Cheers and Jeers
Associated Press
Cheers: Cheers to Belle Vernon junior Jack Edwards for claiming victory at the Fayette County Coaches Association Golf Invitational on Sept. 20 at Duck Hollow Golf Club. Edwards shot a 1-under par 69 to finish one stroke ahead of Geibel Catholic’s Mike Miller and Frazier’s Dylan Keilbach, who both carded an even-par 70. Keilbach also finished second last year. Edwards shot even-par 35 on the front nine and a 1-under 34 on the back, accumulating four birdies, three bogeys and 11 pars during his round. Uniontown’s Brody Schiffbauer and Brownsville’s Ben Vojacek tied for fourth with a 72, Laurel Highlands’ Tyler Cook was sixth with a 73, Connellsville’s Ethan Porreca placed seventh with a 74 and Connellsville’s Derek Routzahn, Geibel’s Seth Dolan, and Belle Vernon’s Seth Tomalski each shot 75 to tie for eighth. The top 10 golfers earned all-county honors.
Cheers: Sometimes it can be hard to pin a precise reason on why crime rates rise or fall. When crime tumbled in the 1990s, for instance, some criminologists theorized that it was as simple as baby boomers aging out of the years when they would be most prone to committing crime. Others said it was due to harsher punishments being meted out. In the here and now, though, we can assume that falling crime rates are due to the subsidence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that trend has continued according to numbers that were released this week. According to the FBI, murders were down nationally by 11.6% in 2023 compared to the year before, which is the steepest drop since the agency began compiling crime statistics more than 60 years ago. Incidents of rape also fell by 10%, and preliminary numbers for 2024 show the trend continuing. Crime might increase in some places due to specific local problems, but the FBI’s report contradicts politicians who assert that crime is rampant in America.
Cheers: Though the number of centenarians has been rising over the last couple of decades, very few Americans live to be 100. According to the Pew Research Center, just .03% of us are 100 or older. On Tuesday, the United States will gain an additional 100-year-old when former president Jimmy Carter joins their ranks. In early 2023, it was announced that Carter was entering hospice care, and it was widely assumed that his death was imminent, leading to a flood of tributes and retrospective looks at Carter’s time in the White House, which a couple of generations of Americans are too young to remember. In the four decades since Carter was overwhelmingly defeated in his reelection bid by Ronald Reagan, he has won kudos for being a model ex-president. Into his 90s, Carter was building homes through Habitat for Humanity, and the center he operates in Atlanta has worked to eradicate guinea worm disease and has worked to resolve conflicts and promote development in poorer nations. Carter is reaching the century mark at a moment of rancor and division, and something he once said is worth considering: “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”