There used to be a claim Penne Main knew 20,000 people.  It was a running joke around the office when she worked at our radio stations.  She was a fixture of local radio and television for a very long time.  She packed up and left and now serves as President of the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce.  Tony Morley, the City Administrator in Heyburn, has told me our loss was their gain!

Penne signed on with the new job not long before the pandemic hit.  Somehow, she managed to steer through some difficult waters because it was a difficult time for membership.  The role of the organization is to be a voice.  In publicly promoting the benefits of shopping locally and in lobbying governments at all levels for the cause of local merchants. 

As we may be going through the worst COVID could throw at us, a lot of people are looking to exhale.  This is what I wanted to witness when I read the Mini-Cassia Chamber was going to have an after-hours event on what may turn out to be the last summer-like evening of the calendar year.  I got to meet several business owners.  These are people who work for a living and put in some long days, nights, and weekends.

As I was being introduced to some of these hard-working people, a fellow came over and handed Penne an axe.  She stepped into something resembling a batting cage from Burly Axe and began tossing tomahawks.  Now, this is Southern Idaho fun!  She did better than some young men.  One guy hit the top of the cage.  Penne didn’t wedge the axe into the target, but she hit it straight.  I could see her practicing all winter in her backyard.  

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

Gallery Credit: Hannah Lang

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