Letters: What should Congress do?; Poorest counties part of PA-15
What should Congress do?
I will grant that it would be best not to have the Saudi government interfering in our golf tournaments. But let’s do the numbers. Attendance at the US Open this year was limited to 22,000 a day. The crowd at the Masters reaches a top of 50,000 a day.
Last week, 25 million people in the eastern United States were under flash flood alerts. Rain in Vermont caused widespread destruction. In New York, one woman was swept away to her death by raging waters. Meanwhile, more than 50 million in the southwest were under extreme heat advisories or warnings. This comes after an unprecedented heat wave this month that kept people from Texas to Florida sheltering inside in air conditioning. Recently dangerous smoke from Canadian wildfires has forced millions inside to protect their lungs from harmful pollution.
The costs to the economy of these extreme weather events will be large. And the impact on individual lives will be even greater, as families lose their houses and possessions or succumb to the heat.
Under these circumstances few people were golfing or indulging in other outdoor recreation. So which do you think Congress should be holding hearings on? Golf or climate change?
Poorest counties part of PA-15
After reading the letter to the editor in a recent CDT (“Connection with poorest counties”), I thought it was worth mentioning that 8 of the 10 poorest counties are in PA-15. You know, the district represented by Glenn Thompson. The man who voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, against the American Rescue Plan of 2021, against the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, against the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, against Respect for Marriage Act and the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. How is that working for you voters in Cameron, McKean, Forrest, Venango, Clearfield, Warren and Elk counties? It seems to be working well for GT; the rest of us? Not so much.
Alzheimer’s prevalence estimates lead to understanding
At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2023 researchers released the first-ever county-level prevalence estimates, finding east and southeastern U.S. states have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia. In Centre County the Alzheimer’s dementia prevalence estimate is 10.6% among residents age 65 or older. Beyond Centre County, prevalence estimates are 11% in Blair County.
The research comes following the release of Healthy Brain Initiative: State and Local Road Map for Public Health, 2023-2027 by the Alzheimer’s Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Road Map provides public health officials throughout the nation with a set of strategies to promote brain health and improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Alzheimer’s prevalence estimates can help public health officials determine the burden on the health care system and better understand areas of high risk and need. It is critical that we continue to implement a dementia public health infrastructure across the commonwealth.