Hits and Misses
Associated Press
Pharmacist Kaitlin Harring administers a Moderna COVID-19 vaccination to 3-year-old Fletcher Pack while he sits on the lap of his mother, McKenzie Pack, at Walgreens pharmacy Monday in Lexington, S.C. Monday marked the first day COVID-19 vaccinations were made available to children under 5 in the United States.
Observer-Reporter
Investigators with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania work at the scene of the house explosion at 100 Park Lane, Washington, in this file photo from July 31, 2019.
Associated Press
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens speaks at the Taney County Lincoln Day event at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Mo., April 17, 2021. The video of Greitens, a GOP Missouri U.S. Senate candidate cocking a gun after calling for a hunt of fellow Republicans who he believes are “RINOs,” or Republicans In Name Only, was scraped off Facebook within a few hours June 20. It remains live, however, on YouTube. You can also still see the video on Twitter, but you can’t retweet it.
A 3-month-old Peters Township baby was found dead in a vehicle last week after being left there for three hours during a brutally hot afternoon. Authorities are investigating the incident, but children being left in hot cars accidentally is something that does, in fact, happen. On average, close to 40 children die in America every year when they are left in hot vehicles, according to the National Safety Council. In many cases, their parents aren’t committing conscious acts of negligence, merely being absent-minded as they multitask throughout busy days. However, there are ways that parents can be reminded that they have children in vehicles. There are apps that can remind parents that children are in their vehicles. Also, major automakers have said that they will place reminder systems in vehicles by 2025. Children dying in hot cars is, thankfully, not all that common, and we hope that these devices will make these incidents even less so.
Columbia Gas will be paying a civil penalty of nearly $1 million to Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) for the explosion of a house on Park Lane in North Franklin Township on July 31, 2019, that rattled much of the Washington area. In the settlement, the utility acknowledges the dire mistakes it made leading up to the accident, including over-pressurizing the house’s pipes and appliances because it did not have a service regulator that would have reduced the pressure to a normal level. It did not have the regulator because the dwelling was not listed by the utility as being affected by pipeline upgrades that were happening around Dewey Avenue at the time. Luckily, no one died as a result of the accident. According to the settlement, “Columbia Gas fully acknowledges the seriousness of the allegations and recognizes the need to prevent future reoccurrences.” To err is human, of course, but the fact that the company made such fundamental mistakes is unsettling.
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who had to resign his seat in the midst of a particularly seamy sex scandal, is attempting a comeback through a bid to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Roy Blunt. A former Navy SEAL, Greitens raised many an eyebrow this week when he released an ad where he said he was hunting “RINO’s” – that is, Republicans In Name Only. In the commercial, Greitens comes bursting into a house holding a shotgun, surrounded by men wielding firearms, using flash grenades and decked in military gear. If the object was to get attention and be an obnoxious troll, mission accomplished. But the ad should make any fair-minded American really queasy. It seems to imply that it’s OK to inflict thuggish violence on those with whom we disagree. Supporters of candidates like Greitens on the right love to portray themselves as “real” Americans, but this goes against our country’s ideals in every way.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, almost 19% of all COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic have occurred among children, and they represented 13% of cases in the week ending June 16. So, it should be a relief to parents and guardians that children from 6 months up to 5 years old are now eligible for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines after the Food and Drug Administration gave its approval last week. Children can be vaccinated either through a three-shot Pfizer regimen or a two-shot Moderna course. The shots are not as strong as those administered to adults. For example, the Moderna vaccine for children is one-quarter of the dose that would go to their parents or grandparents. Appointments are now available in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. Dr. Rafka Chaiban, the chief of pediatrics and director of WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital, told the Observer-Reporter’s Karen Mansfield that the vaccine will make life easier for parents. Their children will not only be receiving crucial protection, but they will also be safer in social settings. “When we protect the health of our kids, we have less anxiety and less decision fatigue regarding attending occasions and events,” he said. “We can say, ‘Now, my kids are vaccinated.'”