Crew members work on a lower section of the mechanically stabilized earth wall for a pedestrian bridge that will connect the Monument Valley Pathway across Highway 26 in Scottsbluff.

Construction crew members from Garcia-Chicone Enterprises prepare to place a section of mechanically stabilized earth wall for the pedestrian bridge that will connect sections of the Monument Valley Pathway over Highway 26.

Workers set a section of mechanically stabilized earth wall on the site where a pedestrian bridge will connect the Monument Valley Pathway over Highway 26 in Scottsbluff.

Work is continuing on the south side of Highway 26 for a pedestrian bridge on the Monument Valley Pathway.

Doug Gompert of M.C. Schaff and Associates is overseeing the installation of the mechanically stabilized earth walls for the pedestrian bridge on the Monument Valley Pathway.

The Monument Valley Pathway will extend along this route on the south side of Highway 26 from Avenue B until it connects with the pedestrian overpass near Scottsbluff High School.

Foundation work is underway for a pedestrian overpass to connect the Monument Valley Pathway across Highway 26 north of Scottsbluff High School.

Scottsbluff public works director Mark Bohl said the project is like a big jigsaw puzzle as pieces of mechanically stabilized earth are lifted and put in place to build a retaining wall of sorts to support the ramp and structure to hold the overpass itself.

Doug Gompert of M.C. Schaff and Associates is coordinating the work, and he said those involved have worked well together so far.

Everybodys done a really good job, between the contractors, the engineers and the city, Gompert said.

Gompert said he expects the wall on the south side of the highway to be completed by the end of this week with the north side wall going up next. The bridge itself is likely to be put in place sometime around April or May, Gompert said.

Bohl said contractor Paul Reed Company and subcontractors have stayed ahead on the project, thanks in part to a mild winter that has allowed them to keep working.

This is a big project, Bohl said. Our main focus now, actually, is this structure itself. We have a few odds and ends to tie in at West Overland, Avenue D and B to make connections, but basically the whole path is in, so all the concentration now is really on the structure itself, getting the walls up and getting the structure in place.

Link:
Its like a big jigsaw puzzle: Pathway overpass foundation work underway - Scottsbluff Star Herald

Two boys were arrested in St. Paul after allegedly stealing a car and then crashing it while drag racing.

According to St. Paul Police Department, the incident was reported by 911 callers around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Thet reported that two cars were racing in the area of E. Ivy Ave. and Flandreau St. and one of the vehicles crashed into a retaining wall and struck a tree.

The callers reported that five kids "immediately took off running."

Two of the kids, boys, ages 11 and 12, respectively, were caught near the crash scene. The 12-year-old was arrested for auto theft and possession of a BB gun in public, which police say was thrown in the snow behind a bench and was "a realistic-looking replica of a .40 caliber handgun."

Sign up: Subscribe to our BREAKING NEWS newsletters

The 11-year-old was treated at Regions Hospital for minor injuries and then booked at the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center for stealing a vehicle.

A second vehicle reported to be racing was gone from the scene when police arrived.

Anyone with information about the racing incident is asked to call St. Paul PD at 651-291-1111.

Read the rest here:
Boys, ages 11 and 12, arrested after racing, crashing stolen car in St. Paul - Bring Me The News

A single-vehicle collision involving a driver who struck the median on McKenzie Avenue at Carey Road interrupted morning traffic on Jan. 21. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

No serious injuries reported, driver not impaired, police say

Traffic was slow-moving on McKenzie Avenue near the Pat Bay Highway on Thursday morning following a single-vehicle collision.

At 7:40 a.m. on Jan. 21, Saanich police, firefighters and paramedics were called to McKenzie Avenue at Carey Road after a westbound driver crashed into the median.

After losing control of the vehicle, the driver, struck the centre median, crossed the intersection and finally came to rest against the retaining wall, said Const. Markus Anastasiades, public information officer for the Saanich Police Department.

