Laurels & lances: Saving lives, missing points

Laurel: To one man’s best friend. Tom Kissel of Mars is not the first person to be saved from catastrophe by a dog. He may not even be the first person to be rescued by a ball of fluff that is half Pomeranian and half Jack Russell terrier. But he probably is on a short list of people who owe their lives to a three-legged dog.

Kissel was boating in July at the River Forest Yacht Club in Allegheny Township when a swell knocked him into the Allegheny River and pulled him under. His 15-year-old dog Tater Tot, down one leg because of cancer, jumped in to save the day.

Tater Tot, who looks a lot like a stuffed toy dog, was not able to pull Kissel to safety. What the pup could do was make enough of a ruckus with the attempted rescue to draw the attention of cardiac care nurse Mary Jo Lender who was docking her own boat with her husband nearby. Bystanders pulled Kissel out, and Lender administered CPR until first responders arrived.

Lender, Tater Tot and the unnamed others were honored this week by the American Heart Association and Allegheny Health Network for saving Kissel’s life.

Lance: To not understanding the assignment. Lots of schools celebrate Homecoming Week with special theme days. Wear school colors one day or dress in pajamas on another. Norwin High School recently ran into trouble when two students wore Confederate flag clothing for “ ’Merica Day.”

Parent Robert Dye said the clothing intimidated his biracial daughter and believes the school has not done enough to address racial intimidation throughout the district.

One problem here is organizers invited the problem with the name “ ’Merica” instead of “America” for a day where students were encouraged to wear red, white and blue. By using a shorthand that can be embraced politically as a point of honor or an epithet by different sides, they set homecoming up for conflict.