Opinion
July 9, 2026
ALLEGHENY COUNTY JAIL is in the market for a warden. If it seems like just last year that Trevor Wingard took the reins at the second-largest county jail in Pennsylvania, you’re right. He stepped in t...
Opinion
July 9, 2026
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. will give a license to Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defense systems to help counter Russian missile attacks, a huge coup...
President Trump’s anti-Communist manifesto
Opinion, Politics
July 9, 2026
President Trump had two messages in his speech at Mount Rushmore on the eve of July 4. The first, expected, message was a traditional celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The second, less ex...
Opinion
July 8, 2026
FUNDRAISERS FILL A LOT of gaps in Pennsylvania communities. They keep volunteer fire companies functioning. They support veterans organizations. They help churches operate food pantries, shelters and ...
Put this one in a bucket of water
Opinion
July 8, 2026
Already it must be said: The semiquincentennial has all the makings of a dud. Like all the 50th anniversary predecessors, this big anniversary celebration occurred amid controversy, questions about th...
Opinion
Our country’s greatness
July 8, 2026
To the Editor: Kudos to the MVI (an asset to our community) for printing opposite political views. Three topics have recently come to my attention. The first one is that Trump’s name occurs repeatedly...
Opinion
July 7, 2026
HERE WE ARE AGAIN. July. The annual observance is upon us. Pennsylvania once more has seen the yearly state budget deadline — and blown past it like a reckless driver. Did anyone expect anything else?...
The new socialists — elite, ungrateful, and toxic as ever
Opinion, Politics
July 7, 2026
Win some bluestate and bluecity races, and the cocky new socialist Jacobins believe that they have either already taken over the Democratic Party or will soon absorb it. And in reaction to these new s...
Trump Accounts launch, giving newborns $1,000. Here’s what to know
Opinion
July 6, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — On Saturday, President Donald Trump’s administration launched Trump Accounts, tying the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to an effort to boost fina...
Opinion
July 6, 2026
AMERICA IS OFTEN DESCRIBED as a grand experiment. That’s true. The hypothesis of the Founding Fathers was unlike anything found in the monarchies of Europe. It was new and exciting. It took British co...
Happy Birthday, America
Latest News, Main, Opinion
July 3, 2026
Editor’s note: The following editorial appeared in the July 3, 1976, edition of the Valley Independent to commemorate our nation’s bicentennial. We’re republishing it here in honor of our nation’s 250...
The meaning of America
Opinion
July 3, 2026
For the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ended Roe v. Wade, I found myself over an hour away from the George Washington Bridge, at a convent hidden within a protective shield of g...
Cheater-in-chief
Opinion, Politics
July 3, 2026
Donald Trump is fixated — even obsessed — with making it harder for Americans to vote in November’s elections. A president who accused his rivals of “CHEATING!” in a recent social media post is trying...
Opinion, Politics
July 2, 2026
OUR NATION IS ABOUT TO CELEBRATE a major milestone this weekend when the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which put a stamp on our freedom from English rule. You ca...
Opinion, Politics
July 2, 2026
To the Editor: As we approach July 4, 2026, Happy Anniversary to the United States of America. Two hundred and fifty years ago we declared independence from Great Britain and King George III. No longe...
Trump’s midterms: Two steps forward, one step back
Opinion, Politics
July 2, 2026
With midterm elections just a few months away, a 36-hour period last week gave the political world a good picture of President Trump’s approach to campaigning for Republicans with the House and Senate...
Gerald Ford’s bicentennial remarks to a weary nation
Opinion
July 1, 2026
Asmart editor once gave me an admonition about writing a column: Aim to give your readers something nobody else will offer them. I feel quite sure that this summer 2026 column about two speeches Geral...
Opinion, Politics
July 1, 2026
To the Editor: I’ve been trying to keep up with all these new goings-on in the world. Now that we have this new system of government, we don’t need to decide right from wrong. We put the right to make...