Cheers & Jeers
Cheers: We salute state Rep. Pam Snyder, who last week announced plans to retire when her term expires at the end of November. The only current Democratic representative or senator in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, Snyder, 66, of Jefferson, said the deaths of several people close to her – including her cousin, Richard Trumka, who was president of the powerful AFL-CIO union until his death in August – prompted her decision to spend more time with family and friends. “I lost some people who were very close to me. You just start to realize how short life is,” Snyder said. “I just felt the time was right and I don’t want to put my family through another campaign season.” We thank Snyder, who was elected in 2012 to represent the state’s 50th District in the General Assembly, for her years of service.
Cheers: Kudos to the Laurel Highlands boys basketball team for wrapping up an undefeated regular season with a 21-0 record. The Mustangs are the first Fayette County boys basketball team to have a perfect regular season since the 1993 Laurel Highlands team went 23-0. This year’s Mustangs were seeded No. 1 in the WPIAL Class AAAAA playoffs and hosts a first-round game Monday against Woodland Hills.
Cheers: Thanks to a $1.1 million grant from the state, Fayette County will be able to provide free high-speed broadband access to extremely underserved areas. School closures mandated by the pandemic underscored how poor internet access created educational disparity for students. State Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, said, “Our area’s poor internet translated into learning barriers for students because they were unable to access the remote learning classroom as students in other parts of the state would easily be able to do.” The $1.1 million grant is part of $14.2 million in Community Development Block Grant-CARES Act funding distributed throughout the state.
Cheers: The news appears to be positive on the coronavirus front as cases continue to drop in Fayette County and across the region. Cases have decreased significantly in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties since early January, when the seven-day averages reached the highest point of the pandemic, according to statistics compiled by the state Department of Health. Let’s hope that the trend downward continues in the days and weeks ahead.
Cheers: The Flashlight Drags racing events are coming back to the Greene County Airport. Greene commissioners and the county recreation department recently announced that the event will be back for five dates later this year. The street-legal races, which start with a flashlight signal, feature cars and trucks that drag down the 1/8-mile airport runway. The racing events have been offered annually at no cost to the county since 2007, and have been a wildly popular attraction for drivers and spectators alike. We commend local officials for continuing the tradition, and for working diligently to bring recreational activities for residents.