Politics
By By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press 
April 25, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview released Wednesday that Iran must give up all nuclear enrichment if it wants to make a deal during talks with the Trump administra...
Trump’s trade war and annexation threats have upended Canada’s election
Politics
By By ROB GILLIES Associated Press 
April 25, 2025
TORONTO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats have upended Canada’s election and improved the fortunes of the Liberal Party, which could win a fourth consecutive term i...
Politics
Really bad idea #7
April 24, 2025
To the Editor: The Democrats keep betting on the wrong horse. When you see Bernie Sanders and AOC at the top of the Democrat party we conservatives are ecstatic. Those two represent the radical left o...
Give us the money! Harvard fights for us all
Politics
April 24, 2025
Amid the boredom of a non-Christian pope’s death and the media’s obsession with the Signal messaging app, I found myself reading about Pearl Harbor this week. It seems that as hell rained down, Marine...
Politics
April 24, 2025
PENN STATE IS MAKING DECISIONS about which of 12 Commonwealth Campuses the university might close. The decision has been dangled since February. President Neeli Bendapudi announced then that she had a...
The essential mystery of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case
Politics
April 23, 2025
After all the talking and arguing about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the illegal border-crosser and alleged gang member deported by the United States and now imprisoned in El Salvador, there is still a funda...
Politics
A tale of two presidents
April 23, 2025
To the Editor: It has been 10 weeks since this administration has been in place. We are now in the “find out” phase of broken promises and failed policies. Egg prices still obscenely high, even though...
When the fires rise, will we rise?
Politics
April 22, 2025
“The flames rose. So did our people.” Instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning, Darcy Olsen and her four children woke to their attic on fire. Her people came to help. Darcy founded the Center for t...
Politics
April 22, 2025
WHILE THE DEATH OF A POPE is always a time of mourning for Catholics, the passing of Pope Francis, 88, is being felt more deeply by many outside the church and from around the globe. Francis, the firs...
Will Harvard go full Hillsdale?
Politics
April 22, 2025
Harvard University has rejected various demands of a presidential commission on antisemitism. The task force wants to persuade Harvard to ensure Jewish students on its campus are no longer harassed, o...
Lawmakers in D.C. & Harrisburg can keep their calendars secret
Latest News, Politics
By By MIN XIAN Spotlight PA State College 
April 21, 2025
Pennsylvania and federal open records laws don’t require elected officials to release their work calendars to the public. STATE COLLEGE — Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, multiple protests...
Americans face deep questions
Politics
April 21, 2025
This is an era when the great certainties that ruled American life for nearly three generations are being questioned more deeply, more widely and more seriously than at any time in decades. When the C...
Politics
April 21, 2025
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT having your whole life derailed by a traffic ticket. You decided to study business in Mississippi, and, after getting that degree, you applied to graduate school. You looked at al...
Latest News, News, Politics
April 19, 2025
Meetings in local government next week Every week, the Mon Valley Independent editorial staff will share upcoming government meetings around the Mid-Mon Valley. If there’s an item or other event of pu...
Gov. Whitmer’s party should learn from what she did in the Oval Office
Politics
April 19, 2025
Kudos to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She managed to generate the most negatively iconic photo of a Democrat since Michael Dukakis wore a helmet atop a tank. Whitmer, long considered a promising pr...
Hits & Misses
Politics
April 19, 2025
Happy Easter to all of our readers and neighbors throughout the Mon Valley. We hope this annual season of rebirth and growth leads to wonderful things for all of you. Let’s celebrate the holiday and t...
Politics
‘Thank you,’
April 18, 2025
To the Editor: Will you, Monessen resident, go to the polls this coming November and give Mr. Mozer another four years as mayor of Monessen? Are you satisfied with what he has done or not done for the...
The disappearing middle
Politics
April 18, 2025
After two terms in the United States Senate, Gary Peters is calling it quits. “I will say, over these last few years, it gets harder every single year,” the Michigan Democrat told CNN. “The middle is ...
Trump says he’ll join tariff talks with Japan
Politics
April 17, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday inserted himself directly into trade talks with Japa- nese officials, a sign of the high stakes for the Unit ed States after its tariffs rattled t...
Politics
April 17, 2025
A PENNSYLVANIA COURT has decided the people don’t need to know about communications between state lawmakers and lobbyists who court them for influence. Nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA asked for commun...