Jul 12, 2002 4 min read

Wow: The Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp. received a much-needed boost recently when a foundation, that wished to remain anonymous, donated $10,000 to help cover salaries and other expenses. The foundation also offered encouragement to BARC to apply for a $60,000 grant to keep the organization afloat next year and to develop new avenues of funding to further its goals of breathing new life into the desolated river town.

BARC already has some successes but money is often tight. BARC president Norma Ryan also offered a challenge to each board member to host an annual fund-raiser.

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Scowl: Property taxes went up in most local school districts and some of these increases were understandable as state subsidies were less than what was needed, expenses were on the rise, investments were off and pension contributions increased.

Perhaps the hardest tax hike to swallow though was in the Laurel Highlands School District where 2 mills of the raise was dedicated to pay a bond issue that the board approved when it sunk the district so far into red ink that it was drowning in debt.

Usually boards seek bonds to pay for school construction or renovation. Projects that benefit a district. This bond issue is the equivalent of taking out a large home equity loan to pay off astronomical credit card bills.

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Wow: We are a little late with this item as even the memory of the indigestion caused by the holiday hotdogs has faded.

Yet we wanted to mention that residents of two communities deserve special praise for hosting Independence Day celebrations in record time. Connellsville found out at the last minute that the New Haven Hose Co. would not sponsor the annual firework event. Donations poured into the city from local businesses, organizations and individuals who quickly got the show back on schedule.

Masontown pulled off a similar feat. In three weeks a Fourth of July committee gathered enough support to reactivate the community picnic.

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Wow: Fayette County is beginning to address its often-neglected parks. The county recently obtained an $80,000 grant that will be used to hire a firm to evaluate every recreation area in the county, including municipal parks and hiking and biking trails.

The study is a much-needed first step in identifying all the work that should be done.

Taking the next step of finding and committing funds to recreation and carrying out the work will be difficult, but at this time it appears the county is willing to try.

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Scowl: On the topic of parks, Uniontown City Council created a mess when it named one small park on Grant Street in memory of two great athletes with Uniontown ties.

Apparently the city’s recreation board didn’t like the proposal by a mayor-appointed committee to name it after just one of the men, so it recommended and council approved the sharing name tactic.

After the late athletes’ families objected for several reasons including that naming one site for two men diminishes their contributions. We couldn’t agree more.

There are many great athletes who gained their start in Uniontown. If the city wants to honor them, it can surely come up with a better way of celebrating their achievements. An idea worth considering is an honor roll in a prominent place listing the city’s sons and daughters who achieved greatness in their fields of endeavor.

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Wow: The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission made the right decision in extending the time for the public to review an environmental impact statement for the Mon-Fayette Expressway between Route 51 and Pittsburgh.

While this might add a month or two to the projected timetable it could save years of potential litigation with those opposed to the project. It took the turnpike several years to develop the six-volume document that isn’t easy bedtime ready.

So the public might need some extra time digesting the material.

To expressway proponents, who are disappointed in any delay, think of it this way. It gives you extra time to marshal the forces and deluge the turnpike with letters and testimony of support.

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Wow: District Attorney Nancy Vernon made the right decision in taking her office out of the role of chief prosecutor during appeal hearings for David J. Munchinski.

The convicted Bear Rocks murderer has raised several issues that include charges that prosecutors failed to share evidence that might have exonerated him and that the chief witness was a liar and coached to lie by authorities. The local bench has already recused itself from the case and since Munchinski’s attorney plans to call current and former members of the district attorney’s office it was wise for Vernon to pull back and allow the state Attorney General’s Office to represent the commonwealth.