According to Asst. Deputy Fire Chief Mike Kaye, the incident was minor and there were no significant injuries reported but the driver was assessed by paramedics.

Traffic in the area was reduced to a single-lane and later blocked while the tow truck arrived to remove the damaged vehicle from the roadway. The intersection was cleared just before 9 a.m. and traffic resumed.

Police are still investigating the cause of the incident but Anastasiades said impairment was not a factor.

READ ALSO: Saanich selects company to build youth bike skills track at Tripp Station Park

@devonscarlettLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

devon.bidal@saanichnews.com

District of SaanichfirefightersTraffic

Read more from the original source:
UPDATED: Morning traffic in Saanich interrupted after driver crashes into centre median, retaining wall - Saanich News

Sunderland City Council is working alongside the owners of the structure as repairs are arranged for the structure on Silksworth Hall Drive, which has led to part of Silksworth Road to be closed off.

No traffic is able to pass that part of the route, with no guidance given on how long the diversion will be in place, with a stretch of around 30 metres sealed off.

A spokesperson for the council said: A section of the retaining wall at Silksworth Hall Drive has become unstable.

The council is in contact with property owners and repair works to the wall are being prepared.

A road closure is necessary for safety reasons.

Silksworth Road is closed from Silksworth Hall Drive and Oak Tree Drive.

"Diversions are via Silksworth Lane, Warwick Terrace, Miller Terrace, Blind Lane Silksworth Terrace.

Ward councillor Phil Tye shared an update with residents on Facebook which said the emergency closure has been put in place following checks made over the Christmas period on that part of the road, known as Bochys Bank.

He told followers: Regular monitoring of the wall led to a temporary barrier to be placed and traffic management, after the weather of the last few days and movement from the wall it was agreed that the road will close to assess the immediate danger and work with the private owners to find a quick solution.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day.

With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

More here:
Sunderland road closed off to traffic over safety concerns after wall crumbles - Sunderland Echo

In Texas, the NRG-owned WA Parish Generating Station has exacted a grim toll in exchange for the energy and jobs its provided the surrounding communities in Fort Bend County. Public Citizen noted last May that the pollutants emitted by the plant are estimated to be responsible for some 178 premature deaths each year. The promise of jobs dominates national discussion around coal. But the generating stations emissions also cost the community money by way of medical bills. In a column for Chron.com last November, writer Allyn West shared that one of his co-workers spent twice as much each month on asthma medication and air filters as they did on the electricity Parish provides along with the air pollutants. Meanwhile, NRG elected in the spring of 2020 to shut down the plants accompanying carbon capture unitused to limit the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel operations and long bandied as a symbol of NRGs commitment to clean energywith the company saying that its continued use was uneconomical.

Should the new ruling and incoming regulations from the Biden administration succeed in ushering out coal, theres also a case to be made that the benefits will extend beyond just protecting the surrounding community from breathing-related illnesses. In my home state of North Carolina, one of the defining scandals of the last decade was the 2014 Duke Energy coal ash spill in the Dan River, which filled it with arsenic and selenium. The river provides drinking water throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Looking beyond the spill, the North Carolina Medical Journal found that for the past three decades, scientists have connected living near coal-fired plants with having higher rates of all-cause and premature mortality, increased risk of respiratory disease and lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, poorer child health, and higher infant mortality.

Even after these plants are retired, the risk for contamination will remain high. For years, coal ash has been stored by corporations in ostensibly contained ponds, many unlined, that often lie near natural bodies of water. Following the flooding from Hurricane Florence in 2018, the Neuse River overran the coal ash ponds at a retired coal plant in Goldsboro, causing arsenic levels to spike. During the same storm, the Cape Fear River was also exposed to coal ash after an unlined coal ash pond topped the retaining wall meant to block it from the river.

Visit link:
Kill Coal to Save Lives - The New Republic

CHARLESTON State road crews working in Putnam County not only learned a new skill from scratch, but they also saved the state some dough.

