Cheers & Jeers
Cheers: A sports-centered program implemented by Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania has become a new way to coach young women about the importance of healthy relationships. Coaching Girls Beyond the Game has been adopted at schools in Fayette and Greene counties. The free program works with teens to prevent dating violence and sexual assault among female athletes. DVSSP statistics indicate that 1 in 3 teens will experience some form of dating abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional or digital. Connellsville’s softball coach John Burd said his athletes have been receptive to the program, engaging in pre-practice lessons about domestic violence and opportunities for women. There are 25 school districts in DVSSP’s coverage area, which also includes Washington County. We hope all decide the implement the program in the future. Education and open communication are key in preventing abuse.
Cheers: Kudos to Fayette County’s young artists and writers for their exemplary work recently honored at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards of Southwestern Pennsylvania, held virtually last month at California University of Pennsylvania. This year, students in grades 7 through 12 submitted 407 pieces of writing and art for the regional competition. The art judges awarded 19 gold keys, 27 silver keys and 63 merit awards to high school students. Middle school students were awarded 5 gold keys, 5 silver keys and 10 merits. Nine gold keys were awarded to the writers at the high school level. The judges also awarded 68 silver keys, and 60 merit awards. Middle school writers received 3 golds, 22 silvers and 32 merit awards. California University of Pennsylvania has been the home of this Scholastic program since 2009.
Cheers: Voting is serious business, but there can be some fun attached to it, as poll workers at the Monongahela Fire Hall have demonstrated for the last 16 years. Amy Mihalic, the judge of elections there, has created a theme for every election to create a little levity for poll workers, and this year it was the tropics. On Tuesday, poll workers wore tie-dye shirts and leis and sipped refreshments from plastic coconut cups. Mihalic explained, “It makes voting a cheerful event again with the way the world has become. We had to bring some fun back. How can you be in a bad mood when you come in and see these smiling faces?”
Jeers: U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and the third-ranking member of the House’s GOP caucus, has lately been trying to garner attention with a series of incendiary social media posts, one of which has echoed the racist “great replacement” theory that motivated the gunman in the Buffalo, N.Y., mass shooting last weekend. Stefanik also unleashed an intemperate tweet calling Democrats “pedo grifters.” Perhaps taking the cake, though, is her suggestion that migrants at the southern border be denied infant formula during the national shortage. Let that sink in – she is suggesting that children, who came to America through no fault of their own, be denied sustenance. U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, responded, “Do we just starve these babies? The parents are locked up, they can’t go shop for an alternative. So you are asking the government to deliberately starve children?” No one should take Stefanik seriously the next time she portrays herself as a defender of “family values.”