Wows and Scowls
Wow: American Glass Co. this week received an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for cutting its lead-waste disposal by 95 percent. The environmental-friendly effort also saved the company about $560,000. The company, which manufactures the glass front for Sony’s television sets, took on this project without pressure or mandates from the government. In presenting the award EPA assistant administrator Marianne Horinko said American Glass efforts “prove what we at the EPA have said for a long time. If it’s good for the environment, it’s good for business.”
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Scowl: A North Union Township zoning points out the need for better communication from the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board. Donald Robinson had presented the board with a petition signed by 45 neighbors opposed to plans by James E. Stambaugh to lease five apartments in the former Easter Seals building on Oakland Avenue, traditionally a single-family home neighborhood.
Robinson claims the zoning board failed to notify his attorney that Stambaugh won approval until after the deadline had passed for him to file an appeal.
If this has the sound of d’j… vu that is because similar complaints were lodged against the zoning board in the past, which claimed lost paperwork or failure by others to perform their duties. The zoning board which holds hearings and then has 45 days in which to decide can easily rectify this problem. Instead of sending letters of a decision, the board should convene meetings to place their votes on the public record.
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Scowl: Minnesota Democrats need a reminder that there is a time and place for everything. A memorial service for U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone who along with his wife, daughter and aides died in a plane crash last week was turned into a political rally with cheering crowds, celebrities on the big screen and standing ovations. Ironically, the Minnesota politician known best for bad judgment and bad taste, that being Gov. Jesse Ventura, showed the most dignity when he walked out of the service in disgust.
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Wow: It is encouraging to see the tenacity that Fayette County officials are using to persuade West Virginia to complete its section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.
A delegation of local and state elected officials along with transportation folks will head next week to Charleston to meet with the top dogs there. West Virginia had promised to be ready to meet Pennsylvania at the border. Pennsylvania’s section of the Mason-Dixon Link has been open for more than two years while our neighbors to the south have yet to commit all the funding to their four-mile piece.
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Wow: When it comes to marketing, a name sells. The moniker National Road Heritage Park was selling confusion as those living outside the area kept looking for the picnic tables. That is all about to change. The National Road Heritage Corridor better imparts the image of a long stretch of roadway with a multitude of attractions to visit rather than a single destination point.
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Scowl: Constructing the Brownsville Wharf took years of dedication, planning and fund-raising. It probably took just a few minutes to knock light fixtures off lampposts. Yet again, vandals have attempted to ruin what a community has worked hard to create. Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan said, “We’re not going to let this stop us. We’re going to keep going.” She has also ordered extra police patrols. It’s a shame when a community needs to tie up its police force in this way.
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Wow: Timmy Meade, a 14-year-old Connellsville Area High School student, serves as an inspiration. Born prematurely, Timmy spent his first seven months in an incubator. Complications left him mentally challenged and legally blind but that has not stopped him from achieving. He recently earned the right to compete in the Pennsylvania 4-H Show in Harrisburg. His skill: the horseback riding competition. Timmy and his parents, Eddie and Chris of Franklin Township, are to be congratulated for reminding us to make lemon cakes out of life’s lemons.
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Scowl: The animal lovers who banned together to form Noah’s Ark when the Fayette County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced its closure have the best of intentions. Yet we can’t help wondering if they might eventually head into the same types of problems that plagued the SPCA if they don’t watch out for regulations.
Last week Noah’s Ark invited the public to come and tour its new shelter along Atlas Road in Hopwood. But it wasn’t until this week that the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board granted a use variance for the property.
In addition the initial news story indicated that it moved to the building in September and that it is a no-kill shelter. At the zoning hearing, the executive director spoke on how the shelter disposes of the remains of euthanized animals.