Jul 3, 2020 4 min read

In an editorial that appeared in the Sunday edition, we noted that commercial fireworks that can be readily purchased in Pennsylvania can wreak havoc – regulations surrounding their use are flouted, structure fires have resulted from their use, and people on the ground have been injured or killed when a night of celebrating the Fourth of July goes bad. If any additional proof were needed that fireworks should left to the professionals, one need only have read an Associated Press report about the death of a Scranton man last weekend in a fireworks accident. Corey Buckley, 31, was reportedly killed instantly when the commercial firework device he was attempting to set off exploded. Some legislators have discussed the notion of tightening Pennsylvania’s laws surrounding commercial fireworks after loosening them three years ago. How many deaths and injuries, and how much destruction, will it take before they act?

With the coronavirus sufficiently tamed, most of Southwestern Pennsylvania was allowed to enter the green phase of reopening the economy last month. It meant some businesses that had been shuttered would be allowed to reopen and others would be able to increase the number of customers they allow on the premises. But just when it seemed like we might be inching back toward a new, less-stringent normal, Allegheny County officials stopped on-site consumption of alcohol at bars and restaurants because of increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases. Many of the new cases have cropped up among younger people, and have appeared after nights of revelry. Restaurants and bars need to be firm about following guidelines, and patrons need to be similarly diligent about keeping masks on and staying at least six feet away from fellow patrons. And young people need to realize they are not immune to COVID-19. They could also suffer if they end up becoming infected.

It’s become a cliche that 2020 has offered little to cheer about, but fans of baseball have been given a glimmer of hope with the news that Major League Baseball is going to resume play at the end of this month. Sure, it will be a truncated season with only 60 games, and fans will not be allowed in the stands. But it will be baseball and there will be a champion when the leaves are falling. With a 60-game season, it opens up the possibility that teams with little hope of success in a regular, 162-game season, could be competitive if they get hot. Rather than the usual suspects, like the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers, being pegged to win, could this be the year when teams like the Seattle Mariners or, yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates, actually end up rolling to victory?

Ten years ago this week, New York Times columnist Eduardo Porter marked the 70th birthday of Ringo Starr by noting that the idea of one of the Beatles becoming a septuagenarian made it feel “as though youth itself is now 70 years old.” On Tuesday, we’ll have to acclimate ourselves to the idea of an octogenarian Beatle as Starr celebrates his 80th birthday. One of the Beatles reaching that landmark is both joyous and a little unsettling. The Beatles were once at the vanguard of the 1960s youthquake, and now one of them is 80. Starr seems as fit and vital as ever, and is a hardy survivor in a business that has seen too many of its leading lights make premature exits, including former bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison. And, even as time marches inexorably forward, the music that Starr made with the Beatles firmly stands outside of time and trends.