Allegheny Independent Media

Allegheny Independent Media

Pandemic Life Expectancies for Race in Pennsylvania

The 2025 County Health Rankings are out. Their current health model is in the video above. This may be the last time that the rankings are released. This is due to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s decision to discontinue funding. For this post, I will focus on pandemic life expectancies for race in the Alleghenies.Continue reading “Pandemic Life Expectancies for Race in Pennsylvania”

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”

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 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”

Rachel Allen and Tulsi Shrivastava of the Unity Coalition of the Southern Alleghenies

This Friday I spoke with Rachel Allen and Tulsi Shrivastava of the Unity Coalition of the Southern Alleghenies. It was created in 1994 in response to increased hate group activity in the area. It has evolved over time but remains active in the Southern Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. I gave a brief review of the historyContinue reading “Rachel Allen and Tulsi Shrivastava of the Unity Coalition of the Southern Alleghenies”

A look at Race/Ethnicity and South Central PA COVID Vaccination and Case Mortality Rates

  I have been using the stat package R to create graphics. Above is a graph from R that uses the same variables in a graph from the last post: case mortality and the average number of mentally unhealthy days in the last month. I was able to add another layer to the graph byContinue reading “A look at Race/Ethnicity and South Central PA COVID Vaccination and Case Mortality Rates”

Some Clues for Racial Disparities for Cambria County

Last week I posted on the racial disparities in health outcomes in Cambria County.  These disparities are primarily what is driving the low rankings for the county in the County Health Rankings. County Health Rankings provides a wealth of statistics called health factors which provide clues to these disparities.  Here is a list: 9% ofContinue reading “Some Clues for Racial Disparities for Cambria County”

African Americans Still Lag Behind in Life Expectancy in Cambria County

Group Cambria County Pennsylvania U.S. Overall 76.1 78.4 78.7 Caucasian 76.4 78.9* 78.6 African American 67.3 73.4* 74.7 Hispanic 91.3 85.3* 81.8 *Pennsylvania life expectancy by race numbers are from 2010 (Measure of America, 2013)  In my book, Wuthering Depths in Johnstown: By the Numbers.  I wrote extensively on the 2020 County Health Rankings for CambriaContinue reading “African Americans Still Lag Behind in Life Expectancy in Cambria County”

Protests and Pandemics: Lessons from History

Watching the developments of the past week were surprising even to me. Were the up swelling of protests over the death of George Floyd and the corona virus pandemic totally unrelated?  Is Trump’s generally incompetent leadership a factor?  The mostly peaceful demonstrations have been occurring just as the turbulent restriction from the pandemic are being lifted.  Do peopleContinue reading “Protests and Pandemics: Lessons from History”

Lessons from Super Tuesday: Health Care in the Deep South

The Democratic Presidential race has changed radically since the South Carolina Primary.  As a Bernie Sanders supporter I was so hopeful for him to have a strong showing.  The outcome was very sobering.  I thought I would take a look at the exit poll data from SC and other states from Super Tuesday on theContinue reading “Lessons from Super Tuesday: Health Care in the Deep South”