Aug 29, 2003 4 min read

August 29, 2003 Wow: Delicious news this week. A study that quickly peeked at the correlation between gorging on chocolate and general health concluded that eating dark chocolate can lower your blood pressure. This further proves our longstanding hypothesis that in times of stress – when pressure rises and you can nearly feel your blood boiling – reaching for a candy bar calms the nerves. Better yet, the study noted that dark chocolate (we heartily recommend the Special bar) contains the same substance that makes red wine so heart healthy. Could life get any better than a prescription to indulge in chocolate and wine?

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Scowl: Times are tight and pay raises, if given at all, aren’t exactly generous. We have no quibble with President Bush seeking a more modest 2 percent raise for federal workers rather than the 4.1 percent a House appropriations committee suggests. We do find it offensive though that the president would claim that higher raises “would threaten our efforts against terrorism.” The Bush Administration has consumed the surplus that it encountered on entering the White House, has plunged this nation deeply into debt and has refused to disclose the true cost of the Iraqi war or project costs to sustain our involvement. There are plenty of good, sound economic reasons to limit raises, but to suggest that workers, by seeking to keep up with the cost of living, would jeopardize the nation’s security is preposterous.

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Scowl: It was a mistake, says House Speaker John Perzel’s spokesman. Perzel never intended for taxpayers to pick up the tab for producing and mailing to his supporters 20,000 copies of a DVD celebrating his ascension to the speaker’s post. Some $61,000 was charged to Perzel’s legislative account, although he intended for his campaign committee to pay the bill. Sure.

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Wow: Tonight kicks off the high school football season when all things are thought possible for players, coaches and fans.

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Scowl: This dreadful weather spoiled what could have been our big chance to get up close and personal with Mars. The planet early Wednesday moved within 34.6 million miles of Earth. That’s 105 million miles closer than in the normal sky. Clouds obscured the view. Perhaps in 60,000 years, the next time Mars will be this close, Earthlings will have discovered a way to finally control the weather.

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Scowl: Usually Commission Chairman Vince Vicites is on the mark in reviewing in detail the consequences before making major decision, but on the topic of compensation for tax collectors there is little need for such foot dragging. Commissioner Sean Cavanagh said a spreadsheet compiled by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania shows, what we have long suspected, the county pays far too high a commission. Township and borough tax collectors earn 3.5 percent on all taxes they receive. The system is archaic, expensive and could be better handled in-house by county workers for far less than the current $225,000. Any changes would not go into effect until 2005, the next time tax collectors run for their jobs, so Vicites figures there is no need to rush and the next administration can decide. But there is a need for expediency as the political will for change is onboard now and might not be with the next threesome.

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Scowl: There is something that strikes us odd about the Laurel Highlands School Board’s willingness to extend itself financially to a community organization that is building a sports field house at the high school. We have no doubt that the field house will be a welcome addition for student athletes, but it isn’t a necessity. Textbooks – for all scheduled subjects for all students – are. The board should look into whether this is occurring. Reports that some students were shortchanged this week might just be the confusion that can sometimes surround the first week of school. If this is more than a temporary situation, the school board needs to rethink its priorities.

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Wow: Uniontown Area School District is taking lumps for giving students the week off when the PGA tour arrives at Nemacolin Woodlands. The decision to go on hiatus so soon after students return and are getting in the routine must not have been easy. And parents of younger students who must now arrange for sitters are in a bind. However, expected traffic delays and tieups along Route 40 probably would have meant students spending a portion of their class time stuck in traffic. It was the right decision, and one that can be revisited next year based on actual traffic this year.