Laurel: To a whole lot of baking going on. Last week’s overwhelming response by cookie bakers during the Monongahela Area Historical Society’s 250th anniversary celebration brought the city a sweet honor when Guinness World Records adjudicator Christina Conlon announced that the number of cookies on display had established a new category/record for “world’s largest wedding cookie table.”

The bakers, many members of the Facebook group the Wedding Cookie Table Community, founded by historical society President Laura Magone, set out a spread far surpassing the 18,000-plus cookies needed for the record.

It was a sweet victory indeed for the Mon Valley, and a delicious repast for those on the cookie table’s receiving end.

Lance: To a sharp problem. Why is Pittsburgh suddenly dealing with a rash of knife crimes?

There were the two women stabbed Aug. 8 at a downtown bus stop. One died. There were two women stabbed in a Bedford Dwellings apartment building days later.

On Tuesday a man was stabbed in the arm and back in Market Square.

It isn’t that there is a mad knife-wielder on the loose. These aren’t the act of a single person. Three different men are in custody for these three attacks.

The attacks give the impression that crime in the downtown area is getting more aggressive.

It isn’t that police aren’t around. They are. The fatal stabbing happened with a police officer present.

But maybe more police have to be deployed in different areas and in different ways. Maybe what is happening has to be examined to see if there are problems that could be addressed before violence occurs.

City officials say overall crime is down, but that’s probably cold comfort to people who have been knifed.

Laurel: To old-fashioned fun. There is nothing as summery as a county fair.

Rides and animals, blue ribbons and cotton candy. What more do you need to wrap up the last days before the kids go back to school? The Westmoreland Fair runs through Aug. 24.

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