MAYFLOWERS: We got our annual call from Joe Cucuzza of Lewis Run letting us know spring is here — at least according to his family tradition.
The mayflowers are up, he told us on Monday.
This stems back to the 1960s, when Joe’s grandfather would look for mayflowers each year on the hill behind the former Valley Hunt Club. Finding the blossoms marks the beginning of springtime for the Cucuzza family.
Joe took on his grandfather’s tradition about 30 years ago, he tells us.
This was the first year he had to make the trek into the woods alone — in the past he has always taken his children or a dog. His children are grown now.
“It’s the first time in a long time I had to wait until April,” Joe noted, explaining that in recent years the flowers have come up earlier, in March.
EQUAL PAY DAY: In honor of National Equal Pay Day, the National Partnership for Women & Families analyzed Census data to illustrate the gender wage gap — and how that gap impacts the spending power of women in Pennsylvania.
“Women employed full time, year-round in Pennsylvania are paid just 79 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap of $10,762,” according to a press release on the day.
“That means Pennsylvania women lose a combined total of nearly $34 billion every year — money that could strengthen the state economy and is especially significant for the more than 609,000 Pennsylvania households headed by women, 28 percent of which are in poverty.”
The release offers more information on how that impacts spending power:
“According to the analysis, if the gap between women’s and men’s wages in Pennsylvania were eliminated, a woman in the state who holds a full-time, year-round job would have enough money for 1.6 more years of food, 7.6 more months of mortgage and utilities payments, more than 12 additional months of rent, more than 14 additional months of child care, nearly one additional year of tuition and fees at a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year community college.”
