Laurels & lances: Good taste, goodbye, good sense
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Laurel: To a recognition in good taste. Tessaro’s in Bloomfield is well known for burgers as big in flavor as they are in size. J&J’s Family Restaurant in Mt. Washington is the kind of diner that feels like visiting a favorite aunt’s house, sipping coffee from mismatched mugs.
The two were both named to Esquire’s recent list of “100 Restaurants America Can’t Afford to Lose.” Esquire is not wrong.
But they also aren’t alone. Allegheny and Westmoreland counties are filled with cozy nooks with the best pizza and the perfect sandwich and a thousand little specialties you never know you really wanted until you take a bite out of what their menu has to offer.
All of these restaurants — and the people who stand behind them — are key pieces of our communities, our economy and our lives. They are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, and they need us, but we have to remember that we need them, too.
Lance: To the end of an entertainment era. Oh, sure, it feels like a million years since anyone walked into a video store, casually browsed through the VHS tape titles, picked up a copy of “RoboCop” and some Jiffy Pop and headed home for a movie night.
It’s been a long road to the end of an industry that has been on the decline for years, between the increasing affordability of purchasing videos first and, more recently, the advent and ease of streaming services.
We shouldn’t be surprised to see the last Family Video locations, including the one in Greensburg, closing. The New Kensington store shuttered last year, and does anyone even remember where a Blockbuster Video was?
But there’s still something sad and nostalgic about the final scene.
Laurel: To remembering where the money comes from. Aspinwall had to up its budget for 2021. The council did it without raising taxes.
They are not alone. For the past month, municipality after municipality has found a way to cut here and delay there, consolidating and condensing to try and squeeze an extra dime out of every dollar.
Everyone seems to realize the basic truth that while it is always hard to increase taxes, the coronavirus pandemic has stretched taxpayers to the limit.
Kudos to every township and borough and city that has done whatever it could to not ask its residents to bleed a little more when they are already drained dry.
Lance: To another change in direction. Pennsylvania’s pandemic policies can best be summed up in one word.
Guidelines. And if you don’t like those guidelines, wait. They will probably change tomorrow.
Most recently, the Department of Education has suggested that beginning in the second semester, it would be best to send elementary school students back to school for face-to-face instruction.
Maybe that’s right. Maybe it’s not. New information does suggest low transmission rates of covid-19 for kids in classrooms, and the Department of Health touts more benefits for in-person learning. There was no mention of the value of consistency for kids who have been yanked back and forth since March 13.
But once again, the state is reversing course on a prior recommendation while still leaving the final decision — and thereby the ultimate responsibility for success or failure — up to the school districts.