Cheers & Jeers
Courtesy of Christy Bean Rowing
Don Homer is the Fayette County recipient of the Pittsburgh Community Investment Group Outstanding Community Leader Award.
Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter
Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter
Central Greene School District蘑菇视频 Director of Academic Accountability and Innovation Sean VanEman plays the role of the 鈥渟hooter鈥� during ALICE active shooter training at Waynesburg Central High School. Teachers were armed with balls to use as tools to distract and overwhelm the attacker.
Cheers: Don Homer has been caring for Clearview Cemetery in Uniontown since 2011, giving his time to ensure those buried there are not forgotten. On Wednesday, he was honored by the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group with an Outstanding Community Leader Award for his dedication to the ongoing project. His efforts have included lawn upkeep and maintenance and placing flowers on the graves of the 114 veterans laid to the rest there. A veteran himself, Homer continues to work toward identifying the Black soldiers and others who remain unidentified. Before he began caring for Clearview Cemetery, the five-acre grounds located behind Lafayette School had fallen into disrepair. Our community is full of so many who quietly give of their time to make Fayette County better. Homer蘑菇视频 recognition is richly deserved.
Cheers: In the decades since the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991, its final leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, largely languished in the twilight of lecture tours and memoirs, with at least two generations having no memories at all of when he was a titan on the world stage. His death this week at the age of 91 served as a reminder of just how crucial Gorbachev蘑菇视频 leadership was and how it has shaped the world we live in today. During the six years he led the Soviet Union, he spearheaded a fearsome effort to reform a nation that had been strangled by seven decades of Marxist-Leninism. This allowed Eastern European nations to shake loose from the Soviet orbit and go their own way, with countries like Ukraine and the Czech Republic embracing democracy and East Germany being absorbed back into a larger Germany. It may not have been his intent, but communism fell because of Gorbachev. His lengthy New York Times obituary stated, 鈥淔ew leaders in the 20th century, indeed in any century, have had such a profound effect on their time.鈥�
Jeers: A story in last Sunday蘑菇视频 edition of the 蘑菇视频 outlined safety procedures area school districts have in place as the 2022-23 academic year gets underway. In fact, in the Central Greene School District, teachers went through active shooter training on their first in-service day. The training, the police presence and the heavily secured buildings are all a necessity. According to Education Week, there have been 28 school shootings this year, with 84 people killed or injured. The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May took 21 lives and injured an additional 16 people. That such stringent security measures are needed at our schools is a byproduct of the unhealthy American obsession with guns.
Cheers: In July, Charleroi council approved a measure limiting what they described as 鈥渆xcessive鈥� right-to-know requests. There was just one problem, though 鈥� state law does not allow municipalities, or any other governmental agency, to withhold information based on what they have arbitrarily determined are 鈥渆xcessive鈥� requests. Last week, the state蘑菇视频 Office of Open Records underlined this in an opinion it released. Elizabeth Wagenseller, the executive director of the office, wrote, 鈥淏ecause of the clear statutory prohibition against such a policy, it is unnecessary to evaluate any constitutional concerns.鈥� She also said that any governmental body that has a policy in violation of its rules may be subject to civil penalties, court costs and attorney fees. The law, frankly, could not be much more clear.