Road crews from West Virginia Division of Highways District 1 have finished a massive piling-supported retaining wall in Putnam County, according to a news release from WVDOH. Typically, a project like this would be contracted out, but the 400-foot structure along Lime Kiln Road near Red House is the first piling wall project done by District 1 work crews on their own.

Its part of a push by Transportation Secretary Byrd White and Deputy Secretary Jimmy Wriston for highways crews to do more work in-house to get more mileage from each taxpayer dollar and bring to life Governor Justices vision for West Virginia roads.

State Highways Administrator Arlie Matney said highways crews in a few other districts have built piling walls on their own, but District 1 which includes Boone, Clay, Kanawha, Mason, and Putnam counties had not.

Matney transferred from District 10 to District 1 to share expertise and help spearhead special projects. He said a massive slip along Lime Kiln Road seemed like the perfect opportunity to allow District 1 road crews to see what they could do.

Lime Kiln Road, which snakes its way off WV 34 as 34 climbs Red House Hill in Putnam County, has been a trouble spot for some time.

Its a one-lane road with a major slip, Matney said in the news release. It was really narrow in spots, right around 8 feet wide.

When federal funding from the CARES Act became available, highways officials designated Lime Kiln Road a state Medical Access Roads Program project. MARP was to address the concerns of local first responders on roads that might hinder access to emergency vehicles.

Matney also thought the slip would be perfect for District 1 to undertake as a first project.

These guys took to it like ducks to water, he said.

Over a span of a little over a month, District 1 crews sank dozens of 40-foot girders into the ground, ending up with a 400-foot retaining wall. In comparison, the average piling retaining wall is about 100 feet long, Matney said.

When you look at it at first, the length of it is overwhelming, he said. These guys did an excellent job. Im really impressed by what they were able to do.

Matney said District 1 crews were able to widen Lime Kiln Road by 6 to 8 feet.

Basically, we turned a one-lane road into a two-lane road, he said. We saved something like $200,000 just from our people doing the work.

With work continuing in all 55 counties across the state, the West Virginia Division of Highways and the West Virginia Department of Transportation remind the public of the importance of keeping everyone safe in work zones by keeping Heads up; phones down!

The rest is here:
Putnam road project part of push to keep work in-house - Huntington Herald Dispatch

RIVERSIDE The city of Riverside has broken ground on a new playground at the city park.

Mayor Rusty Jessup said the city recently began work on preparing the ground for new equipment that was delivered to the city earlier this month.

Jessup said the playground is three years in the making and has seen large support from the community.

A lot of people in Riverside want to see this happen, Jessup said.

Jessup said the new community playground is the culmination of volunteer work from across Riverside.

Jessup gives particular praise to the Riverside Beautification Organization and its president, Julie Pounders.

She is the one whose really carried the torch, he said.

The mayor said the new playground equipment was funded through the RBOs continual fundraising, such as their annual poker run, and their constant search for grants.

Pounders said finally having ground broken on the project feels wonderful. Pounders said the RBO raised a total of $20,000 for the playground equipment and were able to receive a grant from Gametime in Pelham, the company the equipment was bought from, that matched those funds.

She said her organization has put a lot of hard work into the project to finally get it done.

Pounders told the city council during its Dec. 7 meeting that the RBO had ordered the equipment and all that remained was leveling a place for it and buying surfacing.

Jessup said that work has now begun. He said due to some left over money from last year's budget and private donations from citizens the work on leveling the ground, building a retaining wall and surfacing should cost the city less than $15,000.

He said he hopes to have the playground ready by the summer.

Jessup said the city is working to improve its city park one step at a time, and says there's still work to be done. The mayor said the city really values its green spaces, and he believes it's one of the reasons people come to live in Riverside.

It's part of the quality of life we enjoy by living in Riverside, Jessup said, adding that people want to be one with the nature that surrounds the city.

Pounders said the new equipment will help compliment that natural appeal with it being themed around blues and greens.

