Hits and Misses
Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette via Associated Press
Heinz Field is viewed Monday on the North Shore in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers announced Monday that the NFL football organization has ended its longtime partnership with Heinz and the venue will be known as Acrisure Stadium after the team reached a 15-year sponsorship agreement with the Michigan-based financial tech company.
The further one wades into Ryerson Station State Park’s zero gravity pool, the deeper the water gets. A big, green, twisty slide splashes into the deep end of the pool, and the complex’s on-site spray park adds another element of fun to the water amenity.
Associated Press
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he leaves 10 Downing Street in London, July 6.
The football stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers play has been known as Heinz Field for a little more than two decades. Sure, it’s a corporate name, but it’s a name with deep roots in the region. But that local tie will soon be severed, with the announcement that Heinz Field is becoming Acrisure Stadium. Though Acrisure sounds like an over-the-counter medicine for uncomfortable bodily conditions, it’s actually an insurance brokerage firm based in Grand Rapids, Mich., more than 400 miles from Pittsburgh. Once the new name is attached, Acrisure Stadium will join the list of such other unfortunately named venues as Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater, Smoothie King Center and Talking Stick Resort Arena. One observer on Twitter opined, “Acrisure Stadium replaces Guaranteed Rate Field as the worst venue name in pro sports.”
As we land smack in the middle of hot-weather season, the opening of a new swimming complex last week in Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County is a welcome development. What makes it even better is that it is environmentally friendly. Water in its spray park is reused and the parking lot is covered in a solar canopy. According to Cindy Adams Dunn, the secretary of conservation and natural resources, the energy for the park is solar and it is at net zero in terms of energy consumption. Melody Longstreth, director of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, said, “Ryerson has a place in everyone’s heart in Greene County. … The new technology and the new beginnings that we are seeing here are just outstanding. This is something that is vital to our community. We are in a beautiful, beautiful place.”
Having parties during government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns and promoting an official with a reputation for sexual misconduct seem like piddling scandals in the United States, particularly in light of the revelations of the Jan. 6 committee. But those scandals and others were sufficient to bring down the curtain on the premiership of Boris Johnson in Britain. Members of Johnson’s Conservative Party rose up en masse last week to let their leader know that his shenanigans and prevarications had grown tiresome, and it was time for fresh, less blighted leadership at 10 Downing Street. Some American politicians should take note. Throughout his career, the soon-to-be former prime minister has developed a reputation as an entertainer, and one seemingly incapable of shame. It’s nice to know some of his colleagues have some.
What do you think of when you hear the term “involuntary relocation?” People having to move out of a neighborhood to make way for a highway? Or someone who has to pull up stakes to a less desirable city in a corporate reshuffling? Well, in Texas, some educators believe that “involuntary relocation” is the best way to describe slavery. According to the Texas Tribune, a proposal was made to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery be called “involuntary relocation” in second-grade social studies classes. This comes one year after legislators in Texas approved a law prohibiting the exploration of topics that might make students feel uncomfortable. So, according to this way of thinking, “involuntary relocation” just sounds a little less harsh than “slavery.” Annette Gordon-Reed, a history professor at Harvard University, said the idea was absurd: “Young kids can grasp the concept of slavery and being kidnapped into it,” she said.