The 7,700 Adopt-A-Highway groups have been doing an exceptional job keeping Pennsylvania's roadways free of litter. And, they have been good for the state Department of Transportation, which estimates it would otherwise have to spend three to four times its current $10.1 million cost to remove litter.

However, promoting a clean commonwealth isn't confined to highways. Cities, towns, fields, parks, playgrounds, riverbanks and forests all demand attention, and the arrival of spring is a great time for the cleanup work to begin.

That's why the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup, which is scheduled for April 24, is so important. It is a concerted push to get the work done as quickly and efficiently as possible, so the state can put on its best face for the year's warm-weather months.

Information about the cleanup is available on the state Department of Environmental Protection's Web site, www.dep.state.pa.us, or by calling 888-548-8372. The site and telephone number also can be used to register groups for the cleanup.

Those who are making important contributions to the effort, such as the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, which has offered free landfill space to dispose of non-recyclable waste collected during the cleanup, merit praise. Cleanup day sponsors also will provide gloves, safety vests and trash bags to all registered groups.

On that day, motorists should slow down when they observe cleanup participants. The Great Pennsylvania Cleanup must be built upon a foundation of safety.

"We hope the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup will be the most significant and ambitious one-day community cleanup program in Pennsylvania history," said Kathleen McGinty, DEP secretary.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate with the spirit of the day - in Butler County as well as throughout the rest of the commonwealth.

Connoquenessing Borough Council was correct Wednesday in putting on hold a decision regarding ambulance coverage for the community. The council should be comfortable that it has all of the facts relevant to the issue before handing down a ruling of such importance.On the matter of whether the borough should remove Medevac as the borough's primary ambulance company, the council wasn't sure that data it had been presented about Medevac's past performance was entirely accurate. Thus, it was the right thing to do for the council to refer the issue to its fire committee for further review.The committee is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. April 13 at the firehall.A perception that Medevac's response times have not been acceptable is one of the reasons the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Department has been advocating that Harmony Emergency Medical Services and the Butler Ambulance Service handle calls from the borough.However, Ed Heltman, Medevac president, told the council Wednesday that borough leaders had been given incorrect information at a previous meeting when the service's response times were discussed. He presented selected statistics of emergency calls dating from January 2003 to this month in an effort to prove that the service consistently has arrived on an accident scene within 14 minutes.Heltman said he had not held discussions with the fire department since 1997, and was not aware of any perceived problems with the service's response times.Councilman Dave Brown was right in his observation that the fire department, as well as Medevac, should have been represented at Wednesday's session. It was Mike Kaufman, the fire department's emergency manager, who gave the council statistics that Medevac's response times had become too long.However, Kaufman didn't attended the council meeting.Before issuing their ruling, all of the council members should thoroughly review the issue, and they should feel comfortable about how they ultimately vote.It is obvious that a vote Wednesday on Medevac's fate would have been premature and, thus, not in the best interests of borough residents.

It's terrible when any sports rivalry reaches the point where violence must be feared.In the case of Hampton and Deer Lakes high schools, the situation has become so ugly that anytime the two schools meet, spectators should be banned from the game. Actually, it would be preferable if the two schools did not compete against one another, except when absolutely necessary under a playoffs format - again, without spectators.That parents would become involved in violence connected with a high school game is even more horrific. Such a situation occurred Feb. 6 during a basketball game between the two schools. The father of a player picked up a referee and body-slammed him; the man is facing charges stemming from that incident. The man's wife was fined $421 after pleading guilty to swearing at the referee.People with such poor self-control shouldn't be permitted to attend their children's sporting events.Whatever happened to the concept of good sportsmanship in regard to these two schools? What occurred on Feb. 6 took place despite stepped-up security in place.These two schools' rivalry could use a cooling-off period - of a couple of decades.- J.R.K.