Cheer

If you’ve never come home to a flooded basement or — even worse — a flooded house in general, you can be forgiven for not grasping how important it is to address the root cause of the issue.

That’s exactly what communities in some parts of Butler County — Zelienople, Harmony and Jackson Township to name a few — want to do. Each municipality has signed on to a $20,000 initiative that seeks to find out what is causing flooding along Connoquenessing Creek.

The work is being promoted by Mark Gordon, the county’s chief of economic development and planning. Gordon deserves kudos for stepping in to address a long-standing issue and concern — and he’s right to be interested. It’s difficult to promote an area to potential employers when they can pick up a newspaper and see a history of flooding events.

This study is a good and necessary first step when it comes to mitigating the risks to residents in these communities and — hopefully — figuring out if the problem can be easily dealt-with, in whole or in part.

Jeer

Every organization — and certainly one as long-lived as the Catholic Church — is bound to have dark chapters in its history.

However, the grand jury report released this week — and the resulting response of some prominent members of the clergy, including Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who is accused in the report of shielding predatory priests from exposure — goes far beyond repugnant.

It is an affront to every community in this state that an institution such as the Church would sacrifice the innocence and safety of children in its care in service to and protection of sexual predators.

The response of Wuerl, who even before the report’s release grabbed the spotlight to defend himself and trot out platitudes about “wounds ... many of us thought to be healing,” only deepens the stain these abuses leave on the Church’s legacy.

There can be no healing without a reckoning, an assumption of responsibility and an act (or acts) of contrition by those who are culpable for these abuses. That includes Wuerl.

Millions of Catholics — good, honorable and God-fearing people — are searching in darkness for how to relate to an institution in which powerful individuals habitually abuse their authority in the protection of evil.

It is clear that they cannot turn to Wuerl for guidance.

Cheer

Don’t underestimate the power of so-called “living history” events, like the Wings of Freedom Tour, which will be in Butler County, at Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township, through Saturday.

This year the event brings four historic airplanes to the airport, where visitors can see a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator, a B-25 Mitchell and a P-51 Mustang — all of which saw heavy use during World War II.

Just seeing these venerable machines can be a treat — and actually flying in them is a thrilling experience. But even more enticing is the chance to meet some of the men and women who put their lives at risk when they stepped into these aircraft.

There’s a reason these Americans are a part of what’s commonly referred to as The Greatest Generation. The challenges they faced and the victories they achieved might never be adequately understood and appreciated by current generations.

But meeting and speaking with them can put everyone on a path to better understand why America is still viewed by people across the globe as the country that leads the free world.