Jessup said, while the city cannot make huge park investments like larger cities, it will continue to work to make sure people can enjoy its natural resources.

We still consider ourselves a rural Alabama town with rural Alabama values, he said.

Taylor Mitchell, Daily Home reporter covering Pell City.

Read more from the original source:
Riverside breaks ground on playground | The St. Clair Times | annistonstar.com - Anniston Star

WILTON - Heinz Gossman of the Wilton Water and Waste Department attended Tuesday nights Wilton selectboard meeting to update members on upcoming budgetary concerns as well as to obtain approval for several new roof price quotes. The budgetary concerns stem from the possibility of the EPA altering their future phosphate regulations, which would lead to an increase in the Water and Waste Departments costs for chemicals to keep the levels under regulation. This could have an effect on clients in the future.

Theyre trying to put a lot of limits on us. Its going to affect us majorly and when those numbers come out next year, well probably have to raise rates, Gossman said.

The board approved Gossmans $2,200 quote for Arctic Roofing to complete a new roof for the water plant, which will take place in the spring or early summer. After the boards unanimous vote of approval, Gossman was also given the green light to obtain a request for proposal of the engineering of a new transmission line for the water department.

The Wilton Farmers Market, will once again be held in McGillicudy Park after unanimous approval by the board. Lisa Small spoke on behalf of the market vendors, requesting approval after a successful year despite initial parking concerns in the new downtown location.

The farmers market did very well this year. A lot of townspeople were repeat customers. They were happy to see us. Vacationers were happy to see us. Wed like to come back and have another successful year, said Small.

Several of the board members reported that they had enjoyed the Wilton Farmers Market during the previous summer as well.

I loved having the market downtown. It was one of the few times I could get out and see people socially distanced. I fully support it, said board member Tiffany Mauri.

A discussion on the possible placement of ATV trail signs between Steves Market on Depot St. to the downtown area followed, especially concerning the budgetary costs the signs would entail. There was no decision reached on what the publics involvement will be in either allowing or denying the placement of such signs, but it was agreed that, if the authority lies in the publics hands, there should be some involvement.

Its going to have to be something the town pays for, which we didnt budget specifically for, said Town Manager Rhonda Irish, who then went on to update the board on the towns overall budgets for the year so far.

All of the budgets are right on target with the exception of the general assistance which is already at the max. Weve not run into this before, said Irish.

The budget for general assistance for the year was for $5,000 and has already been used on account of an unexpected influx in funeral expenses accumulating at the beginning of the year. There have already been 4 funerals requesting funds from the general assistance account, which now implies that those wishing to apply for funds out of general assistance will have to obtain alternative and additional approval.

The Wilson Lake Retaining Wall Project is moving along steadily. The board unanimously approved to proceed with allowing the engineering company working in tandem on the project to conduct a topographical survey on the construction area.

As spring approaches, so does election season for both the selectboard and the school board. Nominations papers for both boards will be available on Feb. 26 and will be due back on April 12. Elections will be held on June 8 and the town meeting will be held on June 14. There is one seat open on each board. The location for the town meeting has not been determined yet.

Weve done it outside, we can do it again, Irish said.

The final update from Irish came in the form of a caution to dog owners of the area to license their dogs before Feb. 1, after which point an additional $25 in state fees will be added to the existing cost.

See the rest here:
Wilton Selectboard hears Water Department concerns and announces nomination ballots - Daily Bulldog

Over time the weather, vibration, ground movementsand general wear and tear can take their toll on the masonry and concrete used in buildings.

But keeping buildings in a good state of repair can be expensive and difficult. Hairline cracks and other damage below the wall surface can be hard to detect. With large numbers of historic buildings and ageing infrastructure, Europe faces an enormous task keeping its buildings in a good state.

