Laurels & lances: Legend, lanternflies and law
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Laurel: To a sweet life. Gus Kalaris did what he could to brighten Pittsburgh’s North Side.
From 1951, he manned his “Gus and YiaYia’s” street cart from spring until fall, popping corn and shaving 50-pound blocks of ice to make the icon ice treats he was known for.
Kalaris died last Friday. He was 92.
His bright orange cart — so iconic it is immortalized in the Daniel G. and Carol L. Kamin Science Center’s Miniature Railroad & Village — was open and doing business Saturday. His family said it’s what he would have wanted.
“He loved talking to everyone,” daughter Christina Avlon said. “He loved Pittsburgh so much. He loved the North Side.”
The North Side will carry on without its local legend, but it won’t be quite as sweet without the “Ice Ball Man.”
Lance: To an incoming infestation. They’re coming. The spotted lanternflies are on their way.
“It’ll probably be a fairly high population in most of the same areas this year,” Penn State Extension horticulture educator Brian Walsh said.
The 2023 numbers were high in many areas, including portions of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Are they dangerous to people? No. There are concerns about the invasive species having a detrimental impact on native plants and crops.
In reality, the insects have already made their appearance. The eggs have hatched, and they’re starting to feed. They just aren’t noticeable yet. That will come shortly, however. The early white-polka -dotted black nymphs will be visible this month, followed by them growing into larger, red-dominated nymphs before reaching the winged adult phase.
Experts like Walsh are surprisingly bloodthirsty when it comes to the lanternfly, an Asian species first found in Pennsylvania in 2014. The advice? Squish on sight.
Laurel: To making progress. Independent pharmacies and chain drugstores alike have been hammered by pharmacy benefit managers. They are the third-party middlemen that stand in the space between drug companies, retailers and insurance companies. Multiple pharmacies in the region have closed, citing reimbursements and these intermediaries as the problem, and that hits patients hard.
The state House passed a bill last week that would increase regulation and scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers. It would prevent the companies from using shady practices like paying a pharmacy less than the cost of a medication while then charging the insurance company a much higher price. It would also increase transparency on rebates and payments from manufacturers.
The ball is now in the Senate’s court. This is an issue where passage is good for big retailers, small business, individual Pennsylvanians and even insurance companies. The Senate should act quickly.