Donald Trump’s Saturday night announcement that he’s going to nominate a new director of the FBI, the woefully unqualified and completely unfit Kash Patel, is premature by a few years because the director’s position is…

A September study in the Journal of the American Medical Association illustrates just how interconnected mental health and community truly are.  By cross-referencing survey results about emotional well-being from over 2,000 Allegheny County teenagers with…

In announcing the nomination of Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, to his cabinet, President-elect Donald Trump proclaimed, “As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America,…

Republicans boasting about their great election mandate may want to hold the euphoria. As the final results trickle in from the late state of California, the GOP looks set to have the narrowest House majority…

One way Donald Trump may try to differentiate his second term from his first is by slashing the federal work force and budget and consolidating and restructuring a host of government agencies. For people who…

The pushback against cruise ships in the world’s top tourist destinations is nothing new.  More than three years ago, these vast vessels were barred from Venice’s lagoon on grounds of the risk they posed to…

It’s a telling sign when a 65-year-old has found a new purpose in life.  That would be Diana Stephens, a relatively recent transplant from California, who has since identified longtime Iolan Linda Johnson as her…

Every flu season, I think back to the young teacher I cared for as a nurse in the intensive care unit years ago.  He was just 28 years old, healthy, with no underlying conditions.  At…

Thanksgiving brings families together and gives us wonderful memories. Turkey is on the menu in most homes that celebrate the holiday. But the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in 1621 likely…

Literature classes worldwide study Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), a great innovator of the short story.  He wrote closely observed and deeply empathic slices-of-life with a great sense of humor — but the Russian-Lit-class version of Dr.…