Cheers & Jeers
Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks Oct. 12 during a campaign event at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami.
Nikko Griffin, left, and Tyra Patterson, call out to arriving voters in the parking lot of the Hamilton County Board of Elections during early in-person voting in Cincinnati, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. They urge people to vote for different issues, including Issue 2, which would allow adult-use sale, purchase, and possession of cannabis for Ohioans who are 21 and older. They also pass out Hamilton County Democratic Party sample ballots. Ohioans will decide Nov. 7, on whether to legalize recreational marijuana, but people on both sides of the issue say more hangs in the balance than simply decriminalizing the drug.
Cheers: Kudos to the California Area High School football team for earning its first WPIAL playoff victory since 2017. The Trojans, behind the strong running of seniors Jake Layhue and Spencer Petrucci, demolished Jeannette, 44-6, last week to advance to this Friday蘑菇视频 Class A quarterfinals against Bishop Canevin at Norwin High School. Quarterback Layhue ran for 145 yards, two touchdowns and three 2-point conversions, while running back Petrucci rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns and also returned a kickoff for a TD. California is now 10-1.
Jeers: President John F. Kennedy had faith in science and American ingenuity. He promised in a speech at Rice University in 1962 that 鈥渨e choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.鈥� His nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., doesn鈥檛 seem to share that same conviction. Out on the hustings in his oddball independent presidential campaign, the younger Kennedy vowed that if he makes it all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he will ask the National Institutes of Health to halt research on infectious diseases and turn their attention instead to chronic conditions like diabetes. Kennedy is, of course, a notorious opponent of vaccines, and he believes researchers and pharmaceutical companies are motivated solely by profit. That contention is not backed by evidence and is an insult to researchers who tirelessly study infectious diseases. Kennedy may want to take a 鈥渂reak鈥� from studying infectious diseases, but they won鈥檛 be taking a break from us. His odds of actually being elected president are infinitesimal, but Kennedy蘑菇视频 remarks show just how dangerous he would be in the Oval Office.
Jeers: A couple of thoughts on the off-year election that happened on Tuesday: First, turnout was predictably dismal, with 39% of registered voters casting ballots in Washington County and 37% in Fayette County. That means more registered voters sat on the sidelines than participated in the elections of county commissioners, school board members and a host of other vital positions. And another thought: No one should want to be the homeowner who still has Halloween decorations up in the middle of November, or has Christmas decorations lingering on Super Bowl Sunday. The same idea should hold for candidates and political parties who planted signs along many a road in advance of the election. In most years, candidates are pretty good about getting their signs out of sight after ballots are cast, but inevitably some signs sit by the road for days, weeks or even months after an election is finished. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation notes that campaigns are responsible for removing signs 鈥渋mmediately after the election is over.鈥� So, if you鈥檙e a candidate or part of a campaign and there are still signs out there, get 鈥檈m down.
Cheers: On Tuesday, Ohio became the latest of Pennsylvania蘑菇视频 neighbors to legalize marijuana for recreational use thanks to voters approving a ballot initiative to tax, regulate, and license those who would sell it. Ohio is now the 24th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Now, the only state bordering Pennsylvania that has not made marijuana legal is West Virginia, and Pennsylvania itself is lagging behind. When will it happen here? Hard to say. It seems inevitable that it will. A poll by CBS News last year found widespread support for it among the commonwealth蘑菇视频 voters, and bills are pending in Harrisburg that would make it happen. But previous efforts have gone nowhere due to Republican opposition. Perhaps the possibility of losing out on the tax revenue that would come from legalized pot will finally break the logjam.
[gallery_header ids=鈥�858587,858592鈥砞