Breaking News

Opinion

Pittsburgh is just built different

Columns

Art Rooney II was standing on the pitch of the brand-new U.S. Steel Community football field, located on the sprawling 178 acres where the men and women who lived in the slopes overlooking Hazelwood Works labored in the mill. It doesn’t seem that long ago when those massive steel structures were churning out steel for over 100 years, playing a significant role in building this country. Off in the distance stands the U.S. Steel Tower, the tallest building in Appalachia. Closer to the field are the skeletal remains, now repurposed to house Carnegie Mellon University and its ...

A combination of BP meds can be more effective than just one

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 69-year-old woman who’s been on different blood pressure medications for a very long time. I was on 20 mg of lisinopril and 5 mg of amlodipine for a while, but my blood pressure spiked to 190/100 mm Hg. My doctor then increased the amlodipine to 10 mg, which brought my blood pressure down somewhat, but I still was often in the 150-170 range. I also had a fast heart rate often, so metoprolol (50 mg) was substituted for amlodipine. This didn’t really work, so 12.5 mg of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) was added. Now I’m suddenly having low blood pressure — the ...

Is the SPLC indictment about fraud or something more sinister?

Columns

When it comes to the U.S. Justice Department’s stunning announcement of criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, as an old saying goes, where you stand depends on where you sit. If you sit with the broad section of Americans who revere the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and who look with distaste on the resurgence of white nationalism in American politics, it may come as no surprise that President Donald Trump’s DOJ is going after an organization with a long history of standing up to organized racism. If you sit with the Trump administration’s Justice ...

Cholesterol suddenly raises, possibly due to personal variation

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 74-year-old male in good health. My lab work has been pretty consistent over several years. My cholesterol level is always below 200 mg/dL with a high HDL (80 mg/dL). All of these results over the years have been done at the same commercial lab company. I recently had blood drawn, but this time, I used a different lab. In three months, my cholesterol went from 178 mg/dL to 211 mg/dL. There were no changes in my diet or exercise. Some other test results showed higher numbers than my usual ones as well. Is there a difference in how they calculate lab results from ...

Dear Annie: Splitting the mental load makes for a healthy marriage

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband is a wonderful man in many ways, but lately I feel more like the household manager than his wife. We both work full time, yet somehow I am still the one remembering birthdays, scheduling appointments, keeping track of the groceries, planning family events and noticing when something around the house needs to be done. If I ask for help, he usually does it, but only after I bring it up. He says I should just “tell him what I need,” but I am tired of always being the one who has to notice, remember and delegate everything. I do not think he means to be ...

All redistricting reformers are hypocrites

Columns

Hypocrisy was triumphant, as it usually is in arguments over redistricting, in Virginia this week, as voters approved a “fairness” constitutional amendment allowing the Democratic-majority legislature to enact a congressional districting plan that is expected to increase Democrats’ edge in its congressional delegation from 6-5 to 10-1. This is a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried over then-candidate Donald Trump by a 52% to 46% margin. Before this year, Virginia Democrats had been bragging about the bipartisan redistricting process they created and voters ...