Hits and Misses
As the pandemic has unfolded over the last year, many business owners have been surprised to find they were not going to receive any compensation from their insurance providers for business interruption, despite the fact that the policies for which they had paid hefty premiums allegedly covered such events. In response, state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, have introduced legislation that would have insurance companies pay some of these claims. Advocates within the insurance companies say they would be ground into insolvency if they had to pay claims from all the bars and restaurants that were forced to close for months on end. But the legislation proposed by Snyder and Kenyatta would reimburse insurance companies if they paid the claims. Operating a bar or restaurant is a tough business, as Snyder pointed out at a Tuesday press conference in Harrisburg, and the owners of these establishments should get at least some of what they paid for.
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment 2021 was released by the Wolf administration, and what the report reveals is sobering. By 2050 or thereabouts, Pennsylvania could be almost 6 degrees warmer overall than it is now. That may not seem like much, but that would lead to more days over 90 degrees, heavier rainfall that could prompt flooding, put the commonwealth’s ecosystems, wildlife and forests in danger, and damage Pennsylvania’s $9.2 billion agricultural sector. While some still might be inclined to dismiss climate change as a tree-hugging fantasy or not that big of a deal, the report underscores the urgent necessity of reducing greenhouse gas emissions so Pennsylvania can be habitable for future generations.
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Arden had a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for its new 21,000-square foot education and welcome center, and once it’s completed, it will expand educational programming and offer new opportunities for special events and new exhibits. It’s the product of a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign designed to enhance one of the major tourist draws of Washington County. If an expanded Pennsylvania Trolley Museum brings more visitors to the area, it will also help boost the local economy, which will be good news for all county residents.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced this week that capacity limits on outdoor events, theaters, restaurants and other public places will end on Memorial Day weekend, and time will tell whether this will be just what the doctor ordered or cause an increase in coronavirus cases. Like other governors, he has also adopted a carrot-and-stick approach when it comes to the mask mandate that has raised the ire of so many of his opponents. Wolf said that the mask mandate will be lifted once 70% of Pennsylvania adults are vaccinated. Right now, a little more than 30% of the commonwealth’s adults have been vaccinated, and about half are partially vaccinated. Getting shots in the arms of the remaining 20% will mean convincing some of those who are reluctant to be vaccinated, or are procrastinating. Dr. Amash Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert, told the Tribune-Review, “I think it is something to aim for. I think by tying the ending of the mask mandate to a metric like that – it kind of shows people what a post-pandemic world could look like and what the benefit of a high vaccination level would be.”