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OP-ED: A hidden talent discovered 50 years later

In 1970, I was recruited to teach at a junior high school in Johnstown. Although the 1970s would mark the beginning of the American steel industry's decline, Johnstown was still a happening place. There were jobs, families, and lots of kids in the city schools. My bands and orchestras ...

OP-ED: “His Excellency” in Western Pennsylvania

A year, almost to the day, after the curtain rang down on the American Revolution, the army's former commanding general set out from his Virginia estate on a tour of the lands he owned in "the howling wilderness" of Western Pennsylvania. The date was Sept. 1, 1784. The general's name was ...

Grow into adulthood, a day at a time

Q. How do you deal with becoming an adult? ÎÞëÊÓÆµ“ 17-year-old Mary JoÎÞëÊÓÆµ™s Response: IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™ve been responding to teen questions since the 1980s and writing this column since 2005, and I believe this is one of the deepest questions IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™ve received. I admire your courage in raising a topic many ...

OP-ED: Flying high with my imagination and a tablet

Today, I bought a new tablet, and even though that may not seem too significant to the rest of you, it was to me. No, it wasn't a computer tablet. It was just a little tablet made of white, unlined paper with a gray cardboard back. When I was a good little kid, my dad would stop at Murphy's ...

OP-ED: The passing of an American icon

When I learned that she had died, I said to myself, "Imagine, a world without Dolly Parton." The singer and singular personality died last week in her native Tennessee at the age of 80. She had cancer. Dolly Parton was an American original. An exceedingly small club, it includes the likes of ...

Adjusting to college life takes time

Q. IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™ve been at college almost a week and IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™m still anxious. I thought IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™d feel better by now. There are so many new people and strange experiences. Getting used to a roommate is the easiest part, and thatÎÞëÊÓÆµ™s not easy. IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™m happy with my college choice. IÎÞëÊÓÆµ™m excited about my major, but ...