Greg Johnson has a pretty good job — and even better benefits. The Dauphin County magisterial district judge and his colleagues across the state earn $93,338 a year, with the possibility of a pension and lifetime health care, funded largely by taxpayers. So, it might come as a surprise that 2019 court data revealed he sometimes had proceedings just two days a week. That also allowed him to tend to his family business — a nursery and landscaping company north of Harrisburg.

In Delaware County, Judge Robert Radano had a nice setup, too. Setting aside weekends, holidays, and a week of training, Radano had the equivalent of five months without court appearances. He also worked a second job, as a practicing attorney.

And in Allegheny County, Judge Anthony Saveikis had 96 days without any proceedings. He listed three other jobs on his financial disclosure form: lawyer, energy company owner, and real estate partner.

Across Pennsylvania, 512 elected district judges are the gatekeepers of the court system and the most likely to interact with residents. They preside over traffic cases, set bail amounts in criminal cases, and rule on civil disputes, such as home evictions. But a yearlong investigation and data analysis by PennLive and Spotlight PA found huge variations in how many days each had court proceedings.

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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Wednesday.

“I have no symptoms and am feeling well,” he said in a statement, adding that he and First Lady Frances Wolf, who is awaiting test results, are quarantining. The governor said he plans to continue working remotely, “as many are doing during the pandemic.”

The announcement comes as daily COVID-19 cases in the state climb higher than ever and hospitals contend with severe shortages of staff needed to care for infected patients as well as Pennsylvanians experiencing other health issues. Wolf was last seen in public during a Monday news conference with Health Secretary Rachel Levine, where they both wore face masks, even while speaking.

The Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wolf said his positive test shows “no one is immune from COVID” and “that following all precautions as I have done is not a guarantee.”

But such precautions are “what we know to be vital to stopping the spread of the disease and so I ask all Pennsylvanians to wear a mask, stay home as much as possible, socially distance yourself from those not in your household, and, most of all, take care of each other and stay safe,” he said.

By Apoorva Mandavilli
Dec. 8, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
The new Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna seem to be remarkably good at preventing serious illness. But it’s unclear how well they will curb the spread of the coronavirus.

That’s because the Pfizer and Moderna trials tracked only how many vaccinated people became sick with Covid-19. That leaves open the possibility that some vaccinated people get infected without developing symptoms, and could then silently transmit the virus — especially if they come in close contact with others or stop wearing masks. If vaccinated people are silent spreaders of the virus, they may keep it circulating in their communities, putting unvaccinated people at risk.

“A lot of people are thinking that once they get vaccinated, they’re not going to have to wear masks anymore,” said Michal Tal, an immunologist at Stanford University. “It’s really going to be critical for them to know if they have to keep wearing masks, because they could still be contagious.”

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Only people who have virus teeming in their nose and throat would be expected to transmit the virus, and the lack of symptoms in the immunized people who became infected suggests that the vaccine may have kept the virus levels in check.

But some studies have suggested that even people with no symptoms can have high amounts of coronavirus in their nose, noted Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, who represents the American Academy of Pediatrics at meetings of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The first person confirmed to be reinfected with the coronavirus, a 33-year-old man in Hong Kong, also did not have symptoms, but harbored enough virus to infect others.

It was around this time two years ago when Donald Trump thought it'd be a good idea to give the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to the wife of a Republican megadonor. A Washington Post analysis noted at the time that Miriam Adelson's medal reflected "a growing pattern: one of Trump awarding a large majority of such medals ... to supporters, to Republicans, and to recipients who fit his political agenda."

Two years later, as the outgoing president awarded former football coach Lou Holtz with the nation's highest civilian honor, the pattern remains unchanged.

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In case this isn't obvious, this honor hasn't traditionally been politicized, and presidents haven't traditionally seen it as a reward for political allies.

Going forward, perhaps we can make the Presidential Medal of Freedom great again?

A responsible and Saturnian Libra
As Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate, he made a big political splash and a welter of publicity. The senator and attorney general of California is indeed a heavyweight with a strong personality. She is driven by a trend well-disposed toward minorities and women, for a long time kept away from power. Does Harris have a special future ahead of her? In any case, her natal chart provides very nice cards to play along.

Born with the Sun in Libra, she has only this luminary in this sign. However, the Sun is well-aspected, since he is involved in an Air Grand Trine, with the Ascendant in Gemini and Saturn in Aquarius.

It must also be underlined that the Sun is in conjunction with Mercury, who is already in Scorpio, and that Saturn too is in conjunction with the Midheaven, already in Pisces. Therefore, the Grand Trine is sliding towards the Water element. As if, in addition to intellectual and communication capacities, there is a touch of intuition and sensitivity, very much propitious for her position (whatever it is, considering the fact that anyway, her career is terrific).

Besides, Saturn near the Midheaven leaves his mark of iron on the social and professional destiny of Harris, endowing her with great rigor and a taste for hard work.

A Kite full of capacity for achievement
It must be noted that the Kite is the main pattern linking those planets, for the Sun, Mercury, Saturn, the Midheaven, and the Ascendant work together under the guidance of the Moon in Aries, in sextile with these two angles (AS-MC).

It must be kept in mind that Harris was born exactly on a full Moon, a phase indicating a character needing to put things in perspective, a quality which also reminds of people having the Sun in Libra. Therefore, this peace-loving (Libra) lady desires to throw herself into battle with all the ardour of Aries.

Her biography indicates that she often demonstrated that she is enterprising and ambitious. She was born in a family of brilliant intellectuals; her mother holds a PhD in endocrinology, and her father was a professor emeritus of economics. Harris studied in French-speaking Montréal before she returned to California to learn political sciences and law.

The Kite pattern and a majority of auspicious aspects probably made things easy for her when she started off, and enabled her to do well without needing to fight too hard.

The Moon in Aries describes pioneers and go-getters
Nevertheless, Harris' temperament is based on a quite turbulent Moon in Aries, because the latter is in trine with Mars in Leo. In addition to what has just been said, this prompts Harris to behave like a real Amazon.

On the one hand, she very rapidly became known for championing causes dear to her heart such as for example the defence of molested people, the better control of firearms, the dialogue with immigrants. This logically led her to go into politics with the Democratic Party.

Although the Sun is the only planet in Libra, we observe that Harris can use the assets of this sign very well. She gained a public good reputation as a progressive prosecutor who contributed to the tough policy of crime repression prevailing in California after the seventies, within both the Republicans and the Democrats.

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