Cheers & Jeers
Courtesy of Frito-Lay
Courtesy of Frito-Lay
The new Cracker Jill icon decorates packages of the iconic snack at baseball parks nationwide this season.
Observer-Reporter
In 2007, Pennsylvania honored the late August Wilson with an official historical marker in front of his Bedford Avenue home.
Mike Jones
Debris from inside the Greene County Airport is discarded in a dumpster in this February photo. A fire in the airport鈥檚 radio room on March 24, 2021, has left the building closed for the past year.
Cheers: After more than a year, it seems that there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel for reopening a district judge鈥檚 office and a restaurant at the Greene County Airport. A March 24, 2021, fire in the radio room led to smoke and water damage that shuttered both. Before repairs could begin, county officials learned the outdated schematics had to be redrawn. Additionally, the building needed to be rewired and its duct work upgraded. Recently, however, the commissioners received a nearly $400,000 insurance settlement that will allow a restoration company to come in and finish work. In the coming months, Magisterial District Judge Glenn Bates will move back from his temporary office at the courthouse, and The Airport Restaurant is expected to reopen, commissioners said. That鈥檚 good news for both the popular eatery and for Bates, who said the cramped working conditions haven鈥檛 been ideal.
Cheers: The late playwright August Wilson has loomed large over the Pittsburgh cultural landscape for 40 years, but there has not been a permanent exhibit on his life and work available for the public to see until this week. Starting Saturday, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown Pittsburgh will open a 3,600-square-foot gallery space with artifacts, audio recordings and other items that will illuminate Wilson鈥檚 creativity and the issues of race, family and community that appear in acclaimed works like 鈥淔ences鈥� and 鈥淛oe Turner鈥檚 Come and Gone.鈥� For anyone who is curious about exploring the work of Wilson, this exhibit is an excellent place to start. His widow, Constanza Romero-Wilson, said, 鈥淧ittsburgh鈥檚 Hill District and its people had a profound impact on my late husband鈥檚 writing, and the universality of his characters who call for racial justice continues to speak to audiences around the world today.鈥�
Jeers: In his U.S. Senate race, Conor Lamb has been trying to convince Pennsylvania Democrats in advance of next month鈥檚 primary election that he would be more electable in the fall than his main competitor, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. But Lamb鈥檚 campaign has failed to gain much traction, and has committed some unforced errors. First, his campaign employed a consultant who had served time in federal prison for tax evasion, and a former Philadelphia city council member who has been convicted on fraud charges turned up at a Lamb event. Then, last week, a super PAC supporting Lamb had to withdraw a television ad that claimed Fetterman is 鈥渁 self-described democratic socialist,鈥� when Fetterman has never described himself that way. One strategist told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the super PAC 鈥渟hot itself in the foot鈥� with the ad, and the Fetterman campaign called it 鈥渄esperate, and frankly sad.鈥� With missteps like these, Lamb is demonstrating not electability, but that his campaign is not hitting on all four cylinders.
Cheers: Cracker Jack has been a ballpark staple for decades, and the cartoon image of Sailor Jack has graced boxes of the snack since 1893, when it debuted at the Chicago World鈥檚 Fair. Now, almost 130 years later, a note for equality has been sounded with bags of Cracker Jill being introduced to the marketplace. Frito-Lay North America has announced that bags of Cracker Jill will be available for a $5 donation to the Women鈥檚 缅北禁地 Foundation and at professional ballparks. Cracker Jill is being introduced to honor women who break down barriers in sports, and the special-edition bags will feature five different and diverse Jills. Joe Ravasio, a retired health and physical education teacher in the Ringgold School District, told us this week, 鈥淚 taught P.E. and, having been head coach of girls basketball for 24 years, that鈥檚 a great thing. It鈥檚 uplifting, you know, for young girls.鈥