Hits and Misses
File photo
HIT: Scott Becker has been the leader of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum for more than 30 years, so many people will not remember a time when Becker was not at the museum’s helm. Becker has been an indefatigable advocate for the Chartiers Township museum, which has a collection of more than 50 electric railway cars, a new welcome and education center, exhibits that explain the trolley era and more. This week, it was announced that Becker will be retiring as of May 31, and Jeanine DeBor, the current deputy director, will take the helm. Becker’s long tenure has seen significant increases in both volunteers and visitors. Michael Kendrick, the museum’s president, said in a news release, “Scott’s leadership has been the driving force behind the museum’s success. His outreach as an ambassador for the museum leaves a legacy that will ensure the story of the trolley era will be told to generations to come.”
HIT: The $51.5 billion budget proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday has one fairly small slice that lawmakers from both parties should approve – $50 million for a statewide housing repair fund that allows eligible homeowners to make necessary repairs to their dwellings, such as replacing windows, mending broken roofs or making them more energy-efficient. The fund started in 2022, with an infusion of $125 million in federal pandemic relief funds, but requested additional funding was not included in the budgets approved in 2023 or 2024. About 25% of the Pennsylvania housing stock that is being used was built before 1940, so the need for the program is there. We hope it gets the necessary funding this time around.
MISS: Around this time five years ago, COVID-19 was starting to circulate through the United States and, by mid-March 2020, the lockdowns that would lead many of us to hunker down in our homes for the next year or so were starting. When it comes to viruses circulating through the United States right now, there is good news and bad news. First, the good news: We’re in the midst of what amounts to the best winter so far when it comes to COVID-19, The New York Times reported this week. Hospitalization and death rates are lower compared to this time last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and epidemiologists believe the number of variants will start to decline as COVID-19 “matures.” The bad news, though, is that other viruses are circulating aggressively through the country right now. Rates of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus and norovirus – the latter of which we all know in shorthand as the “stomach bug” – have been high. We still have almost five weeks of winter left if Punxsutawney Phil is to be believed, so keep washing hands and being safe.