Today we learned that an attorney for an Olyphant disciple of Cult 45 who participated in the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol is negotiating a guilty plea. That's what guilty defendants do.  Maybe Michael J. Rusyn's taxpayer-funded public defender...

There is no way to overstate the volume and positivity of responses to my last two Wednesday columns about overgrown, underfunded local cemeteries and the impossibly steep struggle to maintain them with skeleton crews and aging equipment. The emphatic feedback shows...

Whether prior to the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol or in the five months since, Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has revealed himself as a conspirator in the deadly, treasonous assault on American democracy.  Chief among a cabal of GOP...

I've been looking for an opportune time to drop the "Coronavirus Diaries" tag from this blog. Today seems as good as any.  My colleagues and I have been back in the Times Building for a few weeks and today marks the end of a rule requiring us to wear masks when not at...

One of the finest, most prolific character actors in Hollywood history, Ned Beatty is best-known for his legendary roles in two seminal films -- "Deliverance" and "Network."  The former made him the butt of many juvenile jokes. The latter made him a star. Beatty's...

The same Senate and House Republican "patriots" who conducted 10 "investigations" into the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi now stand against any closer look at the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol and the Constitution they so slavishly claim to...

"Thunder" doesn't always bring rain, but putting Lou Barletta in the governor's mansion would bring a flood of bad legislation aimed at drowning the voting rights of non-Republican Pennsylvanians.   The former Hazleton mayor and Congressman announced this week that he...

Before anyone else hails U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney as a champion of truth, decency and democracy, let's review the Wyoming Republican's record on all three.  Cheney deserves credit and thanks for standing against The Big Lie that now defines the "GQP," a once-serious party...

It's certainly welcome news that Gov. Tom Wolf plans to lift COVID crowd restrictions on May 31, but the low note sounding in the background is falling vaccination numbers that signal no decisive end to the virus anytime soon.  Wolf said ending the restrictions is...

Ubiquitous campaign billboards, yard signs and TV ads say the state's primary election is fast approaching, but I've yet to see any that remind voters what day we go to the polls. It's May 18. I checked. Twice. An interested observer pointed out that while most voters...