Some people harbor resentment over the influx/rise of non-white citizens in the United States. Many would probably confess that such a feeling is not very nice, but … .

These people have not seen wages rise. Many have lost jobs. The pay for new jobs is low. The cost of living continues to rise. They are in a tough place with little hope of moving ahead.

Meanwhile, immigrants continue to enter the country whose prior wages were below what they can earn here for even low-end jobs. Who would you blame?

Dishonest politicians feed on this perception. They understand automation is a major factor. We were warned years ago that the robotics revolution was coming. Even if a coal mine reopens, the amount of labor will be less than before. New steel mills will employ hundreds, not thousands. And many of those jobs will involve operating the robotics doing the “dirty work.”

Inform yourself beyond what one or two TV channels and the internet tell you. Do not be blinded by claims of “fake news.” Instead, ask why politicians are using that label. The answer is to limit your knowledge and force you to believe what only they, and selected news sources, tell you.

Do not waste time being poisoned by hate and distrust. Instead, look into training programs that prepare you to participate in this evolution. Employers are begging for trained workers. You will never return to “the old days,” but you can participate in the “new day” with informed decisions.

Richard Boley, Delmont

Monday, Aug. 28

Libraries are not obsolete in Westmoreland

Recently, an area resident wrote that “We are in an electronic age; libraries are obsolete.” ( “Don’t hike taxes for obsolete library” ).

That letter-writer certainly has a right to oppose the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library referendum. However, Westmoreland County libraries are not obsolete.

In 2016, our libraries had about 115,000 cardholders. These cardholders checked out about 1.16 million books, DVDs, ebooks and more. If there were no public libraries in our county and these patrons had to buy these items, the cost would amount to about $23.4 million.

In addition, in 2016, our libraries provided more than 110,000 hours of internet and computer usage for residents.

With the recent high interest in the solar eclipse, our libraries, at times in conjunction with St. Vincent College and Hempfield Area High School, conducted many adult and children’s programs on the topic. Over 1,000 people attended these programs.

There are many other services provided by our libraries too numerous to mention. All are provided free to our residents.

The Westmoreland County Planning Department is involved in developing a comprehensive plan to make our county “a more competitive place to live, work, invest and visit.” As the above statistics indicate, our libraries are not dead and they have a future in our county.

Cesare Muccari, Greensburg

The writer is executive director of the Westmoreland County Federated Library System.

Sunday, Aug. 27

Appreciation, rents insufficient

As a former owner of commercial real estate in downtown Greensburg, I read with interest Jacob Tierney’s article “Greensburg aims to trim vacancy rate, revive once-bustling downtown.”

While I appreciate the optimism of Planning Director Barb Ciampini, my experience makes me much less enthused regarding development of the downtown.

As anyone involved in commercial real estate knows, three components are paramount: appreciation, depreciation and/or rents.

While depreciation is available by virtue of the tax code, there simply is no significant appreciation in real estate values in downtown Greensburg. Nor are there tenants who can afford to pay the rentals necessary to finance private development.

While the article mentions development of the train station, Palace Theatre, museum and Seton Hill University as examples of growth and development, the argument is flawed.

Each of these projects occurred because of government and/or private-foundation money. Without the same, I believe it’s fair to say none of these projects would have occurred.

While financing for rehabilitation can be had, the lack of appreciation and/or rents makes it impossible for private investors to rehabilitate properties either for purposes of sale or rental.

It is fair to say that without the courthouse and county offices, Main Street, Greensburg, would resemble Main Street, Jeannette, as there would be no reason for permanent businesses to locate downtown.

It appears to me that the only hope for permanent improvement in downtown districts lies in reassessing what former commercial downtown districts must become, which may not be commercial at all.

Denis P. Zuzik, Unity

The writer is an attorney with an office in downtown Greensburg.

Tuesday, Aug. 29

Trump has no well-thought-out positions

It has become clear that President Trump likes to pick fights and to exert power over people. His rally in Arizona was about both.

He wants more war in Afghanistan, he has declared his own war on the press, and he has picked fights with all Democrats in Congress and a growing number of Republicans.

