Dec 19, 2003 4 min read

Scowl: A water authority that brags it serves an area the size of Rhode Island ought to be able to figure out how to keep squatters from camping out on one of its reservoirs in Springfield Township. Neighbors complain that underage kids use it as a party headquarters, and that others illegally shoot animals, cut down trees and burn fires. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County was served an enforcement notice to stop operating an illegal campground and junkyard. The authority is asking the zoning board to lift the order because it technically operates neither. What the zoning board might find as a matter of law is still undecided. But if what the neighbors testified to is true, then the authority ought to be just as concerned and dedicate some of its resources to shutting down the parties. —

Wow: Good news for Fayette County taxpayers. The new jail is paying off. While the county housed 6 percent more inmates this year than last, it spent just $18,000 on housing prisoners in other counties. Taxpayers might remember that last year the county spent $230,000 paying for hots and cots. The commissioners still are forecasting $100,000 for out-of-county jail cells in the proposed 2004 budget. Perhaps that figure should now be shaved.

—

Scowl: Pennsylvania still allows corporal punishment in its schools. A statewide movement to forbid paddling has stalled and incredibly some lawmakers think it’s best to still use the rod to discipline the child. This is coming from the same body that supports programs directed at children to make them aware of child abuse in the home. Some kids think spankings delivered by their parents rise to that level simply because the schools told them so. And let’s not forget the anti-bullying programs.

—

Scowl: Strom Thurmond’s defenders have said the segregationist Dixiecrat had a change of heart in his later years and was among the first U.S. senators to hire blacks on his staff. Thurmond certainly lived long enough – he died last June at the age of 100 – to have disclosed that in his youth, while he led a public life to keep blacks as second-class citizens, he was bedding the family’s maid. He carried the secret that he sired a half-black child to his grave. His daughter, 78-year-old Essie Mae Washington-Williams, disclosed her paternity this week, adding that her father was kind and supported her financially. Thurmond’s hypocritical behavior can easily be written off that he was product of his time. But what about the last 20 years?

—

Wow: The benevolence of Robert Eberly continues with a $1.65 million contribution to the Uniontown Hospital to expand the Fayette Regional Cancer Center in conjunction with UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. This will mean that more, newer and better treatments will be available locally for cancer patients. Local patients will no longer be sentenced to long treks to Pittsburgh or Morgantown for advanced radiation therapy. Eberly and his wife, Eloise, over the years have made tremendous donations to the Uniontown Hospital that have had wide-reaching benefits to the community.

—

Wow: Masontown police last week participated in a program to hand out gunlocks. The department handed out 300 gunlocks over two days, with 100 of them going in less than 15 minutes. The program is sponsored by the Department of Justice through Project Childsafe. Its intent is not to discourage gun ownership but rather responsible gun ownership. With proper use, the gunlocks prevent weapons from accidentally discharging. We congratulate those who picked up the gunlocks from the department for their intent in preventing tragic accidents and hope that they carry it to the next step and use them.

—

Scowl: As a practicing attorney and a lawmaker Rep. Peter J. Daley ought to know better than to affix his support to anything without reading the fine print. Daley is listed as one of 17 co-sponsors on a bill that would permit zoning hearing boards to deliberate behind closed doors. He now says he is withdrawing his support because “it has a chilling effect on open government.” He says he wasn’t aware of exactly what he was sponsoring. So why, then, would he initially lend his support?