May 26, 2018 3 min read

Miss: What in the world was state Rep. Bud Cook thinking when he convened a “town hall” Thursday night at Bethlehem-Center High School to hear “constituents’ concerns” and discuss their “vision for the future” of the Marianna dam on Ten Mile Creek? The crumbling dam, as most people know, is already slated for demolition by a group known as American Rivers, which intends to also perform stream bank restoration and envisions a new public park there with better access to the creek. The removal of the dam was approved months ago by Marianna Borough Council, and council President Wes Silva told us the other day that “the borough has not changed its stance.” So why is Cook trying to subvert the decision of the elected officials of Marianna Borough? It sure smells like election-year pandering to us.

MISS: It didn’t take long for Monongahela Cemetery’s proposed vegetable garden to sprout some weeds. The plan to build a community garden in an unoccupied parcel on the historic cemetery’s grounds was scuttled this week when cemetery board President Jim McCune said they received several complaints about the project. That’s a shame, because it was a thoughtful suggestion that would have engaged the community. Fortunately, the idea for a community garden could be resurrected elsewhere after the owner of the former Monongahela Elementary Center is suggesting parts of that property be used for the garden, which could be cultivated as soon as next year.

Hit: American voters frequently bemoan the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., so they should get behind a measure that both Democrats and Republicans are pushing in the U.S. Senate – the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newspaper Trade (PRINT) Act. Led by Maine’s two senators, Republican Susan Collins and Angus King, an independent, the measure would suspend tariffs of up to 32 percent on Canadian uncoated groundwood paper. If the tariffs go into effect, they would have a deleterious effect on the newspaper industry. The legislation would also require the Commerce Department to complete a study on the economic health of the publishing and printing industries in the United States. Co-sponsors include West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Alabama’s newly elected Democrat Doug Jones. It deserves the support of Pennsylvania’s senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey.

Hit: For too long, the sexual abuse of children by some priests and other individuals associated with the Catholic Church remained a tightly held secret, something that had to be suppressed at all costs. There has been an overdue reckoning in recent years, and a report on what went on in six Pennsylvania dioceses since at least the midpoint of the last century is due by the end of June. It will be the fruit of a grand jury investigation that extends back to July 2016, and the path to the report’s release was cleared when the dioceses of Harrisburg and Greensburg said this week they would not legally challenge making it public. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro praised the dioceses for “doing the right thing.” Indeed, a public airing of what the grand jury has found will only help victims in coming to terms with the trauma they endured.