Laurels & lances: Tradition, cruelty, trespassing and questions
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Laurel: To a new spin on an old tradition. If you don’t see “It’s a Wonderful Life,” can you even say that Christmas has happened? Let’s not find out.
Luckily, the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media’s recent closing of Regent Square Theater, where the Frank Capra classic was annually screened for the holiday, won’t stop George Bailey’s angel-guided epic. An outdoor showing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20 a block down South Braddock Avenue, courtesy of 3 Rivers Outdoor Co.
It’s enough to make you shout “Merry Christmas, movie house!”
Lance: To needless cruelty. Pennsylvania has hunting because of the large number of deer. Pennsylvanians hunt for food or to protect their land, and yes, a number of them hunt for sport. But there is a difference between taking part in the legal and respectful hunting process and a video that has gone viral.
In it, two men gleefully assault an injured deer, kicking it in the face and stepping on its neck.
If there is anything to be thankful for in the appalling Facebook release, it is the response, which has been overwhelmingly critical of the “hunters.” The Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating.
Laurel: To easy indicators. Pennsylvania has authorized a new way to draw a line in the sand. Or, rather, on a tree. The state has become the latest adopter of “purple paint” laws.
The law, which will go into effect in January, will allow landowners to legally identify property as off-limits to trespassers by painting purple stripes on trees and posts.
The vivid color should prove harder to ignore than paper signs that can succumb to the elements or be torn down. That’s good for the environment and safer for everyone.
Lance: To a questionable turn. Westmoreland County prosecutors dropped pending drug and flight charges against Tavon Harper, 29, on Monday.
There’s nothing wrong with that. It happens in every courthouse every day.
But Harper was the lone witness in the murder trial of Rahmael Sal Holt, who was subsequently convicted last month of shooting New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw in 2017, and prosecutors insisted no deal was made. So did Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway, who dismissed the charges saying, “I know your testimony was very important to the commonwealth, and I know no promises were made.”
If that’s true, the timing is convenient.