by Paul Ricci It was brought to my attention that there is a problem with the DTP vaccine coverage data in West Virginia so I deleted the graphs and the previous post on this issue. The mortality data is real so I left it in the post. Mortality is high in West Virginia. The graph […]
by Paul Ricci Watching Dr. Anthony Fauci get grilled by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee brought back a lot of memories of the struggles of the pandemic. The committee is chaired by Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). He is a trained ophthalmologist. Senator Paul is now pursuing contempt of Congress charges against Fauci after he […]
In the post on flu vaccination rates and Trump’s 2024 vote, I was asked on reddit what the relationship was between gas prices and Trump’s approval rating. I told them that this data was not available on the county level but it was available on the state level. AAA keeps track of average gas prices […]
The next variable in the County Health Rankings updated is Flu Vaccinations. The data is from 2023 from the Medicare database for Medicare enrollees. The overall flu vaccination rate for the state was 52% which was higher than the U.S. rate of 44%. Potter county had the lowest rate at 26%. Montgomery had the highest […]
I have used County Health Rankings for years on this site to provide insight into the social ills plaguing the Allegheny mountains. Last year they lost their main funder, the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation. They are not doing major data releases now, but they update their site as new data is released. This post focuses […]
Much is made of the recent property tax increase that the Cambria County commissioners passed — a 6.75 mill increase. This means that for every $1,000 in property value, the owner must pay an additional $6.75 in property tax. This post will take a look specifically at the impact of property tax hikes for Cambria […]
The end of the year is a time for reflecting on 2025 for Allegheny Independent Media. We have had 68 posts this year on a variety of issues in the Allegheny Mountains. By comparison there were 50 posts in 2024, a 36% increase. We had 11 posts by Lyrical Capo, 3 posts by Jackie Allison […]
The last post on student homelessness in Cambria County School Districts got a huge response. The map above from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania shows that this issue is not just a Cambria phenomenon. This post will take a look at student homelessness in the Alleghenies outside Cambria County. Not all of the school districts […]
This holiday season (and every other season) it is important to remember those less fortunate. Accordingly, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania produced the map above. It shows all of the school districts in the state. The districts highlighted in green have rates of student homelessness that are higher than the state rate of 1.89% for […]
I am a longtime reader of The Nation Magazine. Recently, I came across an article by Eric Reinhart in the magazine titled Destroy the Metrics, Destroy the Truth. It details how the Trump Administration’s firings of scientists and statisticians at the CDC and other agencies are really cover for their misdeeds. In the article, Reinhart […]
