Cheer

Cheers to the accommodating people of Cranberry Township. A recent article by Expedia ranked the township among the top 10 most comfortable cities for travelers.

This kind of recognition doesn’t happen without the concentrated hard work of many people who have made a welcome-mat attitude their priority.

Cranberry ranked eighth out of the 101 cities listed by the online travel service for being a comfortable place to visit.

Expedia said it based ranking on survey results from more than 600,000 guests who responded to a request for reviews of the community’s accommodations. Data from millions of verified users’ reviews of items from the comfort of the hotel beds to other amenities.

Expedia characterized Cranberry as, “a quaint Pennsylvania town with a number of inviting parks that attract both visitors and locals.” Also mentioned were the Community Waterpark, AE Ride Skatepark, Rotary Dog Park, Graham Park and North Boundary Park.

Cheer

To call Hines Ward iconic is an understatement. The retired Pittsburgh Steeler is a Super Bowl MVP, a sports analyst with NBC and even a “Dancing With the Stars” champion.

And he’s not done yet.

Ward is now Butler County’s newest restaurateur. He and partner Howard Shiller opened Table 86 and Vines Wine Bar last week on Route 228 in Seven Fields.

“I feel blessed,” Ward told the Butler Eagle on Tuesday. “The Seven Fields area is growing, and I want to be a part of that growth.”

Named after Ward’s jersey number, Table 86 was five years in the making and features burgers, steak, seafood and pasta. Vines will offer tapas and 86 featured wines, including Ward’s own wine label soon.

Ward also owns South Side 86, formerly The Locker Room, a sports bar in Pittsburgh’s South Side.

However, he along with other restaurant personnel wanted to steer away from the sports bar aspect and create a more relaxed, sophisticated atmosphere.

“If you’ve got a professional athlete who’s known for smiling all the time, you can’t have a bunch of employees running around here miserable,” General Manager Howard Gardner said. “You’ve got to treat them (customers) right.”

That’s a good business philosophy.

Cheers and best wishes to Ward and his associates at the outset of his new culinary venture.

Jeer

Brickbats and tinfoil tiaras for two Western Pennsylvanians who were charged last week in separate incidents with raising charitable funds for cancer treatments, then spending the money on themselves.

Steven Wetzel was the varsity baseball coach at Freedom High School in Beaver County, where he coached 18-year-old John Challis. Challis made national headlines in his courageous efforts to play sports while dying of cancer.

Wetzel, 39, established the Hero Fund after Challis died in 2008. The money was supposed to pay bills for terminally ill children. But federal investigators say Wetzel spent about 90 percent of the money he raised on personal bills and expenses.

Wetzel is charged with stealing $91,000 from the Hero Fund.

Brandy Weaver-Gates was crowned Miss Pennsylvania U.S. International a couple of years ago — before she disclosed she’d been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Now the 23-year-old beauty queen from Bellefonte is accused of faking the cancer diagnosis for two years. She’s charged with theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

Weaver-Gates shaved her head and wore a surgical mask as part of what investigators called “an elaborate ruse.” She had relatives drive her to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore and sit in the waiting area while she went to another part of the building, pretending to receive treatments.

Police said there have been a number of fundraisers for Weaver-Gates’ treatments. The most recent raised $14,000.

Both Wetzel and Weaver-Gates took advantage of their position and semi-celebrity status to deceive charitable friends, relatives and neighbors. All those contributors have a right to feel indignant. They’re not likely to see any restitution.

Those who run legitimate charitable funds, and those who benefit from them, should be equally indignant.

Cheer

It wouldn’t be right to talk this week about sports and charities without mentioning LeBron James.

The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar’s LeBron James Foundation recently committed $41.8 million for college scholarships.

The money will provide free college for up to 1,100 underprivileged students from Akron, Ohio, where James grew up. The program is with the University of Akron.

“King James”’ gesture is as noble as the previous Jeer’s deeds are despicable.