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Pennsylvanians should be astute consumers of election information

When I became Secretary of the Commonwealth, I vowed to visit all 67 county election offices to hear firsthand about the challenges they face when running elections. Although I ran elections in Philadelphia for 10 years as a city commissioner, I knew that other counties face far different challenges, and no two counties are alike. For example, in Philadelphia, a staff of about 125 people administer elections. But some rural counties may have only one or two employees to register county residents to vote; manage the mail ballot process; test the voting equipment; assign polling locations ...

Expansion of alternative energy senseless

In 2004, Pennsylvania implemented one of the most aggressive mandates to adopt wind and solar energy. At the time, less than 1 percent of net energy generation came from these sources. In 2023, after nearly $1.5 billion in subsidies, wind and solar generated less than 2 percent. So, what’s the point? That’s the question Gov. Josh Shapiro must answer before any expansion to Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS). Instead, he is doubling down on uneconomical fuels and technologies, resulting in higher electricity bills and a less reliable ...

From enemies to allies by renewing, reinvigorating democracy

At the beginning of World War II, the United States faced two intransigent, militaristic and powerful enemies: the Nazi German government and imperialistic Japan. The United States embarked on a war after Pearl Harbor, intended to utterly and completely destroy the enemy. Japan suffered two atomic bombs, killing and burning alive tens of thousands of people. The Japanese, notwithstanding their pride and kamikaze mentality, were not willing to see their entire country and its population destroyed. The Germans, faced a similar fate. By the end of the War, the allies were fire-bombing ...

How a mother and former teacher became an advocate for school choice

School choice opponents typically have never needed or wanted an alternative to public schools. I should know: I was one of them. As a former teacher, I unflinchingly championed public education. But then Covid-19 happened. And like many other parents, I experienced our deeply flawed educational system firsthand. My kids’ schools shuttered in 2020 and remained closed for in-person classes for the year — even after they had the green light to reopen. For much of that time, our public schools offered only remote learning — no in-person schooling, homework, classwork, or ...

COVID-19 in 2024 — time to celebrate?

Wow! The CDC has changed the COVID-19 guidelines again. For some of us this may seem like the light at the end of the tunnel. Is it time to start celebrating? Maybe we should step back, take a deep breath, and think about all we have accomplished. We have managed to figure out much about COVID-19 and have made significant strides to stay safe. If we compare it to how things were early in the pandemic, we certainly should celebrate. We still have more to do, and my wish is that, when we all collectively take a deep breath, we also get rid of the “us against them” dilemma that made ...

Fact-checked response or careless misrepresentation?

In a February 10, 2024 column, Dr. Timothy Pagana mistakenly attributed some opinions to me which I would like to disavow. He says he read these opinions somewhere sometime in the Sun-Gazette, just in case, I suppose, you’d find these “citations” helpful in checking out the accuracy of his misrepresentations. I consider the column a disappointing piece in which Dr. Pagana identifies positions I have never held, inaccurately attributes them to me, and then attempts to refute them... to what purpose I cannot imagine. It’s off-putting when someone takes the plain sense of your ...