Hits and Misses
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
The bridge on Interstate 79 at the Bridgeville exit could be subject to a toll to pay for repairs and road widening.
Associated Press
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., center, stands with Jack Schlossberg, left, and his mother Ambassador Caroline Kennedy as she receives the 2022 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
The plan to toll nine interstate bridges in Pennsylvania, including the one at the Bridgeville exchange, hit a serious roadblock last week when Commonwealth Court issued a preliminary injunction against it. The idea has proven to be about as popular as a plague of locusts, and both candidates to be governor have stated their opposition. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee, has called for reforming the public-private partnership that would lead to the bridges being tolled, and last week Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general and the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, told the Courier-Express in DuBois that he also disagrees with the Wolf administration’s plan. He said resources were available in the state budget to invest in infrastructure and Harrisburg needs to “use those resources in a smart way to repair infrastructure, not by asking motorists to pay more.” Even without intervention from the courts, the bridge-tolling plan could well be doomed if the next governor is opposed.
John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage awards are given annually to public servants who make tough decisions and take heroic stands on critical issues when it would be just as easy to keep their heads down or swim with the tide. Some of the recipients this year stood up against the lies and misinformation that the 2020 election was somehow stolen from President Trump. One of them was U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the Republican who was booted from leadership in the U.S. House because she voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. In accepting the award, Cheney asked, “The question for every one of us in this time of testing, will we do our duty, will we defend our Constitution, will we stand for truth, will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics?” That’s a question many of Cheney’s colleagues need to ask themselves.
The fact that many young people in America are facing mental health-related issues came front-and-center last year when the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations declared that child and adolescent mental health woes had reached the level of a national emergency. Social media, school shootings and the specter of climate change have all taken a toll, especially when it’s combined with routine adolescent worries about relationships and grades. An article in last weekend’s Observer-Reporter pointed out how school districts throughout the region have confronted this challenge. In Burgettstown, for instance, there is now a wellness homeroom where students can relax and focus at the start of the day. Others have rededicated themselves to making students aware of the resources available to them. Teachers and administrators deserve kudos for recognizing how fragile the well-being of their students can be. Adults outside the classroom need to do their part in making the lives of today’s young people a little less stressful.
Until Monday, it looked like Republican voters in Michigan were going to have to choose a gubernatorial nominee from a crowded field of contenders, just as their counterparts in Pennsylvania did last week. But the field was suddenly sliced in half when the state’s elections bureau announced that five candidates would not be included on the August primary ballot because their campaigns did not submit enough valid petition signatures. Even worse, it was found the campaigns submitted thousands of fraudulent signatures. The candidates still can appeal, and they contend they were wronged and were not wrongdoers. Still, even if this is the case, don’t campaigns have some responsibility in making sure the petitions they submit have been thoroughly scrutinized and are in order?