Laurels & lances: Clean woods, dirty mouths
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Laurel: To cleaning up. Boy Scouts learn a lot about how to interact with the environment. One of their top priorities is to “leave no trace.”
But when Troop 284 of Irwin spent some time in a wooded area of North Huntingdon, it was obvious they had been there — in a good way. The Scouts cleaned up years of trash, debris and cast-off items, including more than 30 tires.
“We’re trying to clean up the community. We’ve been picking up trash for a while because we want to make the community a nicer place,” said Ryan Zaya, 16, an 11th grader at Hempfield Area High School. “Tires are one of the biggest pieces of trash out there, and no one cleans it up. I can’t believe we’ve gotten this many from this spot.”
This was at Frog Road off Route 993. They had targeted a second location at Hahntown-Wendel Road, but someone else had a similar idea and collected and piled tires for removal before they got there.
No matter who did the work, it’s an important job for multiple reasons. Tires aren’t just a pollution hazard. They also provide a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, making them a health threat for diseases such as West Nile virus.
Lance: To governmental infighting. Enough already. The House of Representatives fights with the Senate. The executive branch fights the legislative. The federal government battles with the state. The parties get into brawls with each other and everyone fights in — and with — the courts.
Some of these fights aren’t for show. It is actually the job of elected officials to zealously represent their role and their constituents. It is not, however, their responsibility to do it like they are fighting opposing fans in a sports bar.
Allegheny County Councilman Thomas Duerr, D-Bethel Park, was the subject of a proposed censure after he had words with Vice President John Palmiere, D-Pleasant Hills, after a March 22 meeting, saying, “I always knew you were a (expletive) coward.” The conflict was over votes to approve appointments to two county boards, which apparently touched raw nerves.
That censure motion was withdrawn Tuesday but not before more shows of temper, with Councilman DeWitt Walton, D-Hill District, repeatedly using expletives while castigating Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, who proposed the action against Duerr.
The council should realize that this makes the body look immature and unable to govern themselves, let alone a county.