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Pandemic lessons our communities must never forget

In January 2020, nothing stood out to me when reading the BBC News article, “China pneumonia outbreak: Mystery virus probed in Wuhan.” Not even when I read the second sentence, “A total of 44 cases have been confirmed so far, 11 of which are considered ‘severe.’” In retrospect, the news was eerily similar to the now famous 1981 New York Times article with the headline, “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” I was too young to read the New York Times in 1981, but I’ve spent a lot of time the last 20 years thinking about how different the world would be if that early ...

A recent visit to the mall — but not just any mall

No stay in Be’er Ya’akov is complete without many visits to the local mall. Now this not the Mall of America, the King of Prussia Mall, or anything like a mall in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. This is the Be’er Ya’akov Mall! My first project was to drop off two pairs of pants to be shortened. The best place to buy cargo workpants is the hardware store. After making my purchase at the hardware store the other day, under my wife’s close supervision, it was time to bring the pants into the tailor at the mall. My daughter, Kaila, warned me that, “they don’t speak English ...

No more Evusheld — now what?

It’s been three years since COVID-19 decided to rear its ugly head and have an everlasting impact on the world. For some, family members died as a result of the severity of the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. For others, it was a true test of surviving what seemed to be un-survivable. Then there are the people that have pre-existing medical conditions making them immunocompromised and the people who became immunocompromised because of COVID. Some were lucky and didn’t get the infection or did so with little to no effect on their health. As most of us know, various medical treatments ...

Mandatory death sentences for murdering police

On Feb. 18, 2023, the life of a Temple University police officer was violently and deliberately taken by a young man who shot the officer multiple times in the face and torso. The perpetrator then proceeded to attempt to rob the officer and take his firearm. Officer Christopher David Fitzgerald, the son of two law enforcement officers, was just 31 years old. He left behind a wife and four children. Unfortunately, in this commonwealth, we are seeing ever-increasing attacks on law enforcement. Just since the start of this year — in less than two months — there have been seven ...

Too much energy regulation

On average, electric bills for Pennsylvanians are up 73 percent since 2020. The increases range from 55% in east (for PECO customers) to 100% in central Pennsylvania (for PPL customers). Natural gas prices have seen dramatic spikes. With two-thirds of our commonwealth’s homes heated by natural gas, it’s no surprise Pennsylvanians’ heating bills are way up. Our lower-income families are disproportionately more at risk of missing payments. Aid is available, but it’s not enough to outweigh price increases. When our commonwealth is the number two exporter of energy in the nation ...

Many small steps take medical research on COVID-19 a long way

Even those who escape the infection suffer during a pandemic like the one we are still living through. Families have lost loved ones, people have lost jobs or worked from home, students have lost personal interactions with teachers and classmates. We are all tired of the disruptions, the isolation, the adjustments, and the seemingly endless flood of warnings, requirements, instructions, and recommendations. We just want it to be over! Unfortunately, it isn’t. Case rates and deaths are lower than a year ago, but we are still losing 400 or more people a day in the U.S., and 2022 will ...