EDITORIAL: Views From the Nation's Press

Oct. 15—The New York Daily News on welcoming back Lady Liberty:

This week, after more than two years of COVID-19 closure, visitors returned to the top of the Statue of Liberty, climbing the 146 winding steps up the double helix spiral staircase to reach inside her crown and look down on the harbor from the 25 windows, exactly as intended when she was given by France to the United States in 1886.

This column fought for eight years after 9/11 to get the whole statue — including the crown — reopened, challenging successive secretaries of the interior and National Park Service directors face to face until Secretary Ken Salazar, on his and President Barack Obama's third day in office, agreed with us, ordering the NPS to open it up beginning July 4, 2009.

Now, once again, the whole monument is open. Although currently limited to 250 people a day, hopefully crown capacity will soon return to the pre-COVID 500 daily. Hip, hip, hooray.

Also worth celebrating on Liberty's 136th birthday on Oct. 28 (and every day) is that the illegal ticket hawkers swarming over tourists in the Battery and pressuring them to buy pricey boat rides that didn't go to Liberty or Ellis islands are gone.

COVID put a big dent in their illegal racket as Liberty and Ellis were closed down, and since the reopening, 80% of visitors have purchased advance tickets or online, making it not worth the hawkers' time.

Visitors deserve a better experience embarking for the islands. Passengers board bobbing vessels from fixed slips, a sometimes-harrowing step. Far better and safer, and more efficient, are floating platforms. Also, dump the airport-like screening facilities in ugly tents in the Battery and Jersey City's Liberty State Park. Both states should install floating platforms, and Govs. Kathy Hochul and Phil Murphy should move the screening inside vacant, historic 1880s structures sitting right there, the Battery's Pier A and Jersey's Communipaw Terminal. Both were derelict, then refurbished, then swamped by Sandy, and then repaired again.

Get it done before the semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026, celebrating 250 years of independence since 1776.

The Republican & Herald (Pottsville, Pa.) on letting growing distillery business flourish:

Gov. Gifford Pinchot — who was a visionary in other respects — disagreed with Prohibition's repeal in 1933. He devised a system making it difficult to buy alcoholic beverages, and the commonwealth has had a long, torturous journey toward consumer choice that characterizes the rest of the market economy.

Most Pennsylvanians affected by the state's absurd booze rules are consumers, but the byzantine system is even harder on businesses. The state government itself is the monopoly wholesaler and principal retailer for wine and spirits and, like any monopoly, doesn't much care about customer service. Retailers can't take their business elsewhere.

Gradually, public pressure and economics have forced the state government to peel back some layers of the regulatory onion, without eliminating many of the absurdities. Whether you're 21 or a septuagenarian, for example, you have to present a photo ID to a clerk, at a separate checkout area in a market, to buy a maximum of 96 ounces of wine or beer.

Now the state Legislature has a chance to further peel back that onion while nurturing a growing business sector.

Pennsylvania's craft-brewing industry has managed to thrive despite restrictions. The state has 486 craft breweries, second most of any state. They are an industry unto themselves, but also contribute to other industries, especially tourism.

Even more remarkable is that the state has nurtured the industry, imposing a tax of just 8 cents per gallon on beer — the fourth-lowest rate in the nation, for which the average is 26 cents — even while maintaining some of the nation's highest taxes on wine and spirits.

Nationally, another growing trend is local craft distilleries, which often develop in concert with local breweries. Pennsylvania is behind that curve because of another aspect of state law. Companies may hold brewery or distillery licenses, but not both at the same location.

Industry advocates testified recently at a legislative hearing at Wallenpaupack Brewing Co. in Hawley, that similar restrictions have been lifted in Ohio, Maryland, New York and other states.

Pennsylvania should do likewise to bolster a growing industry, and tourism, without diminishing its own regulatory authority or adversely affecting competition.

The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) on Mental Health Report supports need for mental health care:

Another report on the growing rate of mental illness highlights the continued need for awareness, education and more financial support.

The United Health Foundation reported that nearly 20% of young adult women in Minnesota reported frequent mental distress in 2019-2020, up from 12% five years earlier. The latest report came at the beginning of the pandemic, and other reports have noted mental illness rates increased even more as the pandemic wore on.

The rising rate of mental illness among Minnesotans aged 3-17 also rose, but at a somewhat slower pace. The rate of those reporting depression rose to 4.1% in 2021 compared to 3.3% in 2017-18.

A Kaiser Family Foundation report shows nearly 40% of respondents nationwide reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in July 2020 compared with about 10% in pre-pandemic 2019.

The reports highlight the importance of creating awareness and education among the population for signs of mental illness and the importance of helping reduce the stigma so people will seek help.

The United Health report had some good news for Minnesota, as the state was rated top among all states for the mental health of its women and children despite rising rates of anxiety and depression. The ranking was influenced by the high rate of childhood physical activity in Minnesota as well as relatively low blood pressure rates and low use of illicit drugs.

But mental health continues to be in the news and has prompted some groups to offer solutions. The United Health Foundation allocated $3 million to a pilot program aimed at schools to increase mental health awareness and reduce the stigma.

The Minnesota Legislature compromised on a mental health bill last session that provided funding for mental health programs in schools and helped underwrite loan forgiveness programs for mental health providers.

And more recent tracking of anxiety and depression from the Kaiser foundation found that in June 2022, 36% of the population were experiencing symptoms, a decline from 40% of about two years ago.

There's still a long way to go in treatment and awareness of mental illness. Keeping it in the spotlight will be important.