Laurels & lances: Volunteers, flu & eggs

Laurel: To a sign of the times. Pennsylvania fire departments are struggling with declining volunteers. The state mostly depends on volunteer departments across its 67 counties. There were about 60,000 volunteers in 2000. By 2023, that number had fallen to 38,000.

Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell is trying a new method to grab attention. He is taking $109,600 from a state grant and installing four electronic signs.

The signs, which will be outside of three fire department stations and city hall, will share rotating electronic messages and information. Among those messages will be an appeal for recruits.

The signs are planned to go up in the spring, if council approves.

“You can use it however you want to,” Bell told council. “We just want that so we’re always advertising for firefighters.”

Lance: To flu season. February is bringing cold weather — and influenza.

“We certainly are right now at one of the highest points this season for respiratory illnesses,” said Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, a family physician and chair of the Allegheny Health Network Primary Care.

That means flu, as well as covid, pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Statewide, there were 21,469 cases of Flu A as of Feb. 1, as well as 515 cases of Flu B and 2,736 cases of RSV. In Southwestern Pennsylvania alone, there were 3,030 cases of Flu A, 84 cases of Flu B and 397 cases of RSV.

But what does that mean? Well, because there have been 99,554 cases of flu since September, it means that more than 20% of all flu cases in the 2024-25 season to date are happening right now.

Depending on your health — and the health of your family — the flu might be an annoying short-term illness worth your risk. We can’t make that call for you. But so far, the flu has claimed 179 lives this season. It isn’t a short-term risk for everyone.

So be careful in what you pick up — and what you spread around.

Lance: To egg-related crime. We all know eggs are expensive. That dozen you once got on sale for 99 cents is now as much as $6 a dozen. And that’s if you can find eggs at all.

This is due to a completely different flu outbreak. Avian influenza is threatening flocks and making it harder to depend on what has always been an affordable kitchen staple.

That got a little harder this week with a dastardly theft. The perpetrators didn’t rob a bank or a jewelry store. They stole 100,000 eggs from a trailer in Franklin Township, south of Chambersburg.

That’s about 8,333 dozen eggs. While the average in December was $4.15, these are organic eggs. That puts the price in the $6.50 region, meaning the cost of this heist ranges from $40,000 to $50,000.

Pete & Gerry’s Organics LLC put out a statement saying they “take this matter seriously.” That’s good because, while the puns on a crime like this are easy and hilarious, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a real crime that hurts a real business.

It also hurts real consumers. It means that if your grocery store was already having trouble stocking eggs, this will make it a little harder — and drive that price up a little bit more.