Johnstown has run through many titles in its long existence.
We’ve been the Friendly City, based on the supposed near-universal goodwill of the masses here.
We’ve been the Flood City, as a nod to three massive natural disasters.
In a testimony to a getting-out-the-vote campaign that would make Democrats blush (you local vote magnifiers know who you are), Johnstown was elected the inaugural winner of the the Kraft Hockeyville title in 2015.
What some consider our greatest title came in 1972, when we were named an All-American City by the National Civic League, based on what the organization’s current web site lists as a hodgepodge of feel-good vagaries.
On this honor, allow me to note that the same web site identifies more than 500 communities having won the award since it all began in 1949, some as many as seven times.
Alas, Johnstown was one and done in 1972, joining many other Pennsylvania winners including such relatively nearby communities as Meyersdale, Clearfield and Lewistown.
Pittsburgh won twice, last in 1987. And Philadelphia (known on this site as Filthydelphia) was honored four times, last in 1994, which may speak volumes about the award’s prestige, or lack thereof.
Events of last week likely preclude Johnstown winning any positive notice in the near future. We may have to settle for something like the At Least We’re Not Chicago award.
But we’re gaining.
Just last week, individuals in two cars are said to have exchanged shots while traveling the city, including on busily traveled Broad Street (ironically the same name as a prominent Filthydelphia thoroughfare that traverses that city). In a display of uncharacteristic marksmanship, if reports from police and the like are accurate, the pair managed to mortally wound each other.
The amazing part of the story is that none of the other occupants of the vehicles, or innocents either on the streets or in passing cars, caught any of the fire.
The victims represented the yin and yang of local violence, one a homegrown sort with a long list of contact with the law. The other hailed from Delaware County, which while not Filthydelphia proper, is the next best thing, adjoining that city.
Officials took the occasion of a press conference to tell us these were the ninth and 10th homicides this year in Johnstown, which seems to indicate we’re on target for two or three more before 2023 arrives.
I understand this equates to no more than a rough holiday weekend in Chicago. But, considering the population disparity of the two municipalities, we’re holding our own.
Two days after the shooting here, while the details of this incident still were being digested and detailed, social media erupted with reports of a fan brawl at a Greater Johnstown High School football game.
There were obligatory mentions of a gun being shown, but not discharged.
Media reports indicate five police officers joined school resource officers in breaking up the fight, reported to have included both juveniles and adults.
One eyewitness reported to my wife things were so crazy that she and a friend hid in the girls bathroom at the stadium.
Even before all this, there were unsubstantiated reports circulating in the community of some rooms at Johnstown’s middle school having been damaged days earlier in a separate incident involving district students, but not students of that specific school.
If all of this gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, you need help. If, instead, you are outraged by what is transpiring here, it is well past the time to demand accountability — and action.
Sam Ross Jr's site 