Cheers & Jeers
Associated Press
Cheers: Cheers to the area’s three most-followed NCAA Division-I football programs. Penn State and Pitt both have started the season 5-0, and West Virginia is 3-2 with its only losses coming to the Nittany Lions and Panthers. This past Saturday, Penn State fought off UCLA, 27-11, at Beaver Stadium; Pitt earned a 34-24 win at North Carolina, and West Virginia was arguably the most impressive of the three with a dominating 38-14 win at Oklahoma State against a Cowboys team that had won eight of their last nine meetings going in. The Nittany Lions, who are 2-0 in the Big Ten, rose up to a season-high No. 4 in the Associated Press football rankings while the Panthers, who are 1-0 in the ACC, entered the top 25 poll for the first time in two years at No. 22. The Mountaineers improved to 2-0 in the Big 12. All three teams have a touch of local flavor. Laurel Highlands graduate Rodney Gallagher III is a sophomore wide receiver/defensive back/punt returner who sees significant action for West Virginia. Belle Vernon graduate Quinton Martin is a freshman running back who has seen time in the backfield for PSU. Two more Belle Vernon graduates — redshirt freshman wide receiver Devin Whitlock and redshirt senior punter Cam Guess — dot the Penn State roster. All three teams are in action again Saturday with Pitt hosting California, WVU hosting No. 11 Iowa State and Penn State traveling to USC, which sits just outside the top 25 at 26th.
Cheers: Bullying has been around since…well, probably as long as humans have walked the Earth, but there is thankfully a much greater understanding of the harmful effects it can have. Long dismissed as a rite of passage that some young people just had to endure, bullying has been shown to cause tangible damage to the self-esteem of children – and, yes, adults – who are on the receiving end of it. It can lead to anxiety and depression, avoidance of school and, in the worst cases, physical harm. October is National Bullying Awareness Month, and it’s designed to remind teachers, school administrators and leaders of other types of organizations to be on the lookout for bullying and create environments where people feel supported. We may never be fully rid of bullying, but we can take some solace that it is not shrugged off in the way it once was.
Cheers: Residents of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina have been continuing to clean up after Hurricane Helene, which claimed more than 200 lives and caused an estimated $40 billion in property damage. One thing Floridians did not need was another storm, but Hurricane Milton was set to wreak additional havoc by Thursday of this week. Forecasters were saying that it could well be one of the most destructive storms to hit the Sunshine State in decades. Given the need, residents across this area have been chipping in to help out residents of stricken areas. For example, Crazy Horse Coffee in North Strabane is among the local businesses that has been collecting supplies that will be shipped to Hearts With Hands, a charity in Asheville, N.C., a city that was hit hard by Helene, and students at the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center in Fayette County are collecting donations. James Bendel, the owner of Crazy Horse Coffee, put it this way: “We’re all Americans, so that’s where it starts. Beyond being Americans, we’ve got to support one another. That’s what I’ve always been about.”