Sep 27, 2024 3 min read

MISS: As the revelry of the Italian Festival was happening in downtown Washington last Saturday afternoon, a more somber and reflective event was unfolding just a block or so away. Behind the Washington County Courthouse, family members who have lost loved ones to violent crime gathered for an annual ceremony at the Washington County Crime Victims Memorial Garden. It was tied to the National Day of Remembrance for crime victims on Wednesday, and additional stones with names of crime victims were added to the garden. Washington Mayor JoJo Burgess explained that when one person is a victim of violent crime “multiple lives are affected.” He added, “We’re here to help you get over the loss of your loved ones. Even if the crime happened years ago, they never leave us.” In a letter, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh reflected on lives that were cut short, whether it was children, people in the prime of life or elderly individuals and that “none of these victims chose to die.” We can only hope that with each passing year, fewer and fewer stones will be added to the garden.

HIT: Sometimes it can be hard to pin a precise reason on why crime rates rise or fall. When crime tumbled in the 1990s, for instance, some criminologists theorized that it was as simple as baby boomers aging out of the years when they would be most prone to committing crime. Others said it was due to harsher punishments being meted out. In the here and now, though, we can assume that falling crime rates are due to the subsidence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that trend has continued according to numbers that were released this week. According to the FBI, murders were down nationally by 11.6% in 2023 compared to the year before, which is the steepest drop since the agency began compiling crime statistics more than 60 years ago. Incidents of rape also fell by 10%, and preliminary numbers for 2024 show the trend continuing. Crime might increase in some places due to specific local problems, but the FBI’s report contradicts politicians who assert that crime is rampant in America.

HIT: Though the number of centenarians has been rising over the last couple of decades, very few Americans live to be 100. According to the Pew Research Center, just .03% of us are 100 or older. On Tuesday, the United States will gain an additional 100-year-old when former president Jimmy Carter joins their ranks. In early 2023, it was announced that Carter was entering hospice care, and it was widely assumed that his death was imminent, leading to a flood of tributes and retrospective looks at Carter’s time in the White House, which a couple of generations of Americans are too young to remember. In the four decades since Carter was overwhelmingly defeated in his reelection bid by Ronald Reagan, he has won kudos for being a model ex-president. Into his 90s, Carter was building homes through Habitat for Humanity, and the center he operates in Atlanta has worked to eradicate guinea worm disease and has worked to resolve conflicts and promote development in poorer nations. Carter is reaching the century mark at a moment of rancor and division, and something he once said is worth considering: “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”