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16% of Pennsylvania teens have considered suicide – but everyday connection may help

Columns

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text, or via chat at 988lifeline.org. What comes to mind when you think about preventing teen suicide? Crisis hotlines, maybe. Emergency interventions. Those matter — but prevention often starts earlier, in everyday relationships at home, school and in the community. A parent asking about a teenager’s day over dinner, for instance. Or a teacher helping a student find purpose in what they’re learning. Or even neighbors cheering on teens at a Friday night ...

Vintage board game sets balance utility, fun

Columns

As summer winds down and a new school year begins, it’s time to take on some intellectual challenges. That doesn’t mean giving up fun and games. Some of the earliest manufactured toys, dating to the 18th century, had educational purposes. These included “Sunday toys” that taught Bible ...

Dear Annie: No more hemming and hawing

Columns

Dear Annie: I have a friend, “Rosie,” who kicked me out to the curb (metaphorically speaking) when her sister moved into her mobile home park. Prior to her sister’s moving into the neighborhood, Rosie and I saw a lot of each other. I was always sewing for Rosie, her husband and her mother-in-law at little or no cost. I sent food to her after her surgery. I helped Rosie’s sister with planning Rosie’s 60th birthday party. Meanwhile, when I had health issues and told her, she didn’t contact me afterward to see how I was. When I had a baby shower for my daughter, she did not ...

ICE wants our emails

Columns

When a government agency comes to an internet service provider demanding information about Americans because of what they have said on social media, the provider should discard the demand, close the door or hang up the phone. The government is not entitled to rummage through the political opinions, associations, criticisms and angry rhetoric of anyone merely because a government official finds those opinions offensive, threatening to an agency’s reputation or inconvenient to its mission. Recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dramatically expanded its monitoring of ...

Learn more about Legionnaires’ disease and how it’s spread

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’ve been hearing about Legionnaires’ disease. What is it? How’s it spread? Can it really be spread through windshield wipers? — D.G. ANSWER: Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophilia. It was first described in 1976, when an outbreak killed 34 people at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Since then, much has been learned about this condition. Legionella live in soil and water, and water remains the most important source of infections in humans — not from drinking the water but through aerosolized water. ...

Why are so many young people drawn to communism?

Columns

Every generation searches for answers. Young people have always challenged the status quo, questioned authority and sought a better future than the one they inherited. That impulse is not only understandable, it is often essential to a healthy democracy. It is how societies reform, innovate and correct injustice. Yet one question has resurfaced with increasing frequency on college campuses, social media and in political discourse: Why are some young people embracing communism or openly expressing sympathy for socialist and communist ideas despite the overwhelming historical record of ...