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How South Carolina’s ‘Angel Tree’ was saved from development

When Samantha Siegel’s best friend took her to see an old live oak tree on Johns Island in South Carolina, she had no idea it was about to change her life. Samantha was a college student going through a hard time. Her friend just wanted to get her out of the house for a while. They went to see a tree estimated to be 300-400 years old and known as the “Angel Tree.” It’s 65 feet tall, and it shades approximately 17,000 square feet. When Samantha placed her hand on the tree, “It just filled me with hope and love,” she said, “and it just felt like it was taking all of the ...

It’s time to winterize, together

If you’ve stepped outside lately, you’ve noticed it: the subtle bite in the morning air, the maples tossing their gold onto sidewalks, the distant smell of someone’s first fire of the season. Fall in central Pennsylvania doesn’t sneak up; it announces itself in a swirl of leaves and the sudden urge for an extra blanket. For some, autumn is a season of nostalgia—high school football, the crunch of leaves underfoot, neighbors waving as they rake. For others, it’s a reminder that winter’s not far behind, and neither is that to-do list we all pretend we don’t see. Let’s ...

Are solar farms becoming the new NIMBY?

What do solar farms have in common with fracking, strip clubs, halfway houses and landfills? On the surface, it might be hard to see. Solar farms and fracking couldn’t be more different, with one promoting green energy and the other built on fossil fuels. Adult entertainment might be questionable, but halfway houses are about encouraging recovery from drug addiction or criminal behavior. Landfills are unpleasant but necessary. So where do they all intersect? They are all things people have protested. If they must be allowed, fine, but put them somewhere else. On Tuesday, Derry ...

Data on stock ownership not whole picture

While a Gallup poll this year indicated about 62% of Americans own stocks, the numbers are not quite what they seem. Many people may have retirement money in a 401(k) or sock away savings in an investment account of some kind. Far fewer actually own shares. Federal Reserve data says direct ownership is about 21%. Much of that can be traced to increases in apps that make it easy to buy and sell even the smallest amounts. But financial services company Motley Fool reports the wealthiest 1% of Americans hold 50% of all stock while the bottom 50% hold 1%. That’s a graphic ...

Threats of violence have real impact

Last week, two children were killed when a gunman opened fire during a Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Eighteen others were injured. The next day, police at the University of Pittsburgh sent out a campus-wide alert informing students, faculty and staff that there was an “unconfirmed” report of an armed person at Pitt’s law school in Oakland. The alert was canceled 20 minutes later. Police had determined there was no shooter. In the coming days, several other colleges and universities were also targeted with swatting – fabricated reports of an emergency, ...

Outlaw Iran keeps stonewalling UN inspections

Iran keeps behaving like an outlaw regime. Australia expelled Tehran’s ambassador last week based on intelligence that its government masterminded an attack on a synagogue in Melbourne and a kosher food company in Sydney. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog is receiving enhanced security because of what he calls a threat “from the direction” of Iran. Last Sunday, the Iran-backed Houthis raided the offices of the World Food Program, World Health Organization and UNICEF in Yemen’s capital. Two and a half months after the United States launched airstrikes against ...