In what will be the seventh special legislative election in Pennsylvania this year, the new state representative in the historically Democratic 21st District will be decided on Sept. 19.
Sara Innamorato resigned her House seat to prepare for her run against the GOP candidate, Joe Rockey, for the newly-created position of Allegheny County executive.
Lindsay Powell is the chosen candidate of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee to replace her. She is the director of workforce strategy at InnovatePGH and is a member of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.
She would be the first African-American female to represent the 21st.
Erin Connolly Autenreith is the GOP nominee. She is a realtor who chairs the Shaler Township Republican Committee.
Her father, Thomas Connolly, was the Mayor of McKees Rocks (1982-86), and her mother, Olga, was on the Mckees Rocks Council for 30 years.
Ms. Autenreith’s social media accounts indicate her participation in the January 6th demonstration, according to this claim, and other “extreme positions”.
Ms. Autenreith says that certain issues, such as abortion, be decided through a referendum. She spoke against political polarization.
The 21st District includes parts of Pittsburgh as well as the adjacent suburbs of Etna, Millvale, Reserve and Shaler.
There has never been a GOP representative for the 21st District. Frank J. Pistella, a Democrat, served the longest, for 27 years from 1979 through 2006, and Dom Costa served for a decade, from 2009 to 2019.
An argument could be made for term limits, given all of this.
More Signs Of Decline In Delco — Here are some more signs of decline in Delaware County, Pa. The below images are from SEPTA’s Route 101 Springfield Road trolley stop in Springfield taken this morning, Aug. 7.
Under the impression that a broken window left unfixed leads to more serious problems, residents begin to change the way they see their community. In an attempt to stay safe, a cohesive community starts to fall apart, as individuals start to spend less time in communal space to avoid potential violent attacks by strangers.[1] The slow deterioration of a community, as a result of broken windows, modifies the way people behave when it comes to their communal space, which, in turn, breaks down community control. As rowdy teenagers, panhandlers, addicts, and prostitutes slowly make their way into a community, it signifies that the community cannot assert informal social control, and citizens become afraid that worse things will happen. As a result, they spend less time in the streets to avoid these subjects and feel less and less connected from their community, if the problems persist.
Charles Durning’s D-Day memories were so painful that for decades he suppressed them. Drafted at age 20, Durning eventually earned a Silver Star for valor, a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone, and three Purple Hearts, given in the president’s name to those wounded or killed in military service. Just out of high school, which he didn’t complete until the war ended, Durning was the only survivor in a unit that landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
Durning’s World War II experiences are unfathomable, and his actions in defense of his fellow soldiers, selfless and heroic. During the Normandy battle, Durning killed seven German gunners, but suffered serious machine gun wounds to his right leg and shrapnel wounds throughout his body.
After a six-month recovery in England, Durning was rushed back to the front lines to fight against the German Ardennes offensive. During the Battle of the Bulge, Durning suffered more wounds, this time in hand-to-hand bayonet combat when he was stabbed eight times. Despite the vicious assault, Durning summoned up the strength to kill his attacker with a rock which earned him a second Purple Heart. Soon after, his company was captured and forced to march through the Malmedy Forest; in the ensuing “Malmedy massacre,” German troops opened fire on the prisoners, and Durning was among the few who escaped.
Durning would earn his third Purple Heart when, in March 1945, he moved into Germany with the 398th Infantry Regiment, where he was severely wounded when a bullet struck him in the chest. Private First Class Durning was evacuated to the U.S. to spend the remainder of his active Army career recovering until he was discharged in January 1946.
Born in 1923, Durning grew up in Highland Falls, N.Y., near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His father, James, an Irish immigrant who had joined the Army to gain U.S. citizenship, lost a leg during World War I and died when Charles was 12. James’ widow Louise supported her five children by working as a laundress at West Point. Four other children died from scarlet fever.
After the war, Durning used dance as physical therapy to strengthen his badly injured leg and speech therapy to smooth out a stutter that had developed. He began training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was told he lacked talent. Undeterred, he took small roles with Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Company and taught ballroom dancing at the Fred Astaire studio.
Eventually, Durning achieved his lifelong goal when he landed parts in television and the movies. His most memorable silver screen appearances among his 200 films include The Sting, 1973; Dog Day Afternoon, 1975, and Tootsie, 1982. His significant honors include numerous Academy, Emmy and Tony Award nominations.
Charles Durning with Dustin Hoffman in ‘Tootsie.’
Reluctant to visit the site where so many of his comrades lay, Durning returned to Normandy only once after the war ended. Looking back during a 1994 Memorial Day service to recognize the invasion’s 50th anniversary, Durning noted remorsefully that the U.S. had engaged in at least five wars since World War II — Korea, Desert Storm, Panama, Grenada and Vietnam. He said that each war is pertinent to only the individual who was there.
“I don’t know what they went through; they don’t know what I went through,” said Durning. “Each person fights his own war. Each person is on a one-to-one basis with whoever’s opposite him.” Durning added: “That war changed history as we knew it. It was the greatest armada that ever hit any country, anywhere, anytime in the history of mankind. No one will ever see anything that enormous again.” World War II was, Durning said, the last war that had a well-defined purpose.
In January 2008, Durning was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and his star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame adjacent to the actor he most admired, Jimmy Cagney. Durning died of natural causes at his Manhattan home on Christmas Eve December 24, 2012, aged 89. Two days later, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in his honor. Durning is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the ultimate tribute to an American hero.
Honor Flight Philly Seeks Escorts For Vets — Honor Flight Philadelphia is seeking escorts for the 170 honored veterans on the final leg its Sept. 9 trip from Washington D.C.
First responders are especially welcome.
The escorts are asked to gather at 4 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center on I-95 a half mile north of the Delaware border.
The escort ends at Saints Simon and Jude Church, 8 Cavanaugh Court, West Chester Pike, 19382.
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
It Is Good For Us To Be Here — Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them he had spoke of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor, a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heven.
These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here.
Let us listen, then, to the sacred voice of God so compellingly calling us from high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the Lord’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries so far beyond our capacity to express.
Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven, and — I speak boldly — it is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness, making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to height as yet undreamed of.
$778 Million Climate Bill Looming For Delco — Center for Climate Integrity says Delaware County, Pa. municipalities will have to spend $778 million by 2040 to address climate change.
The threat was made at the center’s July 25 virtual press conference and reported in the Aug. 4The Delaware County Weekly which is the county government’s news letter.
It was attended by Delaware County Council Chairwoman Monica Taylor, Clean Air Council Executive Director Joe Minott, Resilient Analytics Director Paul Chinowsky and Sharpsburg Mayor Brittany Rendo.
Ms. Taylor has completely signed onto the scam.
“The study’s findings on the economic impact of climate change on our communities in Pennsylvania are a wakeup call,” she said. “Climate change will affect all Pennsylvania communities, and some residents more than others. We cannot afford to ignore the consequences of inaction.”
If the climate crisis was real, Barack Obama would not be living in a seaside mansion in Martha’s Vineyard and have other mansions in Washington D.C. and Hawaii. Al Gore, the Clintons and the Kerrys would not have carbon footprints 100 or 200 or 300 times average.
Bruce Springsteen, however, would be performing concerts to protest the lack of nuclear power plants.
In the four years under Democrat control, Delco’s budget went from 40 pages to 421 pages, and county residents can expect a 35-percent permanent property tax hike if the Ds keep council this November.
