Hits and Misses
HIT: When it comes to energy production, the western half of Pennsylvania has been known for oil, coal and, more recently, natural gas. Now, it is putting down a marker in solar energy. As we reported Tuesday, Greene County will soon be the home of one of the largest solar facilities in the Appalachian Basin and, perhaps, all of Western Pennsylvania. West Virginia-based Longview Power is developing a solar field that will contain an estimated 185,000 solar panels in both Greene County’s Dunkard Township and on the other side of the Monongahela River in West Virginia. In fact, one of the reasons Longview Power might have made the investment in the area is the solar renewable energy credits that are available in Pennsylvania. For a region that sometimes clings to its past a little too tightly, it’s great to see this leap forward.
HIT: The number of overdose deaths in Washington County has been dropping over the last couple of years, and it appears likely that will hold in 2019. According to information presented at an Oct. 15 meeting of the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition, there were 32 overdose deaths in the county in the first half of this year. If there is the same number in the second half, there will be 64 overdose deaths in Washington County by the time Dec. 31 rolls around. That will be 10 fewer than in 2018, and 33 fewer than in 2017. Certainly part of this decline can be credited to the widespread availability of naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, and the availability of services in this area dedicated to stopping drug abuse. Of course, we hope the number is even lower in 2020.
HIT: Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died as a result of the opioid epidemic, with Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia being among the states that have been hit hardest. Drug distributors are starting to be held accountable for their role in this calamity, and it was announced Monday that three distributors will be paying Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio $260 million. The settlement was reached in order to avoid a federal trial. The $260 million will be divided between donations to addiction treatment programs and cash payments. This could well serve as a model for how other communities will be compensated. The money will not bring back lives lost, but it is satisfying to see this reckoning start to unfold.
MISS: Along the Tallahatchie River outside Glendora, Miss., there’s a memorial to Emmett Till, the African American teenager who was tortured and lynched in 1955, and whose death brought into sharp focus the brutality of the Jim Crow South. Till is more than deserving of the memorial, which was launched in 2008. What’s heartbreaking, though, is that signs at the memorial site have been consistently subject to vandalism. The first was stolen and tossed in the river, and their replacements were riddled with bullet holes. A fourth sign has been put in place, and it’s made of steel, is over an inch thick, and is apparently bulletproof. It’s commendable that such measures have been taken to protect the memorial, but it’s disheartening that they are necessary in the first place.