THE SOMEWHAT SIMPLIFIED diagrams in social studies textbooks and the catchy tunes of “Schoolhouse Rock!” have taught us a rudimentary idea of what society looks like and how government fits into that....

Elon Musk hailed Donald Trump’s second presidential term as “the return of the king,” and Trump is acting that way, governing as if he possesses a divine right to exercise unlimited power. He’s even d...

To the Editor: What a wonderful time to be alive and see what one man can do to change the lives of thousands. So many things are happening so quickly, it’s hard to keep up. One would hardly notice ho...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a contentious confirmation hearing to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about Medicare and Medicaid, programs that affec...

WHY IS ARNOLD PALMER Regional Airport losing money? The Unity Township airport is a small alternative in Westmoreland County. If you don’t want to brave the parkway and negotiate the sometimes intimid...

It’s a long tradition in American politics to evaluate a president by what he has accomplished in his first 100 days in office. Like so many other traditions of the presidency, Donald Trump has change...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House paused federal grants and loans on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending, causing confusion...

The editorial department of the Mon Valley Independent encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be no more than 500 words, must be in good taste and must include the author’s name, town of resid...

IT’S TIME TO THINK about elections. There’s a sentence no one was ready to hear. The effects of the 2024 election are just barely becoming reality. The inauguration happened last week. Confirmation he...

Donald Trump won the 2024 election in part because the Left’s hysterical style of attacking Trump no longer worked. After a decade of this unhinged furor, it proved worthless in winning public support...

WASHINGTON — There was tremendous, albeit unintentional, cultural clarity in two late-term actions Joe Biden took before the end of his presidency. Call it the tale of two medals. Right before Thanksg...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans put Pennsylvania and Wisconsin back in the win column in the 2024 presidential race, and they’re hoping that momentum carries over to contests this year that will de...

TORONTO — This is a big country with only one thing on its mind: Donald Trump. South of the border, no one is taking seriously the notion that the president wants to make Canada the 51st state. To Ame...

PENNSYLVANIA HAS NOT yet decided where it will stand with marijuana. Sure, the state has a position on medical marijuana. It’s legal with one of a list of approved diagnoses and a card issued by an ap...

To the Editor: All the Democrats except two voted against the bill that would prevent biological men from competing against women in sports. What is wrong with them? Then 145 Democrats voted against d...

DALLAS (AP) — Millions of documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas have already been made public, but President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousa...

As a second Trump administration dawns — or, for his opponents, descends — on America, an interesting and unusual discussion has emerged over the broader meaning of Trump’s victory. One thing that mak...

Thanks to everyone who helped Mon Valley residents survive one of the most bitterly cold weeks the area has seen in several years. Churches, fire stations and other organizations set up warming center...

PENNSYLVANIA’S HOUSE of Representatives is once again locked in a tie. The chamber has reflected the paper-thin margins of state politics since 2023 — or more precisely, since the moment votes were co...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day that began with the outgoing president’s pardon of lawmakers and his own family ended with the incoming president’s pardon of supporters who violently stormed the Capitol four ...