Hits and Misses
MISS: The air in the Pittsburgh region is nowhere close to being as filthy as it once was, but it still leaves quite a bit to be desired, according to an annual report released earlier this week by the American Lung Association. Its “State of the Air” study found that Pittsburgh and its environs were the 16th worst-polluted region in the nation. If we want to look for silver linings, the ranking was an improvement over last year, when it took the 10th spot. Perhaps the coronavirus outbreak will show new ways people can live and work, including more telecommuting. Fewer cars on the road would help make our air cleaner and, in the long run, save lives.
HIT: It’s believed that the coronavirus sprang from a so-called “wet market” in Wuhan, China, and now there are calls to ban wet markets being made by everyone from former Beatle Paul McCartney to Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They’re making a good argument. At wet markets, consumers mingle with trappers and butchers as animals are traded and slaughtered on the spot. It all sounds gross, to be straightforward about it, and wet markets are hardly confined to locales far from here. There are reportedly hundreds of them here in the United States. Lawmakers in California and New York have called for them to be outlawed in their states. Legislators elsewhere should follow suit.
MISS: This week, the American Library Association released its annual tally of the books that get the most objections at libraries and schools. Many of the books that stirred the most challenges had themes revolving around gay or transgender issues, but the Harry Potter books were on the list, along with Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Atwood responded, “{span}If you’re a writer and everybody likes you, a) You’re doing something wrong, or b) You don’t exist. I am happy to be in the company of the Bible, Shakespeare, John Bunyan, Lord Byron, Emily Bronte, Flaubert, James Joyce … and so many others. Lucky me, I live in a democracy, so at least I’m not in jail or being tossed out of a plane.”{/span}
HIT: School officials across the country have had to make painful decisions as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns, and that includes canceling proms, graduation ceremonies and other events that mark the conclusion of the academic year. But props are due to the Bethlehem-Center School District for finding a creative way of having a graduation ceremony while maintaining social distancing. Pending school board approval, it will happen June 3 at the Brownsville Drive-In. One hundred members of the senior class could be allowed to accept their diplomas while their images appear on the drive-in screens and their friends and families stay put in their vehicles. Prerecorded speeches will also be shown on the big screen. According to Todd Fisher, the high school’s student body president, “We’re trying to do whatever we can to make this as traditional a graduation as we can. It can’t be perfect at this point, but we could still make this pretty cool.”