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Severe storms battered Pittsburgh twice as often as usual this spring – a meteorologist explains why

Columns

It’s no secret: This year has been a bad one so far for severe thunderstorms around Pittsburgh. In fact, it has been quite an active season throughout the Ohio Valley and a large part of the Midwest. How bad has it been? In the months of March, April, May and June 2026, Pennsylvania saw a whopping 852 reports of severe weather. By my calculations, that is more than twice the average for the same four-month period during the past 30 years. These severe weather patterns are similar to 2025 as well, so it’s no wonder that Pittsburghers feel there’s been a lot of severe weather ...

Dear Annie: Feeling the sting of supporting daughter’s family

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband and I have a 34-year-old daughter who has lived with us all her life (except for maybe a year). She brought her freeloading boyfriend in. I had cancer at the time and they didn’t even bother to do anything, so she ended up pregnant. I kicked her boyfriend out of the house after finding out he couldn’t even take her to the hospital to have his baby. The baby brought such joy to our lives, but she works at a very part-time job, doesn’t help around the house and stays in her room while we watch the boy. She wanted to get him a dog, so we helped her. If we ...

Physician orders Mounjaro for woman, but with a safety issue

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 73-year-old female who has Type 1 diabetes that began as Type 2 diabetes more than 30 years ago. I have a very strong family history of coronary artery disease, and I personally have a cardiac stent. I use an insulin pump and have good control with carb counting. I struggle with my weight (160 pounds at 5 feet, 2 inches tall) and with controlling my insulin dose. My A1C is 5.8%. I have ocular hypertension and some diabetic retinopathy. I receive Avastin injections in my eye approximately every two years. My physician has ordered Mounjaro for weight loss. My ...

Bring back ‘nattering nabobs’

Columns

President Trump’s performance at last Friday’s retooled White House Correspondents’ Dinner made me nostalgic for the days of Vice President Spiro Agnew, President Richard Nixon’s media attack dog. In a speech, Agnew called politicians critical of Nixon administration policies “nattering nabobs of negativism,” a phrase written by his speechwriter William Safire, and later usurped by media to apply to journalists. That was mild compared to the disgusting personal insults Trump hurled at journalists who were at the dinner to support the White House Correspondents ...

New genetic approaches raise hopes for restoring the American chestnut to its former glory

Columns

The American chestnut tree was a dominant and iconic species in many Appalachian forests until it was devastated by an introduced fungus from Asia called chestnut blight. A majestic forest tree, an American chestnut was typically 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) in height, but could grow as tall as 150 feet (45 meters) over its several-hundred-year lifespan. Its leafy canopy provided shade and beauty from Maine to Mississippi. The chestnuts it produced had helped to nourish wildlife, Indigenous peoples and European settlers alike. Its rot-resistant wood was also prized for ...

Dear Annie: Does forgiveness fix all?

Columns

Dear Annie: Most often a cheating husband or wife causes the divorce. Most would want to end their marriage after finding their partner cheated. And most people would advise the offended partner to leave. This is most of what I read in people’s letters and people’s responses to you. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Actually, it can be one of the most beautiful things in the world. Love. Love and forgiveness. Love, forgiveness and thankfulness. I remember a serious girlfriend telling me once she would divorce me immediately if she found I cheated, no questions asked. And I ...