listen.” When I asked my new Scottish friend about the United Kingdom’s recent election, he responded with pure ambivalence. He truly cares about the issues at hand, but he, like many other Scots, has long struggled with misrepresent...
Column: Dear Ben Shapiro, You’re wrong about Trump
By Saket Rajprohat / Senior Columnist
June 20, 2017
Dear Ben Shapiro, You have been completely wrong since May 10, the day after Trump fired Comey. In the June 8 episode of The Ben Shapiro Podcast, one of the most popular conservative podcasts in the nation, you declared you were “exactly correct” in your wildest theory to date — that Donald Trump fired James Comey not because ...
Sessions said to suggest resigning as tensions grow with Trump
By Chris Strohm | Bloomberg News (TNS)
June 7, 2017
Filed under National News
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had suggested in the past several weeks he might resign amid a widening rift with President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter. Sessions has come under fire from the president over his recusal from an investigation of Russian meddling in...
Pittsburgh reacts to Trump climate decision
By Henry Glitz and Kirsten Wong | The Pitt News Staff
June 7, 2017
Filed under 2. Featured, City, News
When President Trump invoked Pittsburgh in his decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement last Thursday, he left many Pittsburghers baffled. “I’m appalled that the President used my city to justify his unacceptable decision,” Mayor Bill Peduto said in a press release the same day Trump ma...
Comey memo says Trump asked him to end investigation into Flynn
By Joseph Tanfani | Tribune Washington Bureau
May 16, 2017
Filed under National News, Uncategorized
President Donald Trump, in a private meeting with then-FBI Director James B. Comey, asked him to end the criminal investigation into retired Gen. Michael Flynn, according to a memo written by Comey shortly after the meeting. According to the memo, the meeting took place on Feb. 14, which was the day ...
Reporter, photographers say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at Calif. rally
By Angel Jennings and Anh Do | Los Angeles Times (TNS)
March 27, 2017
Filed under National News
LOS ANGELES — A reporter and two photographers said Sunday that they were physically assaulted by pro-Trump demonstrators at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach and are seeking the public’s help in identifying at least one of the people responsible. Frank Tristan, an intern at t...
Editorial: Hold Trump accountable to get public input on student loans
By The Pitt News Editorial Board
March 22, 2017
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In another startling blow to education under President Donald Trump, the administration rescinded a previous Obama-era regulation last week that prohibited student debt collection agencies from charging more than 16 percent interest on defaulted loans. The administration's new stance came in the form of a ...
Lots of smoke but no fire yet in US-Russia investigation
By Del Quentin Wilber and David S. Cloud | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
March 22, 2017
Filed under National News
WASHINGTON — Roger Stone, a pugilistic Republican political operative who cut his teeth under President Richard Nixon, didn’t attend Monday’s dramatic congressional hearing into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential race, but he played a starring role anyway. Democrats took turns s...
Gallery: One thousand take to the streets to promote love, protest Trump
By Stephen Caruso | Online Visual Editor
November 17, 2016
Filed under Visual
...
GALLERY: Trump holds rally at airport
By John Hamilton | Senior Staff Photographer
November 7, 2016
Filed under Multimedia, Visual
...
GALLERY: Trump Visit Sparks Protests in Downtown Pittsburgh
By Stephen Caruso and Jordan Mondell / Pitt News Staff
September 22, 2016
Filed under Election Coverage 2016, Multimedia, Visual