He also continues to make threats to North Korea and even China when we would be better off working with China to deal with North Korea.

But our president doesn’t do anything that involves well-thought-out positions. That would get in the way of his habit of tweeting whatever he’s annoyed with in the moment.

He is currently in the process of starting a civil war within the Republican Party. War has casualties, and this president is willing to make the entire U.S. a casualty of his war by threatening to shut down the government if Congress won’t fund the wall that he’d previously said would be paid for by Mexico.

The cost of the last shutdown was estimated at $24 billion. He’s willing to throw tens of billions of dollars away to get this wall built, but he won’t work with Congress as an equal. Instead he attacks and threatens.

All of this immature behavior makes a person wonder how he would deal with a real international crisis. Would this man who prefers reacting over thinking start a new war before consulting with people with experience and judgment?

Robert J. Reiland, O’Hara

Wednesday, Aug. 30

Choking free speech

It’s a sad day we live in when someone’s words can be taken out of context, edited and redefined by the media, thus invoking criticism, hatred and even costing someone their livelihood.

Every day, whether in print or on the news, I read and hear stories of this exact scenario.

The “new” politically correct “police” (you know who you are) go to great lengths to destroy someone’s credibility, favorability, or even their lives and jobs, because it seems that we are no longer free to express anything without fear of retribution and intimidation from people or organizations that want to choke “freedom of speech” out of Americans’ lives.

Social media have only made it worse.

Now, instead of talking intelligently, screaming seems to be the new norm.

Brother against brother, friend against friend — division over issues that may or may not be vital to everyday life has clouded conversations that could develop into actually learning that not everyone thinks and believes the same way. This is supposed to be what makes America great.

Renee Deglau, Hempfield

Thursday, Aug. 31

Change Pennsylvania budget process

Another year, another state budget battle that pits extremists against each other without giving regular working folks a voice. Something has to change, and it has to change now.

The final plan is negotiated by a few lawmakers behind closed doors and the rest of us will be handed a thousand-page document and told, “No time to read it, just vote.”

We can’t let a few lawmakers make all the decisions in secret — I believe every citizen should get a voice.

I’m proposing all standing House committees take 60 days after the governor announces his state budget and closely examine each agency to present changes and improvements to be voted on by each committee.

Instead of legislative leaders throwing a budget at our feet and hoping to have 102 members agree to support it, we all should review the budget. We’d all own it and, by extension, citizens would know they’ve had a voice the entire time.

When I was a Greene County commissioner, we’d study each department to keep our annual budgets in line.

The end result was no wasteful spending.

Like you, I’m tired of the endless drama every year.

Like you, I know we can and should do better.

I think this plan will help get the job done on time and get it done right.

Pam Snyder, Waynesburg

The writer, a Democrat, represents the 50th District in the state House.

Friday, Sept. 1

We have an ‘Ugly American’ in the Oval Office

In 1958, William Lederer and Eugene Burdick wrote a book, “The Ugly American.” It was an expose of the arrogance, incompetence and corruption of American diplomats in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. The term “ugly American” came to be applied to those U.S. citizens who, when going abroad, represented the worst examples of swagger, hubris and overbearing behavior.

Fast-forward 59 years: The term has current applicability. Sad to say, it describes the man who sits in the Oval Office, Donald Trump.

Because we are a democratic republic, we must accept him formally as our president. Morally, however, we are free to reject him as the narcissistic jerk (sorry, but my thesaurus permits no more charitable expression) he regularly reveals himself to be. His Boy Scout Jamboree and Phoenix “speeches” are two of the most recent egregious examples of my observation.

Our foreign allies, or what is left of them, are dumbfounded and have no obligation to accept him formally, morally or otherwise. To them, he personifies the “ugly American.”

Trump’s behavior belies his occasional scripted attempts to sound “normal.” His actions — the preening, the prancing, the playing to his base — reflect his “ugliness.” And if his followers simply attribute all this to his “keeping his campaign promises,” then they are complicit and are deserving of the same opprobrium.

Instead of “Making America Great Again,” Trump will succeed in “Making America Alone Again.” He shames us all.

Robert Jedrzejewski, Tarentum

Saturday, Sept. 2

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