Panther Valley High School has become the latest school to sanction girls’ wrestling, one of the hottest new scholastic sports. A large amount of the credit for interest in the sport at the Summit Hill high school goes to freshman Brenda Banks, who won the 235-pound championship at the 2023 MyHouse PA Girls’ State Championships in March at Central Dauphin High School, then went on to finish fourth in the U.S. Marine Corps Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association voted unanimously more than two months ago to sanction the sport as an official scholastic sport making Pennsylvania the 38th state in the nation to get on board with the program. The PIAA required that at least 100 schools embrace girls’ wrestling, a threshold that was met when the Pennridge School Board in Bucks County gave its approval in February. There are about 115 schools in Pennsylvania which offer girls’ wrestling, so by comparison it still has a long way to go to compare with the 475 schools that offer boys’ wrestling.

Northampton County referendums

Northampton County voters will have referendums in two consecutive elections to consider term limits for its key elected officials. The latter proposal would limit the county district attorney to four four-year terms and goes to voters in the Spring 2024 primary elections. Earlier, county council overrode three vetoes by county Executive Lamont McClure to give voters a chance in this coming General Election on Nov. 7 to vote on a proposal for two four-year term limits for county executive and controller (the county’s chief fiscal official). Voters will also be asked whether they approve of three four-year terms for County Council members. Northampton County operates under a charter form of government. A reminder: All county registered voters are eligible to vote on referendums at the primary elections regardless of party affiliation or no affiliation.

Salary increase referendums

Allentown voters also will have referendums to vote on come November. City Council members in early July voted to put questions on the ballot to increase council members’ salaries from the current $6,149 to $15,000 annually, a boost of 144%. The council president would get an extra $1,000. Voters also will be asked whether the salary of the city Controller should be increased to 80% that of Mayor Matt Tuerk’s $95,000-a-year salary, or $76,000, from the current $49,894, a 52% increase. If approved, the new amounts would not take effect until the current terms expire.

Spun wheel the wrong way

Since I have been a journalist and columnist for 63 years, I have been asked which opinion I expressed that was so far off the mark it’s almost too embarrassing to repeat and wish I could take back. It was in 1982, when I wrote in a column for The Express (now The Express-Times) newspaper in Easton that the nighttime version of Wheel of Fortune featuring Pat Sajak and Vanna White, despite its popularity, was a “mere flash in the pan that would have its 15 minutes of fame, then slink into TV oblivion.” Well, 41 years later, as Sajak recently announced his departure from the show at the end of the coming season, the program is still one of the most popular game shows on the air.

Remembering Tony Bennett

Along with so many others, I was saddened to learn of the death of legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who performed numerous times at Lehigh Valley venues, including the PPL Center in Allentown, SteelStacks in Bethlehem, the Allentown Fair and the State Theatre in Easton. I met Bennett when I was the editor of The Express (now The Express-Times) in Easton, and our paper would sponsor performances by well-known entertainers or entertainment groups at the State Theatre. When I was 14 years old and received an RCA 45 RPM record player for my birthday, one of the first records I bought was Bennett’s enormous hit “Rags to Riches.” (“I know I’d go from rags to riches/If you would only say you care/And though my pockets may be empty/I’d be a millionaire.”)

Barbie in a box

With the recent release of the Barbie movie, I can’t help thinking of the time when my mother bought the first Barbie to come on the market in 1959 at Bright’s Department Store in Lansford for $3 to give to a young relative whose family she was planning to visit in a few weeks. For some reason, the visit never occurred, so the doll, in its original box and unopened, sat around our attic for years. When I began selling antiques and collectibles on the side to try to accumulate some extra money for our sons’ college education, I learned how valuable Barbie #1 was, so I asked my mother about the doll’s whereabouts. “Oh, I threw that out a couple of years ago,” she said matter-of-factly. I am told that this doll in unopened mint condition might be worth in the neighborhood of $27,000. Oh well, easy come, easy go.

Correction: In a column item published July 20, I incorrectly gave the amount authorized for Pennsylvania’s portion of the broadband expansion program as $1.6 billion when it is actually $1.16 billion.

By BRUCE FRASSINELLI| tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.