Wows and Scowls
June 6, 2003 Scowl: At the risk of unleashing the pen of motorcyclists nationwide, we will reiterate our stance that repealing the state’s helmet law is unwise. It seems likely this time around that enough legislators are behind a movement to repeal the 35-year-old helmet law, and the governor plans to OK this deadly folly. Motorcyclists would have you believe that it is their heads to do with as they please and that the government shouldn’t force them to protect it. The same argument could be advanced for all drivers and passengers in autos who are required by law to wear safety belts. Yet, caravans aren’t on their way to Harrisburg to fight for the right to be thrown through windshields in minor collisions. Further, they claim, helmets are not required to meet any standards that would stand up in crash tests. We would encourage them to petition the government to require this rather than to lift a law that works. According to statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, unhelmeted motorcyclists are 29 percent less likely to survive a crash and 40 percent more likely to die from a head injury.
Charles Umbenhauer, lobbyist for the 7,000-member Pennsylvania Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, in an Associated Press report, said, “Common sense tells you, if you’re traveling 60, 65 miles per hour, and you’re involved in a serious motorcycle accident, a helmet isn’t going to do anything but allow you to have an open-casket funeral.”
Yes, but common sense also tells you, if you’re involved in a low-speed accident, which occur more often, a helmet makes a difference between a minor scrape and a deadly encounter.
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Scowl: Remember the AWOL Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas last month rather than be forced to vote on a Republican-redistricting plan? You might recall that the Republicans sent the Texas Rangers after them to enforce a statute that makes it a crime for a lawmaker to shirk his duties. Only, the Rangers needed a little help. It seems the powers of the federal government’s Homeland Security Department to search for one lawmaker’s plane. But as to how the Rangers and the feds went about tracking errant Democrats, no one knows for sure as the records were shredded. The Texas Department of Public Safety claims it destroyed the records and photographs because federal regulations prohibit it from keeping intelligence information that is not part of a criminal case. While Americans are led to believe the federal government and its new civil-liberties-bending laws are aimed at stopping terrorists, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said his office investigated whether the FBI and U.S. marshals could be used to help round up the Democratic state legislators.
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Wow: May the sun shine warmly upon Dawson this weekend as the Tri-Town Historical Society hosts the 11th annual homecoming celebration. It’s an opportunity for folks who live or used to live in the Dawson area to gather for good food, good entertainment and even better company.
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Wow: Congratulations to Ray Koffler, owner of Tru-Copy Printing in Brownsville, who will be honored this year during the Greater Brownsville Chamber of Commerce dinner-dance river cruise. Koffler, a Uniontown resident, has devoted many hours of talent and sweat toward the betterment of Brownsville. He helped to establish a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League, was involved in the Dunlap Creek cleanup to create a linear park and the development of a rail and river transportation museum.
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Scowl: One of the selling points that the county made when instituting a reassessment of all properties was that homeowners could be assured that taxing bodies couldn’t reap a substantial benefit, at least in the first year. Apparently, though, the stipulation that school districts couldn’t raise taxes more than 10 percent is easy to get around. The Belle Vernon Area School District won court approval to exceed the ceiling, and now the Southmoreland School District wants the same.
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Wow: A gathering Sunday will celebrate members of the 2003 high school classes who excelled at both academics and athletics. The scholar athletes were chosen by their school and will each receive a scholarship through a program sponsored by the Herald-Standard and Davis & Davis law firm. This is one of our favorite programs that demonstrates the stellar achievements by our youth. Those honored include Cassandra Crilly and Matthew Trump of Albert Gallatin, Jenna Jackson and Josh Crable of Brownsville, Heather Rulli and Cory Hixon of Connellsville; Vanessa Myers and John Puall of Frazier; Katlyn Andyjohn and Jordan White of Geibel, Michol Monaghan and Will Ashton of Laurel Highlands, and Scarlett Graham and Adam Muzika of Uniontown.