close

Jeers and cheers

4 min read

JEERS: Without a doubt, Fayette County is one of the most beautiful places, not just in Pennsylvania, but across the nation. It has everything you could want from scenic valleys to picturesque rivers and lush green forests. So, what in the world makes people ruin this beautiful scenery by dumping illegal trash in our midst?

According to Michelle Dunn, program coordinator for the nonprofit Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful organization, this year local volunteers recovered 9.85 tons of trash and 496 tires from three major dump sites in Fayette County. Since 1992, nearly 750 tons of trash and 8,525 tires have been recovered in Fayette County. That’s an amazing amount of junk that slobs around here have left for others to pick up. Let’s hope that one day these knuckleheads learn how to clean up after themselves.

CHEERS: Considering all the trash left behind by these idiots, where would we be without the work of PA CleanWays of Fayette County, an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful? Led by its director Carl Williams, these volunteers do an awesome job year in and year out trying to keep Fayette County as trash-free as possible.

And they’re making progress, thanks mainly from local groups, including geocacher volunteers in German Township to high school students from Connellsville Area and Brownsville Area school districts. They all helped clean up illegal dumps earlier this year. Williams noted the work of those groups, along with others, have helped put a dent in the amount of trash being picked up. It’s great to know that progress is being made on this troublesome problem, and for that we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to PA CleanWays and Williams. Their hard work has helped make Fayette County a cleaner and better place to live.

CHEERS: For many years, prison inmates who served their sentences had nowhere to turn but back to the streets. Now they can go the Genesis House Ministries in Uniontown. It’s a nonprofit, faith-based halfway house for men coming out of prison or for those who may be court-ordered to live at the facility for a period of time. It’s being run by the Rev. Terry Sanders, the chaplain at the Fayette County Prison, who came up with the idea for the house along with his wife, Rhonda.

Sanders said Genesis House will provide a structured living environment for up to 25 men who will be taking a variety of classes and counseling programs in a home-like setting. He noted there are five area businesses willing to offer employment to program participants. The goal of the program is reduce the number of men who return to prison after being released. It sounds like a very worthwhile program, and Sanders is to be commended for starting it. If it’s successful, not only will the men involved benefit, but the community as a whole will be much better off.

JEERS: Gov. Tom Corbett is doing some spin moves these days that would make former state Rep. Bill DeWeese proud. Corbett said Wednesday he believes he fulfilled the spirit of his 2010 campaign pledge not to raise taxes or fees, claiming he lived up to it as best he could. A pledge is a pledge, though, and Corbett failed to keep his word by giving his approval to a variety of tax and fee increases.

Corbett admitted it’s very difficult to make such a pledge, especially in these times of financial stress and said he wouldn’t make such a vow again for his second term. That’s actually good news. The pledge was a dumb idea, made by Corbett to satisfy his conservative supporters. The truth is that the state has many financial obligations and must raise money, one way or another, to meet them. It doesn’t mean that wasteful programs can’t be eliminated, but to say you’ll never raise taxes is nonsense. Let’s hope that other politicians learn from Corbett’s mistake.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today