In what seemed like weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic swept from around the globe to our doorsteps. Our lives became like suspended animation as we went home and waited. We found ways to endure â through separation, loss, growth, fear, joy, frustration, change. We ve shifted our expectations and perspective to accommodate new realities.Â
Itâs been one year. More than 950 people have died in Lancaster County. Photos of crowded bars and big family dinners are like postcards from the past. Â
Weâve experienced the impact of COVID-19 in separate ways, with no two experiences exactly the same. Some of us havenât been back to our jobs in a year; others never stopped going; others donât have jobs to return to. Weâve defined and redefined essential worker. We shuttered, reopened, shuttered and reopened in waves. We taught ourselves new ways to teach our children. We hoped for a va
THE ISSUE
Leon B. Glover Jr., School District of Lancaster’s first Black principal, who was known as Buddy, died Feb. 11, two days after having a massive stroke, at age 71. As LNP | LancasterOnline s Alex Geli reported, “Glover, whose career at SDL spanned three decades, from 1971 to 2004, was a tutor, principal, assistant superintendent and interim superintendent. He was one vote shy of becoming superintendent in 2008, when the job went to former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and current Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology President Pedro Rivera.” A public viewing will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday in the Heritage Ballroom at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square; those who attend will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. A livestream of Glover’s homegoing service can be viewed at 11 a.m. Saturday at yourjourneychurch.com.
THE ISSUE
âGov. Tom Wolf asked lawmakers Wednesday to raise income taxes on higher earners and give public schools a massive boost in aid, as state government faces a gaping deficit and uncertainty over how much more pandemic relief the federal government will send,â The Associated Press reported, describing the seventh-year Democratic governorâs proposed budget. âNo matter how great a parent you are, if your local school system lacks the resources it needs to provide your kids with a quality education, thatâs a barrier to giving them a better life,â Wolf said in his budget address of the urgency for increasing and fairly distributing public education funding.
If you ask most members of parliament what they make of Twitter, they will not be very kind. After a few years when it felt like the place to be in Westminster, the chaos, abuse and endless fights took their toll and by last year many politicians had all but deserted the platform. Neil O’Brien did not. A once quiet backbencher, the Conservative MP has been gaining fans for his threads methodically taking apart the claims of Covid-19 sceptics.
“You re being chased by Neil O Brien MP, he wants to show you a thread of terrible tweets you once did,” comedian Alex Kealy tweeted last week. “You jump in a taxi and escape. You breathe a sigh of relief. The driver turns around. It s Neil O Brien MP.” At time of writing, the post got more than 1,500 likes.