An Ironic Historical Look at the Hometown View

One of my biggest regrets (and I have many) is not saving every written segment of the Hometown View which started in the fall of 1996.

I have though for the past few years and decided to look back to see what I was talking about on this day in recent history.  Ironically there is some connection to what’s happening today.

Among several topics addressed on this date in 2017 was ESPN firing more than 100 reporters, writers and others including some high profile on-air personalities.

The move was made as part of cost-cutting due to rough financial times at the network and isn’t that somewhat ironic because all of us in the media are facing uncertain futures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Two years ago on I talked about Bill Cosby’s fall from grace as he had been recently found guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault.  Things have gotten even worse for the man once called “America’s Dad” for his role as Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” as he’s serving a 3-10 year prison sentence in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Cosby is back in the news because his lawyers are trying to get him released over fears he’ll get sick while in prison.

Last year I talked about the rise in gas prices in New Jersey which were approaching $3.00 a gallon.  The average price in the state was $2.93 for regular gas at this time in 2019 which had risen by about 50 cents in just a couple of months.

Well here we are a year later and prices have dropped dramatically, under $2.00 in most place around the shore which is about a dollar a gallon less than a year ago.  Unfortunately we really don’t have anywhere to go to take advantage of the lower prices which are due to a combination of factors, mainly a glut of gas because of supply and demand during the pandemic.

For what it’s worth the average price across the country is $1.77 a gallon and Wisconsin has the lowest price at about $1.20 with California the highest at $2.76 (not counting Hawaii).

I certainly hope next year on this date we can look back a year and say “thank goodness we are not dealing with that anymore” in reference to COVID-19.