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Jeers and cheers

4 min read

JEERS: Pension reform, state store changes and a reduction in the size of the state legislature weren’t the only items left undone when the state Legislature recessed Wednesday for the summer. Also left in the lurch was the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. There was some hope early in the week, when the bill was approved by the Senate’s Law and Justice committee. However, GOP leaders decided not to bring the bill to a full vote in the Senate before going on recess.

The inaction is beyond frustrating for Julie Michaels of Connellsville whose daughter Sydney suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy. She said Sydney has around 3,000 seizures weekly and could definitely be helped by medical marijuana. Michaels noted the legislature will be on recess for 77 days, meaning her daughter will have another 30,000 seizures before members return to work in the fall. And, as she pointed out, some of the children who need the medical marijuana don’t have 77 days to live.

CHEERS: Everyone’s known for ages that dogs are man’s best friend. It turns out, though, that dogs are also a policeman’s best friend. And, while police dogs have performed heroic acts for decades doing all sorts of good deeds, they’re now using their keen sense of smell to sniff out drug activity in Fayette County.

The dogs are trained to search with their noses, relying on their olfactory receptors, which are over a thousand times more sensitive to odors than a human nose. The dogs save police valuable time and manpower as they can search a room in matter of minutes compared to the hours it would take a police officer. The dogs also serve as a valuable deterrent with many suspects surrendering quickly once the dogs arrive on the scene. It’s a shame that dogs have to be used in such a manner, but it’s great to know they’re available to help if necessary.

CHEERS: Fayette County residents won’t have to travel far this holiday weekend to take in some really great fireworks shows. The festivities actually started last night with fireworks displays in Brownsville and Connellsville. More celebrations will be held today at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Rich Farms, Merrittstown and German-Masontown Park.

Local activities will conclude with a fireworks display Sunday night at the Uniontown Mall sponsored by the members of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce. Fayette County residents are fortunate to have so many people willing to foot the bill for the free entertainment. If you run into one of the sponsors, you just might want to show a little gratitude.

JEERS: Looks like school boards in Fayette County aren’t the only places where nepotism is alive and flourishing. The Fayette County Prison Board recently hired James Brownfield for a vacant lieutenant’s position at the prison. The only problem with that is he’s the son of Fayette County Sheriff Gary Brownfield who’s also the chairman of the prison board.

We have no doubt that Brownfield is qualified for the job after serving as a state police trooper for 20 years. However, was he the “best candidate” as termed by Dominick Carnicella, the county’s human resource director? Questions will always remain. given the relationship between the Brownfields. It’s good that Gary Brownfield abstained from voting on his son’s hiring, but he didn’t go far enough. Gary Brownfield should have resigned from the board or at least stepped down as chairman. The hiring raises once again questions of preferential treatment for relatives in government. It’s unfortunate that some don’t realize the implications of the problem, which has resulted in a great deal of well-deserved skepticism from the general public. We can only hope someday that an anti-nepotism policy is passed for all layers of government in Fayette County.

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