Opinion, Politics
February 13, 2026
By LISA MASCARO AND KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White H...
Opinion, Politics
February 13, 2026
DEBT AND SAVINGS are different columns in the same ledger. Any business can tell you that. So can anyone working on their taxes right now. Like blood circulating in the body, the amount of money in an...
Good for Bad Bunny
Opinion, Politics
February 13, 2026
Good for Bad Bunny. After the Puerto Rican superstar rocked the halftime show at the Super Bowl, Donald Trump derided his performance as “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” Bad Bunny, he th...
Opinion
Definition of a dictator
February 12, 2026
To the Editor: As Valentine’s Day approaches it seems fitting that I finally send to the owners and staff a love letter, something that has been in my heart since 2015. To those naysayers, I say we ar...
The Clintons are so over
Opinion, Politics
February 12, 2026
What do you call a former two-term president of the United States and his wife, a former first lady, secretary of state and nominee for president? In the Democratic Party, you call them baggage. After...
Opinion, Politics
February 12, 2026
PENNSYLVANIA IS OFTEN described as a microcosm of the nation, its blue population centers offset by wide stretches of red and its elections swinging from cycle to cycle. But that political shorthand c...
Fighting two wars
Opinion, Politics
February 11, 2026
His grandparents and mother were born in Selma, Alabama, the site of the violence of the 1965 civil rights march that led to the Voting Rights Act. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where within 30 yards ...
Opinion, Politics
February 11, 2026
By JOEYCAPPELLETTI, STEVE PEOPLES AND STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Governors Association will no longer hold a formal meeting with President Donald Trump when the group...
Opinion, Politics
By By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press 
February 10, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers tried Monday to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, but the former girlfriend and confidant of Jeffrey Epstein invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions that...
Opinion, Politics
February 10, 2026
SINCE 1957, PENNSYLVANIA has codified a responsibility to make public meetings accessible to the people. The state law also evolved, eventually becoming what is now known as the Sunshine Act. The earl...
Midterm palpitations
Opinion, Politics
February 10, 2026
Recent regional special elections have seen Democratic candidates win a number of special election races. Now energized left-wing politicos remind the nation daily that every incumbent president, exce...
Opinion
February 9, 2026
ON JULY 30, 2022, Marc Fogel’s name first appeared on this opinion page. It would not be the last. The Butler County native and Pittsburgh resident was a recurring topic in editorials for four years a...
Opinion
February 7, 2026
Tomorrow, football fans will be gathering for Super Bowl LX, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be watching from the sidelines — again. But, that doesn’t mean us yinzers still can’t enjoy Sunday’s big g...
Why does the Trump family always get a pass?
Opinion, Politics
February 7, 2026
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche joined ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday to defend or explain a lot of controversies for the Trump administration: the Epstein files release, the events in Minneapo...
Opinion
Trump’s tool box
February 7, 2026
To the Editor: I wish to express my gratitude to the person who wrote a letter to the editor that was published on Jan. 27 “Get Over It.” The writer was spot-on in addressing the endless whining and c...
Opinion
February 7, 2026
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...
The GOP’s Hispanic headache
Opinion, Politics
February 6, 2026
It was only one state senate race in Texas. Low-turnout, off-cycle elections are seldom good predictors of larger trends. And the Democrats had a better candidate: a working- class aircraft mechanic r...
Opinion
February 6, 2026
To the Editor: I am writing to express my profound gratitude regarding a recent police incident in our borough of North Belle Vernon. In a community as quiet and unassuming as ours, events like these ...
Opinion
February 6, 2026
HOMELESSNESS IS A PROBLEM people often try not to see. There are places where that takes effort. In urban areas, homelessness is more visible — in park encampments and on sidewalks, where people learn...