Laurel: To big fun outdoors. The summer of 2019 passed without one of the best ways to enjoy the great outdoors in Westmoreland County — the giant slide in Mammoth Park. The delightful Mt. Pleasant Township landmark was closed down for a $1.1 million renovation project that upgraded it from one simple albeit huge slide to a complex with two 100-foot-long stainless steel racing slides, a smaller 50-foot slide, climbing walls, walkways and landscaping.

Now the new and improved attraction is open and the timing couldn’t be better. Kids (and parents) have been cooped up for months and need something fun to do, and to have that something be outside with plenty of fresh air and space for social distancing amid pandemic precautions is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Lance: To not branching out. Vandergrift Borough opted not to form a shade tree commission this week, speaking of extra costs and liability. Not paying attention to the trees is actually likely to cost more in the long run, proponents said.

It isn’t like the borough wouldn’t end up paying for fallen trees, problems caused by roots grown wild and other potential issues. They would just be the kind of thing that comes as a surprise instead of something that could be monitored along the way.

Homeowners are supposed to keep track of the things that could impact their property maintenance. That’s what the shade tree commission would be for the municipality — an inventory of what trees there are, which ones are in jeopardy and which should be handled proactively (and more affordably) rather than waiting until they become expensive problems that impact things like roads, sidewalks and water and sewer lines.

Marilee Kessler of the Vandergrift Improvement Program said it sounded like the trees just weren’t a pressing issue. She might be right. Since they didn’t form the commission, let’s hope the council isn’t wrong.

Laurel: To an isolated event. Ugh, don’t you just want to get out and go to the movies? But in the coronavirus pandemic, that’s tough. Most of them aren’t open, for one thing. But closed in, tight quarters, strangers who have been who knows where. Not exactly socially distant.

But Waterworks Cinema has just the ticket: An entire screening room can be reserved for $50, for a maximum of 20 people. That’s amazing. Heck, at the cost of tickets, that’s the price of just four or five people for a movie night. Available slots sold out in 15 minutes.

This is the kind of outside-the-box planning that can help get businesses through tough waters while simultaneously giving people a little taste of normality. Venues, restaurants, even nonprofits looking to replace fundraiser income should be looking at this as a model for change.

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