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The nature of unexpected miracles

Oma doesn’t seem to recognize me anymore. Sometimes, when I write down my name, she’ll repeat it. I’m not sure though she understands who “Dani” is. She’s told me she doesn’t know me. She actually doesn’t speak much. Only very rarely, just a word here and there. She sits in a wheel-chair and needs help with pretty much everything - except for eating and reading. Yes, she can still eat alone. And boy, does she eat! Every time I visit her, she spoons away. Amazingly, she still doesn’t need reading glasses either. When I write, her blue eyes will read along as the words ...

Farm leaders applaud state’s aggressive action against avian flu

HARRISBURG -- Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) took the threat of avian flu head-on at a town hall at the 109th annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, saying that as highly pathogenic avian influenza spreads to dairy in other states, his administration would remain proactive and aggressive in establishing a nation-leading surveillance-testing system for milk at the processor level. “Because of our aggressive approach to testing and quarantine plans, we successfully reduced the threat of avian flu and haven’t had a positive test after taking over 10,000 milk samples,” he said. Dan Hougentogler, ...

New year, new taxes in Pennsylvania

The new year is always a great opportunity to shed vices like smoking and binge eating. For state and local lawmakers, their guilty pleasure tends to involve overspending and sticking taxpayers with the bill. If Pennsylvania lawmakers thought to quit this dirty habit in 2025, they are off to a bad start. Four of Pennsylvania’s five most populous counties can expect increased property taxes. From Cumberland County’s modest 4% hike to Lackawanna’s whopping 33% tax increase, more than 5 million Pennsylvanians will pay higher county taxes in 2025. Allegheny County will see the ...

President Carter’s legacy was hardly positive

Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States who held office from 1977 to 1981. His four years were a tumultuous failure. High prices, Iran’s holding of American hostages, a devastated economy, and a bungling foreign policy characterized the President’s term. The President may be best known for his 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. The peace treaty was a one-sided arm twisting of Israel. Egypt had attempted to destroy Israel from 1948 onward. When the Peace Treaty was signed which President Carter brokered, Israel had to give up its safety barrier which was the Sinai ...

Vaccines are still our best protection against infection

With the coming of a new year—and a new administration—there have been unsettling indications that some long-standing public health policies and evidence-based healthcare recommendations may be weakened or abandoned altogether by newly appointed directors of major federal departments overseeing health, medical research, and Medicare/Medicaid. Regarding well-established preventive care measures—including the routine administration of childhood and adult vaccines—you should be armed with facts before being sold on plans to disrupt and eliminate mandatory immunization requirements ...

Slowdown likely without policy shifts

The Federal Reserve lowered the target for the federal funds rate by another quarter point last week while signaling fewer rate cuts in 2025 than previously anticipated. This approach aligns with the Fed’s dual mandate to promote price stability and support the labor market. Headline inflation has accelerated in recent months, and a strong economy has left room for further price growth. Reflecting this, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury has risen nearly 100 basis points since the first rate cut in September. However, with inflation already below the median FOMC member ...