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Do more than wear pink this October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Why should you care? Because had it not been for the early detection campaign’s inception 40 years ago, a loved one – your mother, sister, wife or maybe even you yourself – might not have been around to read this. Originally a weeklong push to promote screening and routine mammograms, the observance morphed into a 31-day drive to bolster funding for research and treatment, as well as garner support for survivors and honor those whose lives have been lost to the disease. The color pink came to be associated with breast cancer in the ...

Local media binds our community

One day last month, newspaper stories shined a light on the troubles, triumphs and transformations happening in communities across Pennsylvania. In Erie, readers followed fundraising efforts to save an injured dog named Dopey. In Harrisburg, people gathered at a vigil for a teenager whose life was cut short. Philadelphia buzzed after a hard-fought Eagles win and as the Phillies closed in on the National League East title. In Sharon, a father confronted the sentencing of the per- son who killed his son. And in Greater Hazleton, plans emerged for the region’s largest data ...

Children have right of way — not motorists

Right-thinking people of Pennsylvania have to be wondering whether the study associated with obtaining a driver’s license in this state has begun being regarded as something that doesn’t really matter — that the information presented is part of a lame exercise worthy of being forgotten quickly. Does Pennsylvania really have so many drivers who don’t know what blinking red lights on a school bus mean? Then there’s the obvious follow-up question: Does Pennsylvania really have so many drivers ignorant of the potential costs associated with the illegal practice — in human ...

Vape shop regulations need to be tightened

Do we need a vape shop on every street corner? They seem to be popping up with the almost magical overnight frequency of mushrooms or Starbucks locations. If a closed business is too small to host a Spirit Halloween, the space has a good chance of becoming a vape shop in short order. But are those always the best spots? While some businesses can be barred from certain locations by zoning, the relatively new vape shop category might slip between regulations that aren’t quite as up-to-date. There’s a question of whether that would need to be updated. Cigarettes, the predecessor ...

Violence itself is never well aimed

Given the amount of attention focused on gun violence, it is worth noting violence itself is not so well aimed. A gun can be expertly targeted. A good hunter, for instance, wants to be as accurate as possible. He doesn’t just point toward the woods and have faith he will hit a deer; he wants to hit a specific deer. This isn’t fishing where you drop a line and hope for the best. But violence — yes, even gun violence — is not a sharpshooter’s rifle. Violence is a bomb that explodes in every direction at one time. It may hit its intended target, but the shockwaves and ...

Trump suggests possible U.S. return to Afghanistan

For nearly 20 years, the Bagram Air Base stood as the sprawling symbol of American power in Afghanistan and as the heart of the long U.S. military intervention there. The Biden administration secretly evacuated the base on July 1, 2021, a few weeks ahead of its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Afghan army left in control of the base surrendered to the Taliban. Now, President Donald Trump says he wants Bagram back. “We gave it to them for nothing,” he said in London on Sept. 18. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. … We’re trying to get it back because they need ...