Cheer Cheers to the people of Butler who helped police make a quick arrest in a downtown bank robbery.Just minutes after police posted surveillance photos from the Tuesday morning robbery on the department’s Facebook page, followers by the flock forwarded the suspect’s name.It didn’t take long to establish the 32-year-old suspect’s place of employment and home address — and a pretty good idea of his movements leading up to the robbery at the Citizens Bank branch at 301 N. Main St.Police later Tuesday arrested their suspect without incident at a Butler Township motel, where they recovered cash, drugs and other evidence.Butler police Capt. David Dalcamo said it was part “help from the general public” and part “good police work.” He couldn’t be more right. In fact, help from the general public should always be part of good police work.

Jeer How’s this for an outrageous act?The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday that a New Jersey teacher had her third-graders write “get-well” cards to convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.The teacher, Marylin Zunia of Forest Street School in Orange, N.J., apparently confirmed the report in a tweet on Sunday.“Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez,” Zuniga said in the Twitter feed. “My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill. #freemumia.”Fernandez, who delivered the letters, is a history professor at Baruch College in New York and staunch Abu-Jamal proponent. She wrote on her Facebook page that she drove to the state prison where Abu-Jamal is serving a life sentence, and delivered the letters from Zuniga.Abu-Jamal was convicted in the 1981 gunshot slaying of a Philadelphia police officer. Now age 50 and a diabetic, he recently was hospitalized with dangerously high blood sugar levels.It’s irresponsible to indoctrinate young school children to the notion that a man convicted of murdering a police officer should be a benevolent recipient of their affection. To do so under the guise of classwork is reprehensible.Was this Ms. Zunia’s way of telling children it’s OK to shoot a cop?She ought to be fired.

Cheer Incredible progress has been made since 1955 when a group of parents founded the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.“They set their sights high,” states a note on the CF Foundation website, “to advance understanding of this little known disease, to create new treatments and specialized care for their children, and to find a cure.Sixty years later there’s still no cure, but those founders would be amazed at the progress personified in Butler native Brian McCandless.McCandless, a 2006 Butler High School and Slippery Rock University graduate, says he’s using his CF as one of many reasons to live — and to accomplish great feats.Now a health and physical education teacher at Indian River Charter High School in Vero Beach, Fla., McCandless is planning a 3,400-mile bike ride this summer from San Francisco to Annapolis, Md. The fourth and longest “Brian’s Ride” is intended to inspire other CF patients, educate the public about the disease and raise money for CF research.Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder affecting the respiratory and digestive system. While no cure has been found, treatments are lengthening the lives of people with the disease.In 1989, researchers isolated the cystic fibrosis gene, leading to genetic treatments that make McCandless’ athletic achievements possible.McCandless will be in the area April 18 to visit with people and accept donations at a spaghetti dinner to benefit Brian’s Ride. The dinner will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Unionville Fire Hall. He and his cause deserve strong support.