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Cops in schools still a good idea

Mistrust, even active hatred of law enforcement personnel have become widespread to the point of becoming dangerous. One need not be a defender of the tiny minority of “bad cops” to recognize that. Of course they need to be purged from police and sheriff’s departments as well as other local, state and federal law enforcement entities. George Floyd’s brutal death at the hands of a few Minneapolis police officers has united Americans in demanding that. But any law enforcement presence in our schools needs to be eliminated, some insist. Critics of officers and deputies ...

Much more to know about COVID-19

Virtually every passing day demonstrates to us that we don’t know enough about COVID-19 to combat the virus effectively. Research on it — and on identifying other emerging disease threats — needs to be a higher priority. At the very top of the action list should be how the coronavirus affects racial minorities. We know in our country that Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans have been more vulnerable than whites to the disease. A report released Friday adds urgency to finding answers about that. It came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which investigated ...

Cutting off Census deadline early unfair to all

Giving Americans a month less to respond to the 2020 Census may be the most ridiculous proposal to come out of Washington this year. The idea should be discarded. Original plans for the Census called for an Oct. 31 deadline for people to respond to it with information about themselves and their families. But Census Bureau officials reportedly want to change that to Sept. 30. During this, of all years, people ought to be given more time to comply with government mandates, not less. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 epidemic has slowed collection of Census data. Moving the deadline ...

Great American Outdoors Act victory for bipartisan common sense

At a time when partisan game-playing has caused some Americans to lose faith in Congress, it is a pleasure to note the occasional victory for bipartisan common sense. One occurred last week, when President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law. The measure provides $9.5 billion to clear up maintenance backlogs at national parks and other federal lands. It also ensures the Land and Water Conservation Act program will be funded fully, at $900 million a year. In the past, the LWCA has received just fractions of that amount, which was authorized years ago. The ...

Congress can do better for laid off Americans

Politics often seems to be an all-or-nothing contest — even when the American people are those who will get nothing. Whatever happened to common-sense compromise? When did putting off a battle in order to help the people survive a war become a bad idea? It was reported Friday that talks among Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, as well as White House representatives, had reached an impasse regarding a new COVID-19 relief bill. If you want details of the disagreement, you can read them elsewhere in the paper. You may have done so already. Suffice it to say that there are ...

Guidelines for vaccinations needed now

Rationing of medical treatment is viewed by many Americans as unacceptable. Making health care decisions based on anything but need is seen as immoral. That is as it should be. But as researchers race to develop vaccines against COVID-19, the specter of rationing is being raised by some. Among the most intelligent strategies adopted by the federal government to battle the coronavirus is that involving vaccines. Developing them safely, yet quickly is a very expensive proposition. Private-sector researchers whose work shows promise are receiving subsidies to speed development of ...