Hits & Misses

MISS: At Washington Park, there’s only one way in and one way out: Dunn Avenue, off East Maiden Street. That came close to causing a disastrous situation in 1997, when a massive tire fire nearly stranded students at Washington Park Elementary, which is next to the park. Since then, city officials have been interested in creating a second park entrance, and after a number of fits and starts, they now seem ready to create such an entrance, which would provide access from Clare Drive in neighboring South Strabane Township. The city says this new access point would be used by vehicles only in case of an emergency, but as incredible as this might seem, some in South Strabane, including Supervisor Tom Moore, are balking at the plan. This is foolish obstructionism, and our hope is that if South Strabane officials try to stand in the way, the city uses whatever legal avenues necessary to make the new entrance happen.
MISS: In 1994, Pennsylvania had a maternal death rate of just a shade over 5 per 100,000 live births. Twenty years later, that figure had soared to 12.7 per 100,000. That certainly sounds like a public health emergency to us, and the state Legislature agreed, setting up a Maternal Mortality Review Committee that is slated to begin meeting later this year in an effort to get to the bottom of why this increase has occurred. But our Legislature didn’t allocate any money for this committee’s work, and that could affect how much the panel can accomplish. Our elected officials in Harrisburg need to revisit this legislation and provide the cash the committee needs, rather than leave the committee in the position of scrounging for grants. Women’s lives are at stake.
HIT: Before President Trump rescinded the policy of separating children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border this week, Gov. Tom Wolf joined with governors from New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other states in refusing to deploy National Guard resources to the border. Wolf said on Twitter, “While PA proudly sent troops to TX, FL and Puerto Rico and I believe we need to protect our borders from real threats, I oppose state resources being used to further Pres. Trump’s policy of separating young children from their parents.” Although it was largely a symbolic gesture, Wolf deserves credit for taking this stand.
MISS: Before every major league baseball game, an announcer reminds fans to pay attention to what’s happening on the field, and beware of flying bats or line drives that rocket into the stands. But during a game Monday night between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, a fan apparently sustained an injury not as a result of a ball that went astray, but from a hot dog. The Associated Press reported that Kathy McVay was sitting in the vicinity of home plate when the Phillie Phanatic, the team’s mascot, got out his hot dog launcher and fired a hot dog her way. Unable to swat the hot dog away due to a shoulder injury, the duct tape-wrapped hot dog smacked her in the face. After being taken to a hospital, she was diagnosed with a small hematoma. While accidents do happen, the cross-state counterpart to the Pirate Parrot ought to be a little more careful.
HIT: Kudos to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey for being among a bipartisan group of senators to introduce a bill earlier this month to require congressional approval of tariffs imposed by President Trump in the interest of national security. “Tariffs are taxes on American consumers,” Toomey said. “They hurt American workers, families, and employers. Imposing them under the false pretense of ‘national security’ weakens our economy, our credibility with other nations, and invites retaliation,” the Republican senator from Pennsylvania said. “By passing this legislation, Congress can reassert its constitutional responsibility on trade and ensure Americans can keep buying affordable products and keep selling our goods abroad.” We agree.