Laurels & lances: Donation, departure, rescue and wriggling

Laurel: To a last bequest. It is always hard to lose family, but people often say that what they leave behind helps keep their memories alive. For Ken Hulst, that c0uldn’t be more true.

A former Lower Burrell resident, Hulst lived with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive, uncurable nervous system breakdown also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He died in Wilmington, N.C., on Aug. 28. But in passing, he gave an incredible gift.

With 24 hours, one of Hulst’s kidneys had been given to his brother-in-law and close friend, Rich Callender, the former mayor of Lower Burrell.

“He was the brother I never had,” said Callender, who also had a double lung transplant in 2015.

It was complications from that procedure that affected his kidneys and put him on a list awaiting a new organ for three and a half years.

The match with Hulst was unexpected as the two believed they had different blood types. Testing proved otherwise and Callender was told of the match on his birthday, Aug. 27.

“We’re just so proud of him,” Jennifer Hulst said of her late husband. “He’s no longer with us, but he’s a hero to us.”

Lance: To a final bow. The contentious tenure of Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet has come to an end.

Hamlet has been a lightning-rod figure since he first joined the district in 2016, making news from the start with a resume full of errors and plagiarized text. In 2019, an auditor general’s investigation critiqued travel for Hamlet and other administrators to Cuba without board approval and looked at $10 million in no-bid contracts. Nonetheless, a five-year contract extension was granted in 2020.

The superintendent’s resignation comes after the latest problem — a Pennsylvania Ethics Commission report addressing travel expenses, paid speeches and failure to make financial interest disclosures. While Hamlet called the review “a fresh start” on Aug. 26, two weeks later, he was not in attendance at the press conference announcing his departure.

Laurel: To a real rescue. An unidentified 16-year-old was saved from a hazardous situation by first responders in Murrysville on Monday.

It was an unusual call. Not a car crash or a call. The teen was trapped under a 3,500 pound pipe for 90 minutes, stuck up to his hip and partially buried in soil along Kemmer Hollow Road north of Export.

The response required coordination of White Valley Vounteer Fire Department, Murrysville Medic One, and even Gombach Towing and Auto Salvage of Penn Township, which wrapped a cable around the pipe to pull it up and back, allowing the boy to be freed.

Lance: To being bugged. The cicadas didn’t really bother Southwestern Pennsylvania this year and the murder hornets didn’t descend, but that doesn’t mean the area is skating by without an insect infestation in 2021.

This year, it’s armyworms. The moth larvae are experiencing what John Tooker, professor of entomology at Penn State, calls an “unprecedented” outbreak.

Farmers have had whole fields attacked. Landscape companies are dealing with the larvae as they go after lawns. Luckily, experts say weather will help resolve the problem quickly and it’s unlikely to cause long-term issues.