Laurels & lances: Cost, defense and involvement
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Laurel: To dropping prices. They might not be down much, but let’s celebrate where we can.
The price of a gallon of gas is down again in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh, the price is $3.95, down 3½ cents from last week, according to the GasBuddy price tracker.
Sure, the national average is $3.77 a gallon, which might make us all wish we could buy our gas in Ohio, but we should be resigned to that difference by now. Thanks, Harrisburg.
Interestingly, gas prices around the state capital? They are actually below the national average, coming in around $3.69 a gallon. Go figure.
Lance: To a weak argument. Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane can’t seem to stop proving she doesn’t understand the law. First, it was when she wanted to keep doing her job as top law enforcement officer while charged with a crime and then when she couldn’t practice law.
After she was convicted for leaking and lying back in 2016, she served her time behind bars and was released to serve probation through 2025. In March, she was back in the news when she was charged with driving under the influence and careless driving surrounding a crash in Scranton. That resulted in a probation violation, and she was paroled to a residential alcohol treatment facility.
Now the (Scranton) Times-Tribune is reporting the Kane camp is protesting the field sobriety test in the DUI case. Part of the argument? She wasn’t told there were legal consequences for refusing the blood test.
Wait, what? She was the state’s attorney general, and she didn’t know something that every 16-year-old learns for a driving test? It’s called implied consent — that by accepting a driver’s license, you are agreeing that a police officer questioning your capacity to drive can require a test to determine blood-alcohol content.
OK, the defense attorneys in the case have the responsibility to keep a client out of jail by making whatever zealous, within-the-bounds arguments possible. But does making it look like the one-time AG has less legal knowledge than your average high school sophomore really help?
Laurel: To getting involved. Parents at Hempfield Area School District are showing up and asking questions. About 50 attended a meeting outlining the proposed plans for closing Harrold Middle School. The plan calls for consolidating the sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Wendover and West Hempfield middle schools starting next year after a major renovation at the high school is finished.
This gets a laurel because parents should be participating in the process, and it is good to see them invested and involved.
What also is important is taking in the information thoughtfully to keep things from becoming adversarial. The board has a role in that, too. This is a complicated project that is going to impact students and families, not just bottom lines and budgets. That has to be considered.