To maintain and repair the EU's 1.1 million bridges alone requires an estimated budget of 4-6 billion every year while replacing them could cost more than400 billion. And as around a fifth of the houses in the EU are more than 69 years old according to data from 2015 keeping these in aliveablestate will become a growing burden for the construction industry.

It has led some scientists to ask whether it might be possible for buildings to take care of themselves.

Although natural stone structures and objects may have survived over the centuries, weathering and everyday stresses cause damage and deterioration, said DrMagdaliniTheodoridou, an engineerandNewcastleUniversityacademic track fellow at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, UK.This could compromise the structural integrity and safety of buildings, as well as reduce their aesthetic appeal.

Providing masonry and stonework with an in-built immune system, ready to work before damage becomes critical, will significantly benefit their longevity and reduce their maintenance needs.'

Providing masonry and stonework with an in-built immune system, ready to work before damage becomes critical, will significantly benefit their longevity.

Dr Magdalini Theodoridou, Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, UK

Bacteria

To enablebuildings to repair themselves, DrTheodoridouhas been using bacteria that can act much like the immune cells in the human body that are responsible for detecting injuries and aiding healing.

While working as a research fellow at Cardiff University she was part of the GEOHEAL project which developedways of using bacteria to repair damage to natural stone and masonry.Previous work by other groups has demonstrated that it is possible to create self-healing concrete by seedingit withbacterial spores. The spores are contained within tiny capsules along with a supply of nutrients.

When a crack appears in the concretestructure, the capsules rupture and the exposed bacteria multiply, producing calcium carbonate the main constituent of limestone and found in the shells of sea creatures. Thishardens into the stable mineral calcite, which cements the crack together.

But while specific hardy types of bacteria capable of withstanding the range of conditions a structure might experience can be added to concrete as it is being mixed, getting them into natural stone is more of a challenge.

The GEOHEAL team have developed a technique that allows them to spray or brush existing stonework with a liquid containing naturally occurring soil bacteria. These then work their way intoporous rock and eventually healdamageas it occurs. Thetreatmentalso contains calcium along with nutrients the bacteria need to grow and produce calcite.

The two types of soil bacteria used SporosarcinapasteuriiandSporosarcinaureaecan readily make their homes inside the stone,saysDr Michael Harbottle, coordinator of the GEOHEAL project and a senior lecturer ingeoenvironmentalengineering at Cardiff University, UK.

Stone and geological materials are by naturebioreceptive, thanks to their mineralogical composition and porous microstructure, he said. The bacteria we have used can happily live in such environments and lead to new mineral formation, as long as they have access to water, oxygen and nutrients including a source of calcium ions.

Self-healing

While the bacteria could feed off the calcium already contained in some natural rock types such as limestone, marbles and sandstones, thiscoulddegrade the surrounding stone. Instead, the researchers provide additional calcium for the bacteria to turn into hardened calcite.

We provide the calcium ions with the nutrients in order to boost the efficiency of the self-healing system, as well as to prevent decomposition of the natural fabric of the host materials, said Dr Harbottle.

The researchers have also developed a self-healing mortar to hold stones and brick togetherby adding dormant bacteria to the mortar paste along with a network ofveinscontaining nutrients.When the mortar is damaged,these veins break open, providing food for the bacteria that causes them to multiply andrepair the cracks. As they do so, they re-encapsulate themselves, becoming dormant once more and ready to start the repair process again should further damage occur.

Provided the bacteria can access water or oxygen, the self-healing process can take place at any depth into the stone that a crack may appear. Most treatments for restoring and protecting old masonry tend to be restricted to coatings on the surface of the masonry, saysDrTheodoridou.

During the two-year project, which ended in early 2020, the researchers also collaborated with the Welsh government to see if their bacterial system could help preserve the historic Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire, Wales. Tests conducted on stone samples from the site showed that the bacteria couldimprove the microstructure of the masonry.

Crucially they also found that the appearance of the stone itself did not change.

