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Hospitals should be free from violence

UPMC Memorial in York County is a hospital. A hospital is a place where life or death struggles take place every day. It is usually a cardiac arrest or a stroke or an anaphylactic allergic reaction. It can be a traumatic injury. It might be a gunshot wound. It is not every day that the gunshot wound is inflicted in the hospital. That is what happened Feb. 22. Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz did not go to UPMC Memorial with an illness or a wound. He went with zip ties and a handgun. He took hospital employees hostage. He wounded five people. He killed West York Borough police Officer ...

An editorial here several weeks ago focused on cancer’s link to alcohol and that doctors and researchers currently are studying gut health in their probe of cancer’s causes. “There’s no question we’re missing something” was the comment of a California gastrointestinal oncologist. The doctor was lamenting about the cancer mystery of why cancer rates have fallen for older adults in recent years, but gastrointestinal cancers, across the globe, are increasing among people under 50. Meanwhile, in our Jan. 15 editorial, it was noted that alcohol consumption is considered the ...

Lessen road distractions

In three months, Pennsylvania will be implementing “Paul Miller’s Law,” which prohibits, as a primary offense, any driver from using an interactive mobile device while driving. Enforcement for the new law begins June 5. “The list of potential distractions while driving is nearly limitless. Actions such as adjusting your music or eating a meal on the go might seem harmless, but they are life-threatening when you do them while operating a motor vehicle,” said Highway Safety Network Community Traffic Safety Project Coordinator Mike Tautin. According to PennDOT data, there were ...

Penn State must fulfill its mission

On Sunday afternoon, after 46 hours of dancing and months of fundraising, Penn State celebrated what is the university’s proudest moment each year. The total of money pulled in for THON, an event billed as the largest student-run charity in the world, to fight cancer broke records at $17.7 million. A little less than 46 hours later, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi made another announcement. It did not come with deafening cheers and confetti. It was a letter posted to the university website. Bendapudi’s messages often involve belt-tightening and cuts. This was not ...

When it comes to budget, Rainy Day Fund needs to remain off-limits

We share the concerns of state Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, regarding Gov. Josh Shapiro’s plan to pull money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to fill the gaps in his own spending plan. As Hamm noted in an article in the Feb. 14 edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, the state does not have the prerogative to draw money from the fund at any given time — the money is earmarked for economic downturns. Any time that fund is touched, it must happen only under conditions of a recession or economic downturn, Hamm said. If he tries to do that, as indicated in the proposal to ...

He needed me, but I let him down

The “he” in this case was Rusty, an ornery old mutt who didn’t do the cute doggy things that get clicks on social media videos. He wouldn’t “sit.” He’d rarely lick my face. And if a baby was gurgling nearby, he’d go the other way. But Rusty had two things going for him. He was part Chihuahua, which meant he was small with a cute face. Strangers took him for a puppy even in his advanced years. Rusty tried to set them straight. If someone picked him up the wrong way, he’d growl and clamp his teeth around the person’s arm. But he was human. We communicated on ...