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Jeers and cheers

4 min read

JEERS: Was this an omen of things to come? That was the question Fayette County residents had to be asking themselves after a bitter cold wave earlier this week sent temperatures plunging into the single digits and below. The frigid weather reminded many of last winter, one of the worst in recent years. It was also unsettling coming in the middle of November, when temperatures are usually in the 40s and 50s instead of single digits or low teens.

Of course, we fared a lot better than our neighbors to north in Buffalo. That area got an epic 5 feet of snow earlier in the week with another 2-3 feet of snow expected Thursday. Temperatures are expected to be back in the 40s and 50s locally by this weekend, and we’ll gladly take that as a sign that this week’s weather was something outside the norm. Frankly, we don’t want to ponder the possibility that this is a sign of things to come.

CHEERS: Fayette County President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. deserves praise for coming up with the idea of a central court for all preliminary hearings involving the state police. The court opened recently in the former Uniontown police station on Beeson Avenue. Each of the six seated Fayette County magisterial district judges will serve in the central court on a rotational basis. Previously, all preliminary hearings were held at the offices of the six district magistrates.

The central court will streamline the county’s judicial process, with troopers able to pick up suspects at the county prison just two blocks away from the new court. That alone should cut down on delays in hearings, which have slowed the criminal court system for years. In addition, the travel time for troopers will be cut greatly, allowing them to spend more time on their patrol duties. This sounds like one of those rare win-win situations, and everyone involved, including taxpayers, should join us in congratulating Wagner for not only coming up with the idea but also implementing it.

CHEERS: Celebrating its 89th year, the Fayette Chamber of Commerce announced the kickoff of a “multi-year, multifaceted marketing campaign” at its annual awards dinner last week. The chamber’s Executive Director Muriel Nuttall noted that great things are happening in Fayette County and urged county residents to focus on the positive things going on instead of the negative things. Proof of that is the chamber added 61 new members last year and held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for 26 new businesses, a record.

Honored at the dinner were Devan White and Bill Day. White received the Herman M. Buck Award, which was established in 1974 to honor a community leader under the age of 45. Day received the inaugural Community Service Award, which was created by the chamber’s Past Presidents Committee. Kudos to the chamber for having an outstanding year and coming up such well-qualified award winners.

JEERS: Just when we thought we didn’t have anything to worry about until the state legislature reconvenes in January, word comes out of Harrisburg that some Republicans are kicking around the idea of holding a lame-duck session in December. Apparently, there’s concern that GOP lawmakers might be able to get more done with Gov. Tom Corbett than the newly elected Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat .

The crazy thing is that Republicans did away with the lame-duck sessions between 2008 and 2012 amid concerns that many of the lawmakers going out the door were more interested in cutting deals for themselves rather than helping their constituents. Of course, there’s no guarantee that Corbett would be able to get anything more done in two weeks than he did in the previous 46 months. And given the slow speed at which the legislature operates, two weeks wouldn’t be near enough time to pass any meaningful legislation. Let’s hope cooler heads will prevail among Republican leaders in the Legislature. There will be more than enough time to pass any bill they want come January.

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