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Believe in the (political) science

It’s not an understatement to say every Pennsyl­vanian has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands have faced the virus itself, over a million children are not in school and more than 1.5 million workers have lost their jobs as a result of Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown. The governor assures us his decisions are “data-driven,” and that we need to “believe the science” in combating COVID-19. But what exactly is the data driving these decisions? And what is the science we are to believe? Unfortunately, we don’t know. For weeks, Wolf has refused repeated ...

Mountainous divide should be asset

Mountains matter. Mountains always have mattered. Our Appalachian Mountains have been, from our nation’s beginnings, a barrier — for better or worse. The mountains traditionally have delineated the East from the Midwest. The mountains had to be conquered to bring railroads and highways from the eastern part of Pennsylvania to the west. Some families, including mine, have retained European pronunciations of their names for three centuries because they occupied the mountains. Ethnomusicologists looking at Appalachian music in the early 20th century found melodies that were ...

Canada, US relations are strained

MONTREAL — Chalk up another victim to the coronavirus that has swept across the globe: The decades-old amity that tied Canada to the United States in cross-border marriages and commercial relationships, that deepened during World War II, that took the form of three landmark 20th century free-trade agreements, and that burst into full flower when Canada welcomed American jetliners and their passengers to Newfoundland after the 2001 terrorist attacks. These new tensions — flaring now that fear of COVID-19 has gone viral — have swept away the welcome mat that Americans for ...

IU8 responding in time of need

Even though the buildings are closed, school is very much still in session for students in Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Somerset counties. Since Gov. Tom Wolf closed the school buildings on March 13, the 35 school districts in the Intermediate Unit 8 (IU8) four-county region have been hard at work making sure students get their education. School districts are facing significant challenges but overcoming them to make sure kids get an education. “As the Meyersdale Area School District strives to provide continuity of education to our students, the biggest challenge we have faced has ...

What makes seniors more at risk

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in China, we’ve known that older people have the highest mortality rates of anyone should they contract the virus. As the illness has progressed and infected America, we’ve learned in even more detail about this. We now know that 13.4% of patients who are 80 and older die because of COVID-19. Yet those in their 40s only have about 0.3% risk of mortality should they get the virus. The real turning point seems to come between one’s 60s and 70s, where rates double between the decades. Knowing this doesn’t explain why or how this happens. It ...

China’s goal would hurt United States

In the classic play, Dr. Faustus agreed to give Lucifer his life and soul in 24 years in exchange for magical powers in the interim. In our Faustian Bargain with our Lucifer, the Communist Party of China, the U.S. consumer received lower prices on certain imports and certain businesses received greater access to 1.3 billion Chinese consumers. U.S. businesses also agreed to forced technology transfers (disclosing manufacturing processes and trade secrets) to the CPC and to tolerate the theft of USA intellectual property by them as well. All this reduces American competitiveness now and ...