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Mothers and babies and the ‘triple-demic’ of COVID, flu and RSV

As summer moseyed toward fall, headlines warned of a potential “triple-demic”: COVID-19, flu, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). COVID hospitalizations and deaths were at their lowest since the pandemic began for most of the summer, but the numbers were creeping up. Flu and RSV rates were unusually low in the first two years of the COVID pandemic, largely due to isolation and other COVID precautions, but were rising again as the pandemic ebbed and most of us returned to our normal activities. COVID-19, flu, and RSV are respiratory infections caused by viruses. Healthy people ...

David vs. Goliath in Harrisburg

It’s a tale as old as time in Harrisburg, but for those who read about games of skill for the first time an obvious question often remains; how is this different from gambling? In simplest terms, skill games are interactive, where, with hand-eye coordination and a little intellectual acuity, the player can affect the outcome on every play. Games can be won by the player’s own skill. On the other hand, casino and lottery games are won by chance. The player has no input as to the roll of the dice, the cards dealt, or when the roulette wheel stops. Skill games are not found in ...

In print and digital — always local

The Friday night high school football game. Notice of a city council meeting where higher property taxes will be discussed. News of an impending county commissioner election and plans for a Veterans Day parade, the opening of a downtown cafe and the retirement of a beloved police officer. These are the kinds of news events integral to the everyday lives of Pennsylvanians, yet they are also unique to the individual communities we call home. Providing the essential local news and information that can’t be found anywhere else has been the business of community newspapers for ...

We fight the good fight

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This coming week is National Newspaper Week, a time to celebrate newspapers and community journalism as a cornerstone of our democracy and freedom. Thanks to all newspaper readers and advertisers for supporting the good fight.) Mrs. Jordan, an 80-year-old, longtime newspaper subscriber, recently called me to ask what channel the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game would be on. I called her and told her. Not long after, Mr. Benson — a 20-year-old local resident — sent the paper a Facebook message asking when the community’s Grand slam ...

Electric vehicles are not without environmental consequences

Pennsylvania is the country’s third-largest producer of electricity, behind only Texas and Florida. The bulk of our state’s energy comes from coal, gas, and nuclear. Solar, wind, and hydropower account for only 3% of Pennsylvania’s energy production, yet left-wing environmental groups have been attacking the development of our state’s abundant natural resources, saying they pollute the Earth and are the cause of climate change. Earlier this year, the State College-based company EC Power and Flux Power, a battery manufacturer based in San Diego, announced plans to build a ...

The life, wisdom and positive example of a simple farmer

My father-in-law, Glenn Paulhamus, liked to characterize himself as a “simple farmer.” This always appealed to me, because growing up my mother liked to talk about living on a small dairy farm in upstate New York until she was age 15. She talked about what a hard life it was in those days. They had no central heat, but rather they lived by a woodburning stove. “The girls” milked the few cows they had and “the boys,” my mother’s brothers, did “the hard work.” Mom went to school, in the winter, on a horse drawn sleigh, which one time, she recalled, turned over in the ...