For example, no colour alterations were found than could be detectable by the human eye, said Dr Harbottle. The bacterial treatment also did not affect the breathability of the stone something that can be a problem with conventional stone protection treatments and sealants, which can lead to the surface layer flaking off assaltsbuild up behind it. This can then accelerate the weathering of the stone that is exposed underneath.

Infrastructure

DrTheodoridouaddsthat using bacterial self-healing treatments could be particularly useful for critical infrastructureand those that aredifficult to access, such as bridges and tunnels. It could also help to prolong the life of older buildings that have suffered damage.

Thiscouldcontribute to meeting global sustainability goals, she says.

The construction industry is responsible for around 5-12% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and 11% worldwide,making it a major contributor to climate change. Byhelping buildings last longer with fewer repairs, self-healing materials couldreduce those emissions.

For structures such as bridge, tunnels and earth retaining walls, the ability to self-heal could also greatly improve their safety. Damage to these critical infrastructures can lead to catastrophic failures if they are not regularly maintained. In 2018, the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, in Genoa, Italyclaimed the lives of 43 people and investigators identified corroded cables and damage to the concrete as being partly responsible.

Large parts of these structures, however, tend to be buried underground, making maintenance and inspections an even harder task. Self-healing concrete in these situations could help to save up to120 million every year in maintenance and repair costs of Europes tunnels and earth retaining walls, according to researchers working on the GEOBACTICON project.

Soil

Most research on self-healing concrete has focused on structures exposed to the air or water rather than those immersed in the soil. Different soil types with varying moisture and acidity can affect the concrete in wide range of ways.

It is not clear if the process of self-healing is efficient within concrete elements exposed to such complicated ground conditions, said Dr AdamSouid, an engineer at the University of Derby, UK, and principal investigator on GEOBACTICON. The project, which concluded in December, was trying to unravel how bacterial-based self-healing might behave in concrete buried underground.

He and his colleagues mixed calcium-rich capsules of gel filled with the soil bacteriaBacillus subtilisinto concrete and shaped them into blocks. These were then deliberately damaged and buried into various types of naturally occurring soil. They found that in some soils, other soil bacteria could penetrate into cracks and compete with the healing bacteria.

The sizeand compositionof the soil particles could also cause problems as these can infiltrate the cracks,while the amount of water saturating the soil was also important as it could generate pressure inside pores and cracks thataffected the resulting healing.More saturated soils tended to heal better, theresearchersfound.

The findings have provided the team with vital clues about how to improve the self-healing processes in underground structures, which they are now starting to investigate. If they are successful, however, it could be vital for not just maintaining the integrity of concrete itself, but also protecting the steel bars encased within the concrete to reinforce large structures.

If exposed to moisture, acidic compounds and other chemicals found in soils, the steel can corrode and weaken, saysDrSouid.The bacterial self-repairing concrete technology can protect reinforced concrete structures and infrastructures actively and durably without human investigations, controls or interventions.Self-healing stonework and concrete could even lead to exciting new forms of architecture in the future,believesDrTheodoridou. In new construction, the possibility of incorporating self-healing materials and structural elements would enable bolder and more sustainable designs.

The research in this article was funded by the EU.If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

Read more here:
Buildings, tunnels and bridges could soon repair themselves - Horizon

On Oct. 27, 2018, my community lost 11 lives to an anti-Semitic act of hate the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

In the weeks and months of mourning that followed, one thing I kept hearing over and over again was a cry to Vote! At that moment it felt like no amount of voting or organizing could heal the pain and mourning we were feeling. Although local elections were coming up, the presidential election felt so far away and so intangible. It felt like the change in rhetoric and leadership that we truly needed was just not going to happen. At that moment I could not fully see the power of a vote.

