Laurels and lances: Trials and errors
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Laurel: To moving ahead. The Tree of Life shooting happened in October 2018. The world hardly seems like the same place today, separated by so many things that have happened between then and now. Pittsburgh has a different mayor. The country has a different president. We saw huge losses and major medical advances during the coronavirus pandemic, and we are stuck in a bitter gubernatorial fight. Well, not everything changes.
Four years later, despite everything that has happened, the criminal case of the shooting drags on. If Robert Bowers had not been apprehended at the scene, a case that went so long without resolution might be considered cold. Just ask the family of Cassandra Gross, who disappeared in 2018 and whose case has no end in sight.
But this week, the Bowers case took a step closer to a conclusion. A date has been set for federal trial in the killing of 11 people in the Squirrel Hill synagogue. Jury selection will take place April 24.
This is a welcome sign. The families — and the community, for that matter — need closure. The right to a speedy trial doesn’t just benefit defendants who might otherwise languish in jail without conviction. It is also necessary for healing because open wounds leave deeper scars.
Lance: To sniffles and sneezes. Pennsylvanians are at the intersection of a lot of questions with every sniff. Is it covid? Is it the flu? Is it some new disease on the horizon? Or is it just seasonal allergies?
For many, ragweed season is here to make them question every ragged breath they take. And that’s not all. Let’s not forget the scourge of mold allergies as we settle into the weird, wet meeting of rain and temperatures that can be summer hot one day and autumn cool the next.
Don’t worry. The ragweed, at least, will go away. Just in time for snow.
Lance: To a spreading impact. Long covid is becoming something suffered by more than just people who tested positive in the pandemic. Now municipalities are getting it too.
Freeport has been in an uproar for months. There were problems with the police department, which was left with no cops after the chief resigned in November 2021 one day after taking the job. As that was rectified, the mayor resigned. Then there were months without a mayor as no one took the job.
Now the borough’s offices are closed because of another personnel issue. Borough Secretary Carol Crytzer suffered a health problem. No problem — just pivot to a backup secretary, right? Well, there isn’t one.
“We are scrambling now to find someone to come in and get caught up,” said council President Clint Warnick.
The $10.60 salary isn’t helping, but it can’t just be changed because of union issues. It all leaves borough officials trying to pick up the slack where they can. In the meantime, the office is closed and is expected to stay that way for weeks.