Hits and Misses
For years, college costs have been rising about 7% per year, far outpacing inflation. To put this in perspective, the average cost of attending a four-year university or college has gone up by about 500% since 1985. Anything that can be done to lower the price tag of attending college is helpful, and California University of Pennsylvania recently announced it is offering reduced tuition to graduates of community colleges from this part of Pennsylvania, including community colleges in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties. A lot more work needs to be done to make higher education more affordable, but this is a step in the right direction.
The Rolling Stones once sang that time waits for no one, and that point was driven home Tuesday as news spread about the death of the band’s drummer Charlie Watts at the age of 80. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, given his age and the fact that unspecified ailments drove him off the Rolling Stones’ fall stadium tour, which is scheduled to reach Pittsburgh Oct. 4. Still, the death of Watts from natural causes underscores the melancholy reality that a whole generation of artists who once symbolized youthful vitality have undeniably moved into old age, and their performing days will be done sooner rather than later.
Food Helpers, the umbrella organization for the Greater Washington County Food Bank, is getting a substantial boost from the Washington County Community Foundation in the form of a $250,000 grant. The matching grant will lend a hand to Food Helpers’ drive to provide assistance to county residents whose incomes are just above the threshold needed for assistance, but who still struggle to feed themselves or their families. Considering that an estimated 9,600 residents of Washington County can be classified as food-insecure, the community foundation’s grant will be a tremendous benefit to them.
When the clock hit 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Kathy Hochul became New York’s governor, following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo. She’s ascended to the office once held by Nelson Rockefeller, Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland, and is the Empire State’s first female governor. As the Associated Press pointed out, there are still 19 states that have never had a female governor. Pennsylvania is one of them, along with other populous states like Illinois, Florida, California and Minnesota, as well as our neighbors West Virginia and Maryland. Women hold a small percentage of governorships than they do state legislative seats or seats in Congress, and some of that undoubtedly has to do with stereotypes about men being more decisive or stronger, one analyst told AP. The day will surely come when Pennsylvania has a female governor. It doesn’t look like it will happen in 2022, but it will happen one day, rest assured.