Hits and Misses
MISS: Many air travelers have gone through the trial of having their flights be canceled or delayed due to mechanical issues or weather. When this happens, they frequently have to resort to camping out on airport floors if all nearby hotels are booked. That’s certainly no fun, but it’s a stroll in the park on a sunny day compared to what two astronauts aboard the International Space Station are enduring. They blasted off to the space station in June in a new Boeing spacecraft with the expectation they would only be there for eight days. However, problems with the spacecraft have extended their stay and now they might not be able to make it back home until February. Fortunately, both astronauts have been to the International Space Station before and have professed not to be fazed by their greatly extended trip. Still, for most of us, the idea of floating above the planet for months on end when you had only planned to be gone for a week would truly be a test of both endurance and sanity.
HIT: Just two days after the Democratic veepstakes ended last week, Gov. Josh Shapiro returned to the nuts-and-bolts of governing Pennsylvania with a visit to the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) Career Center in Ruff Creek. Shapiro was at the adult vocational training center to talk up increases in funding for workforce development, vocational education and training that are part of the 2024-25 budget that was approved in July. Shapiro explained, “There are lots of different paths to opportunity and success. … All these paths deserve our respect. And that is the approach I have taken as governor.” The UMWA Career Center was launched in 1996 in order to train out-of-work coal miners for other lines of work, and offers programs in such areas as diesel repair, cybersecurity and medical coding. During Shapiro’s visit, participant Ed Helman vouched for the center’s value. He said it “helped me into a new career and actively get ahead. People can find jobs with this.”
HIT: When Bentworth Superintendent Scott Martin was a senior in high school, he purchased a used Oldsmobile for $50 intending to compete with it in a demolition derby in the Ohio community where he grew up. But basic training in the U.S. Army interrupted his plans, and his demolition derby dreams were shelved. Now 56 years old and a cancer survivor, Martin was set to finally fulfill his demolition derby aspirations at the Washington County Agricultural Fair Wednesday night. Martin was one of the drivers in the school bus demolition derby, one of the fair’s most popular events. Martin prepared for the demolition derby by spending time in the school district’s bus garage, honing his skills at accelerating, backing up and stopping. Dave Schreiber, the principal of Bentworth Middle School and the district’s transportation coordinator, said that Martin “has a remarkable desire to do whatever he can to create a positive culture in our district, and this has ignited a lot of excitement as we start the new school year.”