Jul 18, 2025 3 min read

Miss: As the number of measles cases continues to march upward, the rate of protecting children from this preventable disease is falling, prompting medical professionals to issue a plea to parents. “It is concerning that we’re not meeting our goals for having everybody vaccinated, especially the young ones going to kindergarten,” Ashley Ludwig, a family nurse practitioner at WVU Medicine Uniontown Primary Care in Connellsville, told the newspaper this week. The U.S. has reported 1,288 measles cases this year – the highest number in 33 years, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The target vaccination rate for herd immunity is 95%. Locally, that target is being hit in Greene and Washington counties, but in neighboring Fayette, the rate has dipped to 93.3%. Ludwig encouraged parents who are on the fence about vaccinations to talk with their health care provider, and to keep in mind that measles can cause severe illness. “People think their kids are young and healthy and they’ll get natural immunity if they get something like measles, but there are complications that can happen, like encephalitis, or even death, and it’s preventable, it’s a vaccine-preventable disease.”

Hit: We couldn’t resist the urge to send a big birthday shout-out to Nancy Merckle, who took a leap of faith by jumping out of an airplane to celebrate her 90th turn around the sun. “It was fabulous,” the Canonsburg grandmother said of her tandem jump earlier this month. “It was scary in the beginning, but once I got out of the plane and started to free fall, I felt a little more confident. Of course, having that guy on my back helped. I thought, ‘Just don’t let me go.'” A group of about 25 friends and family members were on hand to watch Nancy check off one more item from her bucket list at Skydive Pennsylvania, located near the Grove City Airport in Mercer. Granddaughter Jessie Merckle, great-grandson Troy Wagner, 18, and his mother, Tiffany Wagner, took the leap with her. When not jumping out of planes, Nancy volunteers at Canonsburg Hospital, takes a weekly exercise class and tends to her garden. The spry nonagenarian said she’d indulge in the aerial feat “all over again,” adding, “I was sore the next day, but I’ll take the pain with the fun we had that day. It was exhilarating, and it was fun. It couldn’t have been better.”

Hit: In a picture purr-fect way to celebrate Anthrocon, the furries of Anthrocon came through for Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue, raising more than $89,000 for the McDonald-based cat shelter. Nose 2 Tail was the official charity for this year’s event, held over the Fourth of July weekend at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. “It was so much fun,” said Sandi Eaton, director of the cat rescue organization. “We had people just handing us money all weekend. Our volunteers definitely were blown away by the generosity and kindness of everyone who came along.” Nose 2 Tail had a table at the event where they collected donations and sold merchandise. They also brought along two 7-week-old kittens with special needs, and people could spend $10 to cuddle with them. Nose 2 Tail is still accepting donations online via givebutter.com in hopes of reaching their $100,000 goal.