Letters: Thank and support EMS agencies, providers; A task for State College mayor, council members

Thank and support EMS agencies, providers

May 16-22 is National EMS Week. This year’s theme –”This is EMS: Caring for Our Communities” – recognizes the EMS practitioner’s dedication to providing high level emergency care throughout our communities, 24/7/365. Whether a medical or trauma emergency, active threat situation, or urgent medical transport for evaluation, EMS is the public health “safety net” ... prepared and equipped to provide the best care available under some of the most strenuous conditions imaginable. EMS providers also take an active role in training our community members on how to appropriately handle medical emergencies and best survive crisis situations when and if encountered.

Irrespective of their level of certification, where they provide services, or their payroll status, all EMS practitioners are dedicated professionals who spend countless hours preparing for and assisting others in their time of need. This past year, not only have they continued to respond to our requests for emergency assistance, they also helped staff COVID and vaccine clinics in support of community pandemic response efforts.

EMS practitioners are our family, friends, and neighbors who make sure they are prepared every day to help you get through that day. Please join me in thanking the EMS agencies and providers who serve your community. Tell them how much you appreciate their commitment and find out how you can best assist them in providing this service.

A task for State College mayor, council members

One of the issues in State College that few candidates for election have addressed is the changing nature of the downtown, whose development continues to nudge it toward becoming a glorified dormitory quad.

The charm of State College has declined as each 12-story student apartment building has gone up. They now bookend the town, adding their shadow to the canyon that has existed in the central portion along Beaver Avenue. Two restaurants were lost in the latest manifestation — the building going up at the corner of Atherton and College which one of the construction workers (without my asking) commented as I walked by, “How do you like the prison?” He referred to the stern, gray facade with almost no setback.

There are fewer reasons to go downtown, despite hard work on the part of many who thanklessly toil to create excitement. But it will become even a harder effort if the current building trend continues, which seems likely as we await yet another hi-rise at College Avenue and Hetzel Street, causing the loss of more locally owned shops.

This is not a complaint against students living in town; they add vibrancy. This is a caution against promulgating a lack of diversity by serving primarily one constituency. And doing so with buildings that lack architectural appeal.

Whoever earns positions as council and mayor, I hope they will work seriously with borough professionals to assess how to keep the downtown a place that long-term residents treasure.

Supporting Leous at a critical time

We are fortunate to have two kind and competent candidates campaigning for mayor in State College.

We are supporting Jim Leous. Jim has been knocking on doors for years, bringing new candidates to our kitchen table, petitions for signatures, and always great conversations about issues.

Like many communities across the country, State College stands at an inflection point, facing many of the same challenges as our country, from the ongoing COVID epidemic and its fallout, to issues of poverty, racial disparities and injustice, to conservation of precious resources, to education and community services, to modernizing infrastructure and expanding broadband, the latter brought into bold relief in this critical COVID moment, when many our children have lost valuable time, without internet access to education.

Jim Leous’ approach to these issues and others comes from an abiding commitment to communication across party lines and demographics. “All politics is local” in its capacity to implement change. Local politicians, our neighbors and friends, can build bridges between and within conversations, finding common ground. From this view, local politics is a critical fulcrum for change, reflecting national issues, working them through at a local level.

Jim is philosophically grounded in the idea that “reasonable people with good hearts can fix things that are broken ... by agreeing upon a few points of commonality” (Jonathan Haidt), moving forward to the larger challenges we face as a community and as a nation.

He has our vote.

‘Shameful’ attack on Nanes should be addressed

Dianne Gregg’s MAGA-style bash on the character of mayoral candidate Ezra Nanes is shameful. The “Big Lie” has made its way to State College politics. Jim Leous needs to disavow and apologize for his association with Ms. Gregg and her whataboutism.

I worked with Ezra Nanes for 10 years. He is an outstanding person who cares about the community. State College will be a better, more inclusive borough with Ezra as Mayor.

Easy ‘no’ vote on ballot questions

I’m confused by the need for the two ballot questions regarding constitutional amendments being put forth by the Republicans related to emergency declarations. Why do we need to amend the state constitution to limit the governor’s emergency powers? I believe the governor’s declarations can already be overturned by the legislators — they just haven’t been able to muster the two-thirds vote needed to do so. But the mechanism is already there. I’m also concerned about shifting the decision-making responsibility to the legislators. The ability to move quickly is critical during an emergency. Our legislators have never been known for their ability to move quickly. Just look at how many years they couldn’t even pass the budget before the start of the fiscal year. Has Wolf’s management of the pandemic emergency been perfect? No. But do I think he’s done a better job than the legislature would have done?

Absolutely. Personally, I’ll be voting “no” on the ballot questions.

Penn State must take leadership role in protecting community

The Penn State administration is wrong to hesitate joining over 300 universities in mandating COVID vaccines to return to campus. According to the CDC the five largest clusters of infections in Pennsylvania are all university campuses. I guess PSU plans to perpetually maintain isolation and quarantine space and employ surveillance testing rather than help the campus and community maximally reduce the threat of infections. The administration is pitching pizza parties as incentive for students getting vaccinated. Give me a break. It appears the PSU administration has joined the science deniers club. That’s pretty egregious for a university that prides itself on the cutting edge science conducted by its faculty. PSU must take a leadership role in protecting staff, students, faculty, and our community. We should not be forced to live among a perpetual COVID infection cluster. The university should follow the science and require vaccinations, not throw a pizza party.

This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 7:00 AM.