Opinion Editorials
This coming September, Brayden Cummings would be celebrating his second birthday in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see that young age, because he died of asphyxiation when he was only six weeks old. Police say his mother, who was addicted to heroin and high on other drugs at the time, fell asleep on top of the boy and smothered him to death. If there had been b
Imagine, if you will, a Pennsylvania family farm like many others, with pleasant fields growing crops meant for market – to support the farmer’s family and feed American citizens. Picture also a dry depression in one of those fields, which only gathers standing water during periods of heavy rain.
Having lived through much of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, I can remember being taught to “duck and cover” under my desk in elementary school to practice for the feared nuclear attack.
When the news first broke about the heartbreaking murder of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in San Francisco earlier this month, the first person I thought of was Derek Kichline, formerly of Hazleton.
In 1997, with the nation still reeling following the Oklahoma City bombing, many were rightly concerned that convicted terrorist Timothy McVeigh — a Gulf War veteran — would be buried with honors in a military cemetery.
