Hits and Misses
Last week, the Lungs at Work nonprofit clinic in Waterdam Plaza in McMurray received some ink, thanks to a visit from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. He was there to see how the clinic lends a hand to former miners who have black lung disease, and also to promote legislation that would, among other things, ensure that miners’ benefits are not eroded by inflation and they have access to legal representation. Lungs at Work deserves the moment in the spotlight Casey’s visit provided. It’s the only free-standing black lung clinic in the country, and the staff at the facility carry out essential diagnostic work and medical care. They also help miners file disability claims when they are found to have black lung, which scars the lungs and slowly takes away the ability to breathe. Casey pointed out that miners helped power American prosperity over many decades, and those who have black lung should be given the care they deserve.
The anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will almost certainly not receive the same level of attention as last year’s 20th anniversary, and that is to be expected – once this much time has passed, wall-to-wall retrospectives and commemorations will be reserved for landmark anniversaries like the 25th, 30th or 50th. Nevertheless, there will be solemn remembrances taking place on Sunday. The South Strabane Township Fire Department will be having its annual memorial service at the 9/11 memorial off Oak Spring Road. And there will be a service during the Corks & Kegs Festival at the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows on Sunday. It will be attended by former Pittsburgh Steelers halfback Rocky Bleier. There will be a lot happening this weekend, including the Steelers’ first regular season game, but everyone should pause for a minute or two to remember the victims of those attacks and the shock and horror everyone felt on that day.
This week, Donald Trump endorsed Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl, who will be facing Democrat Maura Healey, the commonwealth’s attorney general, in the November election. What made Trump’s endorsement unsettling, however, is the former president’s promise that, if elected, Diehl would “rule” Massachusetts “with an iron fist.” First, in the United States we are governed, not ruled. We shook off being ruled when we repelled King George III’s forces in the Revolutionary War. More importantly, we are neither governed nor ruled “with an iron fist” in democratic societies. Leaders who deploy “an iron fist” typically do things like shut down the media, curtail free speech, jail political opponents and engage in other acts of oppression and cruelty. Fortunately, the odds of Massachusetts being “ruled with an iron fist” by Diehl or anyone of his ilk are extraordinarily low, considering that the Bay State is such a Democratic stronghold that it has sent liberals like Ted Kennedy and Elizabeth Warren to the U.S. Senate and President Biden carried it in the 2020 election by 33 points.
State Rep. Pam Snyder, the Greene County Democrat, has stood up for expanding rural broadband since she was first elected to the Legislature a decade ago, and that work will continue in her new role as chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority. The authority will oversee the expansion of broadband across the commonwealth and help distribute millions of dollars that have come from the federal government for broadband expansion. Having high-speed internet is crucial to economic development in rural areas, both in allowing businesses to flourish and attracting employees. The owner of an asphalt paving equipment company in rural Iowa told The New York Times last year, “How do you get young people to move back into these rural areas when they feel like they’re moving back into a time frame of 20 years ago?” This is the challenge facing Snyder and other members of the authority. Every Pennsylvanian should hope they are successful.