Laurels & lances: Blight, gas and RSV
Share this post:
Laurel: To a little housekeeping. Westmoreland County has made tackling blight a priority. County commissioners put their stamp of approval on that idea when they carved off $10.4 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan money to dedicate toward mitigation efforts.
That got started this week with the demolition of a blighted building in Greensburg. It used to be the Advance Furniture building. It was once a J.C. Penney store. For 119 years, the six-story landmark has stood on South Main Street, going from an active part of a busy area to an empty shell of its former self.
On Tuesday, workers began the job of tearing it down to make way for new development. It is just the first of many buildings in communities throughout the county that will be removed to create opportunities for growth.
Lance: To pain at the pump. Nationwide, the price of gas is coming down. After a year in which prices have spent way too much time north of $4, that’s a good thing to hear.
But, once again, Pennsylvanians lag behind in the good news. While the national average is down to $3.26 per gallon, in the Keystone State, the cost is hovering just in sight of that $4 mark — ranging from $3.53 to $3.98 per gallon. In the Pittsburgh area, that gallon costs about $3.83, while in Westmoreland county it’s $3.88.
Tracking service GasBuddy attributes the higher prices to the Northeast region the state sits in, where there are increased supply-and-demand issues. But, here in Pennsylvania, we know the real issue is, in large part, to the exorbitant gas taxes.
Lance: To going viral. This is the third year in a row in which surging numbers in emergency rooms are promising problems at the holidays.
But, after two years of the coronavirus pandemic being the issue, this year covid is sharing the spotlight with two other viruses: the flu and respiratory synctial virus. RSV is what makes the big difference as its main targets are kids, who haven’t been hit as hard by the pandemic.
That also means hospitals aren’t the only ones dealing with this problem. So are schools.
“I send a lot of kids home every day because of the coughs, the colds, the fevers, the vomiting. They’re getting into school, and they’re straight in my office. A lot of it is up to the parents. Some parents don’t want to hear it. That’s when you have to insist the child needs to come home,” said Donna Goodwin, a former ER nurse who works at Penn Hills Elementary School.
The intersection of covid and schools caused controversy and protests over prevention. Let’s hope sick kids aren’t the new flashpoint of contention. What if we just used common sense? Parents, keep sick kids home. Schools, work with families when it comes to attendance.