Hits and Misses
The parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley were charged with involuntary manslaughter last week for their alleged culpability in the rampage that left four students dead and seven others wounded at Oxford High School, located north of Detroit. Parents are charged infrequently after such incidents, and the case could well be precedent-setting. One chilling detail emerged in the news stories about the 15-year-old Crumbley’s family life – his parents gave him the semiautomatic handgun he used in the shooting as an early Christmas gift. It beggars the imagination that anyone would think giving a teenager a semiautomatic handgun is a good idea, even if that teen is the most happy and well-adjusted on the planet. The elder Crumbleys may or may not be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but they are without a doubt guilty of horrifically bad judgment.
The news has not been good lately when it comes to COVID-19, as case numbers surge around the region and the newly uncovered omicron variant has put everyone on edge. But there may be some good news to report where the latter is concerned. Earlier this week, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci reported that preliminary data about omicron indicated it might generate symptoms that are less severe than other coronavirus mutations. If this proves to be the case after additional testing and analysis, it will indeed be good news. However, more people need to be vaccinated in the United States and around the world to ensure that more lethal variants do not emerge.
In neighboring Ohio, the General Assembly is considering a measure called the Ohio Fairness Act, which would outlaw discrimination in employment, housing or accommodation based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Similar legislation needs to be approved in Pennsylvania. Right now, it is one of 27 states in the country to not have clear-cut laws on the books that prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ community when it comes to where they work or where they can live. Pennsylvania needs to make this law not only to show that it is a fair and open-minded state, but to signal to talented individuals who might consider moving here that they will be welcome, regardless of who they love.
In the three years since the antisemitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the building has been empty, a sad, solemn symbol of horror and grief. But the site will be taking on new life thanks to an infusion of $6.6 million in state funding that will support rebuilding the synagogue. The reimagined site will include spaces for worship and education, and commemorate the 11 congregants who were killed in the attack in October 2018. It also will serve as a new home for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. State Rep. Dan Frankel, a Democrat who represents parts of Pittsburgh, said the funding will allow the site “to become something more – a place of remembrance, healing and education for all.”