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Hits and Misses

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In a 5-2 vote, East Washington’s borough council recently approved the purchase of a Tesla electric vehicle for its police department. Supporters say electric vehicles are the wave of the future, and that’s probably the right call. They also say the borough will save money on gasoline by investing in an electric vehicle. But the Tesla cost $14,000 more than the Ford Interceptor Explorer SUV that the council was also considering, and the Ford vehicle is designed to be used by law enforcement, whereas the Tesla is not. And the nearest location to take the car for repairs and maintenance is Cranberry Township. East Washington may have placed itself on the cutting edge by purchasing a Tesla, but we’re inclined to agree with Councilman Dan Bird, who cast one of the dissenting votes: “The car costs too much, you can’t get it serviced locally, and it’s not designed to be a patrol car. If the car is not designed to do police work, then we shouldn’t be purchasing it for police work.”

In 2017, Pennsylvania allowed the sale of consumer fireworks, joining many other states that have taken this step. It’s a revenue-generator for state coffers, but fireworks can pose dangers for the people who use them. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 10,000 people were treated in emergency departments in 2019 due to fireworks-related injuries, and 12 people died from those injuries. Also, the National Fire Protection Association says that in 2018 close to 20,000 fires started by fireworks were reported to local fire departments, resulting in five deaths, 46 people injured and $105 million in property damage. Those using fireworks to enliven their private Independence Day celebrations should handle them with the utmost care. The best advice, though, is to leave handling fireworks to the professionals.

Last week, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was exhorting COVID-19 vaccine holdouts in his state to get their jabs, pointing out that the consequences of taking a pass can be deadly. Knowing this, Justice said, “I would run over on top of somebody” to get vaccinated. If survival and the resumption of daily routines with reasonable confidence isn’t enough of an incentive, a study published this week in the journal Nature found that the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna conferred such strong protection that booster shots might not be needed in the months and years ahead. This is all the more reason to get vaccinated, particularly since they are now widely available and there for the taking.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s first year in office was marked by a nine-month budget stalemate that had GOP lawmakers and the Democratic governor trading barbs, and left voters wondering how things could have become so dysfunctional in Harrisburg. The scene six years later is quite different. A $40 billion 2021-22 budget was completed before the Thursday deadline, with both Wolf and Republicans saying they got some of what they wanted in it. Wolf was pleased with spending increases in education, and Republicans were happy that money was stashed in the commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund, among other things. Compromise doesn’t seem to be all that common in today’s polarized political landscape, but it seems to have worked here in Pennsylvania, at least for now.

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