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Dear Annie: Drama at the gym

Dear Annie: I love the gym. It has really helped me gain confidence and strength. I have been going to the same gym in our small town for roughly 10 years. I know all the people there and enjoy my time there — until lately. There is a woman who just started going to the gym who is toxic. She really hurt a dear friend of mine, whose child was in the same class as her child, by spreading vicious rumors that she was having an affair with a tennis instructor. This was not true. She is the typical mean girl from middle school who we all choose to forget — the girl who never grew ...

Patient isn’t given adequate pain medicine after shoulder repair

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m frustrated that my physicians aren’t giving me adequate pain relief. I had a shoulder repair with three severely torn tendons and a torn labrum, and the surgeon cut and moved my biceps tendon. I was given 20 mg of hydrocodone and APAP 5/325 mg for pain! Are the doctors legally prevented from giving me pain medication? — J.F. ANSWER: This makes me frustrated to hear. There aren’t legal barriers to giving a patient medication to reduce pain, but opiates such as hydrocodone should be given cautiously and with consideration for its potential for abuse. There are ...

Making Big Tech help PA’s seniors stay in their homes

Pennsylvania has a problem. Our outdated tax system is costing working people billions of dollars. They are watching their neighborhood schools close, their bus lines get cut, and their health care costs skyrocket while big corporations make billions — without paying their fair share to our state. That’s not right. There is a simple solution: lawmakers can boldly face corporate greed and require multinational corporations and billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes and use that money to fund schools, mass transit, healthcare, and more. Our bill, HB1678, would ...

How Pa. towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of data centers

Pennsylvania has become a hot spot for data center proposals and public backlash about where to build them. I’m a law professor and executive director of Penn State’s Center for Energy Law and Policy. I’m also a native of Archbald, a borough of 7,500 residents in the Lackawanna Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. My hometown has drawn national attention because of proposals for multiple data centers that would cover 14% of its area. Because of my professional and personal interest in data centers, I have been researching local responses to data center proposals across ...

Dear Annie: Six-year estrangement is hurting whole family

Dear Annie: I don’t know where to start. It has been six years since our youngest daughter, “Emily,” has been close to us. The problem started when our oldest daughter and her cousin were in the kitchen talking about Emily when Emily walked by. She obviously was concerned that they were talking about her. We were just getting ready to eat our holiday meal, and I asked where Emily was, and they said she had left. I called her to ask why, and she said her sister and cousin were staring at her and talking. Mind you, they were all in their 40s. After I talked to Emily, my husband ...

Woman enters manic pyschotic break that takes a toll on family

DEAR DR. ROACH: My daughter’s going through a manic psychotic break. Her reality is skewed, and she thinks that she’s right and that the rest of us are out of touch. It’s taking a toll on our family. How can I get through to her to seek professional help? — B.C. ANSWER: Unfortunately, this is a common situation that often doesn’t have an easy answer. Mania is a specific psychiatric state when a person has a sustained period of very high energy. People in a manic state often don’t sleep much at all and have high energy, which they often use to make risky decisions that can ...