On Saturday, June 22 there were two events with an interesting contrast: Johnstown Pride and Rumble thru the Valley. Rumble thru the Valley is an event intended to replace Rumble in the Valley, a weeklong motorcycle rally. You can see the video I took of the event below. There were mostly food vendors there withContinue reading “Johnstown Pride and Rumble thru the Valley”
Category Archives: News
The Annual Johnstown Juneteenth Celebration
On Tuesday I went to the annual Johnstown Juneteenth Celebration. Because of the heat it was easier to get interviews as the crowds were smaller. I took a 16-minute video which can be seen above. Local NAACP president Alan Cashaw, a representative from Summit Legal Aid, Yamila Audisio and another from the Unity Coalition ofContinue reading “The Annual Johnstown Juneteenth Celebration”
Six New Anti-Government and Hate Groups in Pennsylvania
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has come out with its annual update to its Hate Map for 2023. It lists the locations of all of the hate groups and anti-government that they are tracking. In 2022, they were tracking 1,225 groups. In 2023, they were tracking 1,430, a 17% increase. For Pennsylvania, the numberContinue reading “Six New Anti-Government and Hate Groups in Pennsylvania”
A Firsthand Experience of Prenatal Care Disparities in Johnstown
Our latest guest contribution came from Lee Perrin Seese. She wrote the comment below on the last post on the rise in low birth weight babies among African Americans in Cambria County. I suggested to her this story on prenatal care disparities in Johnstown would make a good post on the site. When I hadContinue reading “A Firsthand Experience of Prenatal Care Disparities in Johnstown”
Cambria Pandemic Era African American Low Birth Weight Babies
Group 2013-2019 2014-2020 2015-2021 2016-2022 Overall 9% 9% 9% 9% White 8% 8% 8% 8% AfricanAmerican 16% 17% 17% 20% Percentage of Low Birth Weight Babies in Cambria County There was one statistic I overlooked for race for Cambria County from County Health Rankings: the percentage of low birth weight babies. The percentage overall andContinue reading “Cambria Pandemic Era African American Low Birth Weight Babies”
Social Factors and Pandemic African American Mortality in Cambria County
Group 2016-2018 2017-2019 2018-2020 2019-2021 Overall 75.8 76.1 75.8 74.9 White 76.2 76.4 76.1 75.3 AfricanAmerican 65.6 67.3 66.9 63.7 Life Expectancy by Race in Cambria County Two weeks ago I posted on the rise in mortality in the African American community in Cambria County during the pandemic. The table above shows the decline inContinue reading “Social Factors and Pandemic African American Mortality in Cambria County”
Racial Disparities in Clinical Care in Cambria County During the Pandemic
This is a follow up to the last post on pandemic disparities in racial mortality in Cambria County. Other trends in health outcomes and social variables are provided by County Health Rankings. There was too much trend information on race to fit into one post. For this post I will look at trends in CambriaContinue reading “Racial Disparities in Clinical Care in Cambria County During the Pandemic”
Racial Disparities in Cambria County Exasperated by Pandemic
Three weeks ago, I posted on mortality rates in the area increasing due to the Covid pandemic. This time I will look at pandemic racial disparities in Cambria County. The table below shows life expectancies for Cambria County for the years 2016-2018 to the years 2019-2021. These are 3 year moving averages in the table.Continue reading “Racial Disparities in Cambria County Exasperated by Pandemic”
Gretchen Morgenson on Private Equity Firms in Healthcare Like Conemaugh Medical Center
I recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Gretchen Morgenson of NBC News. In 2002, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Wall Street. I assisted her on a piece she was doing on the influence of private equity firms on healthcare and housing. A private equity firm owns Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center.Continue reading “Gretchen Morgenson on Private Equity Firms in Healthcare Like Conemaugh Medical Center”
Beth Farnham for Congressional District 13
Last Saturday I went to the annual Cambria County Democratic Pancake breakfast in Cresson, PA. Speakers there included former State Senator John Wozniak, Lt. Governor Austin Davis, and Congressional Candidate Beth Farnham. There were also speakers for State Representative Frank Burns, for State Treasurer Candidate Ryan Bizzarro, for Attorney General Candidate Eugene DePasquale, and forContinue reading “Beth Farnham for Congressional District 13”