Diamonds to the family-friendly fall events

Diamonds to all the uplifting images coming from many fall festivals and Halloween events taking place around the region. We’ve seen a unicorn with a rainbow main interacting with a goat, adults and children enjoying a storytelling session while on a hay ride, a Star Wars Yoda enjoying a fruit drink, A tyke dressed like a pumpkin decorating the real thing, and assortments of creatively costumed kids beaming as they walk along a family-friendly “Haunted Trail,” to name just a few of our favorite photos. And we expect more to come. The joy in the faces of so many children and their parents is a powerful antidote to the overwhelmingly negative political ads bombarding us day and night. They are also a great reminder that the doom and gloom are exaggerated, and that there is still a great deal of positive fun we can share.

Coal to the “human error” that spelled State Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name incorrectly on election ballots sent out to thousands of voters. With so many pundits and politicians relentlessly trying to impugn election integrity in general and mail-in voting in particular, even this relatively minor (and easily corrected) mistake becomes fodder for their misguided efforts. Diamonds within this coal to Dominion Voting Systems for quickly accepting the blame and working in a timely fashion to get new ballots out with the proper spelling, as well as to the other steps taken to ensure no voters were disenfranchised — including letting voters opt for ‘on demand’ mail-in ballots at the county election bureau and the sensible promise to count the misspelled ballots if all other protocols are properly followed by the voters. If anything, this is yet more proof that the mail-in system has ample safeguards against fraud or error and that, done properly, it is a safe and secure way to expand the ways people can participate in elections.

Diamonds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants, which is providing more than $2 million to 20 Northeastern Pennsylvania firefighters and first responders. There is legitimate concern about how much money the federal government spends, running up record deficits under presidential administrations of both major political parties, but there is also real value to some of that spending. Money for local police, firefighters and first responders definitely falls into the category of “real value.” Too often, local emergency response services are underfunded, and this financial boost will almost certainly save lives and property.

Coal to Zahiar Kevon Lee, a 19-year-old Carbondale man, who pled guilty to charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number. According to Lehman Township police, Lee shot another person at a party near the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus in May. The two argued over a woman, the gunshot victim threw a punch, and Lee responded by drawing and firing a gun. Fortunately, the victim survived, but this is once again a case of pointless escalation to potentially fatal action when walking away was the right choice.