Hits and Misses
Being the clerk of courts involves administrative work. It involves filing cases and collecting fines and a host of other mundane duties designed to ensure the judicial system functions smoothly. It’s basically a clerical job. In Washington County, Brenda Davis has turned what should be a humdrum row office into a center of white-hot controversy. Last week, a months-long feud Davis has been carrying on with county commissioners and President Judge John DiSalle boiled over when sheriff’s deputies came to her office to collect juvenile case filings that were stored in her office. She resisted, allegedly slamming shut the door to a vault that contained the files and telling the deputies that she was an elected official and would not comply with the order. Of course, being an elected official does not grant her immunity from following court orders. This whole incident has been nothing but an embarrassment for the whole county.
Well, it’s official – Dr. Mehmet Oz, until very recently an official resident of New Jersey, has become a denizen of the Keystone State and is seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that is open in 2022 following Pat Toomey’s decision to not seek a third term. Oz must figure that his fame as a television physician will be enough for him to triumph in what has proven so far to be a lackluster GOP field. He may well be right. Still, wouldn’t it be preferable to have a U.S. senator who has actually served in elected office before? And wouldn’t it be preferable to have a U.S. senator who has actually been a Pennsylvania resident for at least a couple of years? Since Oz’s only acquaintance with the commonwealth seems to be attending the University of Pennsylvania decades ago, don’t expect him to know much of anything about this part of the state.
Proclaiming that there is a “war on Christmas” has become a seasonal staple as reliable as eggnog and radio stations playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” every hour or so. There is, of course, no war on Christmas, and the reason many people opt to say “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” at this time of year is that there are a lot of holidays bumping up against each other. Right now, Hanukkah is happening. The eight-day festival will end Monday, and this year’s holiday is special for many Jewish families because there are more gatherings on tap this year than last. Wishing other people “Happy holidays” demonstrates respect for the multiplicity of faiths and traditions that have been able to blossom in America.
At this time last year, we all hoped that COVID-19 would largely be behind us by now. But it is, as we well know, stubbornly persisting. In Washington County, the number of average new cases in November was at its highest point since last December. Dr. John Six, chief operating officer of the Washington Health System, said the situation is as dire as it was one year ago and that “we are certainly in a surge right now.” He also noted that 70% of the system’s COVID-19 patients have not been vaccinated, and that younger patients have been sicker and staying in the hospital longer. The only way out of this is for people to exercise caution and, of course, get those shots.