Hits and Misses
HIT: While we clearly have a dog in the fight, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made the right call on Tuesday when it turned away an eleventh-hour bid by California University of Pennsylvania to keep secret records it has from the Observer-Reporter. The records in question pertain to donations from Manheim Corp. made to the university’s foundation a decade ago. Cal U. is now suing Manheim and other defendants involved in the construction of a parking garage on campus that partially collapsed just six years after it opened. As Melissa Melewsky, a counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, put it: “This information is relevant because businesses contract with government agencies to perform work paid for with public funds, and public access to donor information can help prevent impropriety in the contracting process.” We look forward to seeing the relevant documents soon.
HIT: Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour, also the federal minimum, for a decade. That’s lower than all the states around it, including Ohio ($8.55) and West Virginia ($8.75). However, it looks like the commonwealth’s workers could soon be getting a raise. Gov. Tom Wolf has negotiated a compromise with Senate Republicans that would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9.50, and take it to that amount in increments up to 2022. While Wolf has wanted the minimum wage to go up to $12, a spokesman said “this would represent a significant step towards that goal.” Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives should support this reasonable compromise and give a boost to the state’s workers.
HIT: Once the day of the week when most things were shut down except for churches, Pennsylvanians now go shopping on Sundays, watch sports, and can even take care of banking at some locations. So, it makes sense that residents of the commonwealth should also be allowed to hunt on Sundays. Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to sign a measure that will allow Sunday hunting one day during rifle deer season, one during the statewide archery deer season and one day that will be left to the discretion of the Game Commission. Sunday hunting has been outlawed in Pennsylvania since the 1800s, and supporters of it say it is a way to interest young people who might otherwise be too busy to hunt. It also is a necessary concession to modern realities.
HIT: Most of us wish we could reach the 100-year mark, but few of us actually do. The 2010 census reported that the number of Americans who made it to 100 was 0.0173%. Art Ellis is one of the lucky ones. The Upper St. Clair resident and longtime volunteer at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Arden turned 100 on Nov. 15, and continues to volunteer at the museum. His fascination with trolleys and trains stretches back to his youth in Vermont, and he explained in a story that appeared in the Observer-Reporter Tuesday that his volunteer work helps him “retain some purpose in life.” According to Scott Becker, the trolley museum’s executive director, he is the museum’s resident “gizmologist,” who can come up with novel solutions to vexing mechanical problems. Hopefully Ellis will be able to enjoy many more days volunteering at the museum.