Laurels & lances: Plays, rides and bugs

Laurel: To curtains going up. All over Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, things are a little dramatic right now.

It is the height of spring musical season, and in middle schools and high schools across the region, kids are being nipped by the acting bug. This is the kind of contagion that is fantastic to see after two years of these kind of defining events being up in the air because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although it was wonderful to see young thespians embracing creative ways to stage shows in 2020 or 2021 — taking them through streaming or filming them to present like a movie or just powering through while wearing a mask — it is as wonderful to see the theatrical arts return to schools as it was to see them return to professional spaces.

Many schools have already staged their shows, but others are still on the horizon. If you haven’t supported school arts programs yet, buy a ticket and take a seat so that these dedicated kids can continue to take their bows.

Lance: To cutting back. Although mass transit suffered during the pandemic because of decreased ridership, that is a trend that has been reversing. Until now.

This time, the riders are there. Now it’s the drivers who are in short supply.

Due to a dearth of drivers, the Westmoreland County Transit Authority is forced to cut some of its services, like trimming a weekday route between Greensburg and Pittsburgh on Route 30 by four trips.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County is dealing with similar disruptions across dozens of routes because 480 employees — 180 of them operators — have not complied with the covid-19 vaccine mandate. Port Authority is dealing with that by offering free rides.

Transportation is necessary to keep people working, healthy and connected. It’s critical to find a way to resolve these employment issues and keep the buses rolling.

Lance: To more bugs. Aw, come on, Pennsylvania. What’s with another season of insect invasions? We have the periodic issues with giant red-eyed locust broods. There are the tent worms and gypsy moths that pop up and swarm through the trees. We get warnings about West Nile Virus in the mosquitoes.

Now it’s ticks. The last year of a statewide tick survey that started in 2018 has shown another problem with those black-legged pests. It’s not just the Lyme they carry; it’s also a kind of Powassan virus.

Deer tick virus was found in more than 80% of ticks from three sites. Before this, the highest state rate was 11% and the highest national numbers were 25%. A more troubling number is 91% — the amount of people treated for deer tick virus who develop severe neuroinvasive disease.