I am originally from California and consider myself a liberal-leaning Democrat, so voting in my home state rarely makes an impact. At home, I am one of many blue drops in the bucket. There, my vote blends into the masses. After moving to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon University, though, I quickly felt a sense of home and belonging and wanted to have a say in local politics. So, I changed my voter registration to Pennsylvania.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

On the evening of Oct. 27, 2018, I went to a vigil on the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues. I stood surrounded by a sea of people feeling the beginning of a grief that would soon become a part of the person I am today. I stood in that intersection surrounded by people crying and praying and grieving just like me, but I had never felt so alone. I thought that intersection would always be tainted with this painful memory of the lowest moment of my life the weight of death and hate making the world feel empty and silent.

A few days after the shooting, I was sitting on a bench at Rodef Shalom Congregation and a stranger gave me a blue plastic bracelet. The Hebrew words on one side loosely translated to You do not have to heal the world but you cannot desist, and on the other side it read, Take one step.

Fast forward two years to Election Day 2020. While running an errand I ended up in Squirrel Hill. Almost automatically, I drove to the Tree of Life synagogue building, parked my car and sat in the courtyard beneath the stained glass windows. As I sat in the courtyard by myself on that crisp, sunny Pittsburgh morning I noticed a row of stones sitting on the retaining wall. I counted 10 stones. One was missing. I looked down and saw the missing stone had fallen to the ground. I picked it up and laid it with the other 10 that in total symbolized the 11 people murdered that fateful Shabbat morning. I sat back down and stared at the stones, listing off every name of each person we lost that day.

Following the shooting at the Tree of Life building, I became an agnostic Jew. Although I now identify even more strongly with my Jewish identity, I could not and still cannot fathom how God can exist and take 11 innocent lives. Despite my lack of belief in God, I did something as I sat in that courtyard that day that I have not done in a very long time. I prayed. But this time it was not to God it was to every person we lost on Oct. 27, 2018. I made a promise to every single one of those people, whom I will never know, that today would be the day we would remove from power the man who allowed hate to flourish in our country.

On the evening of Nov. 3, my heart broke to see Pennsylvania on the televised electoral map fill with bright red. As I sat glued to my couch for the five long days we called Election Night 2020, Allegheny County came up on the Magic Board nearly every hour on CNN. But as the votes trickled in, night by night, as my mail-in ballot got counted, as my friends ballots got counted, we began to see our votes in action. As the red numbers got smaller and smaller, we cautiously hoped the blue numbers might have a fighting chance.

I could be poetic and say it was the hope that brought us to the moment Biden took Pennsylvania, but no, it was the votes.

This year I saw votes in action. I saw the people behind those votes who flipped the state and made their voices heard. I was not old enough to vote in the 2016 election, so I watched my country make a decision that would empower a hateful, horrible man to enter a Jewish place of worship and take 11 innocent lives. But this election, I finally had a say. I finally had a vote. My vote got a female vice president, a Jewish second gentleman, and a president who has been a longtime advocate for gun control into the White House. You cannot tell me that my vote does not matter. A small decision made years ago helped to flip an entire state.

On the evening of Nov. 7, 2020, I found myself, again, on the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues. But this time there was music blasting and bright eyes under masked smiles. Now I stood in the middle of that intersection again with tears in my eyes, but this time tears of joy. This time, the people surrounding me were dancing and singing and waving flags and holding signs because we had just elected a new president. We did that. Our state. Our county. Our votes. And although a vote cannot heal the pain and the loss that my community endured, I think back to that little blue plastic bracelet that said, Take one step. That is what voting is. Not a cure, but a step.

So as I stood at the intersection of Forbes and Murray on Nov. 7, 2020, I welcomed the tears in my eyes. Tears filled with hope for a new beginning. Tears filled with happiness at the knowledge that my vote mattered and my voice was heard. I finally understood the cry to vote. I voted for a candidate who stands on the platform of kindness and empathy, who understands loss and grief and who I believe will do everything in his power to care for a country simultaneously grieving and celebrating so much.

This is the moment the work begins. We have taken one step, now it is time for another. PJC

Adira Rosen is a directing student at Carnegie Mellon Universitys School of Drama.

Read this article:
The cry to vote | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net