A Buffalo Township supervisor overreacted to a letter sent to township residents by Richard A. Goldinger, a candidate for district attorney, prior to the May 15 primary elections. But at the same time, Goldinger should have given more thought to the campaign mailing prior to having it prepared.

In the letter, Goldinger pointed out that Buffalo has a higher rate of drug crimes — per person — than any other township in the county.

"The proportion of drug-related arrests last year was three times the county average," the letter states.

The letter uses data from the Pennsylvania State Police Uniform Crime Statistics.

Supervisors chairman Dan Przybylek, criticizing the letter, which he called "incendiary and bombastic," labeled as "a hell of a comparison" the letter's linking the rate of drug offenses in the Sarver area to those in Philadelphia.

Although Buffalo Township had only 66 drug offenses in 2006 as opposed to Philadelphia's 13,788, they had similar per capita rates.

While township police confirmed the accuracy of the numbers that the Goldinger letter presented, what the DA candidate failed to do was acknowledge that most of the township's drug arrests stemmed from the township's geographical position in the county.

As township police officer Sean Furlong pointed out, Pittsburgh area sellers use major roads such as Routes 356 and 28 to reach points farther north, such as the city of Butler. He said some of those sellers get caught in Buffalo because of motor vehicle violations.

Police officer-in-charge Al Behanna estimates that only about 5 percent of drug offenses in the township are committed by residents.

Przybylek should be willing to accept what the numbers show as valid and for reflection. It's important for township residents to know about illegal-drug-use trends in their municipality, even if they are mostly tied to people who are passing through the municipality.

As for Goldinger, his campaign materials, when dealing with such a potentially touchy subject, should acknowledge all important factors.

Buffalo Township isn't a den for illegal drugs and it should not be painted as such.

If its statistics are accurate, Pennsylvania gets an "A" for having exceeded — for the first time — the federal government's expectations for moving people off the welfare rolls.In April, the state had 14,626 people in jobs or training who had received cash assistance through the welfare program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. That was a 52 percent participation rate, according to the state Department of Public Welfare.Because only 7 percent of welfare families met the federal work requirement in 2004, some lawmakers have questioned the accuracy of what DPW is saying.Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, said he is asking DPW to provide the committee with documents that provide a detailed explanation of how welfare-to-work participation has been improved."If they in fact have truly reached these goals and have not done it with smoke and mirrors, then I applaud them," Turzai said.Under federal law, states must place into job training, community service or other work activities 50 percent of their households that get welfare aid. States that fail to comply risk losing federal welfare block grant money, beginning in 2009.It is to be hoped that if DPW's numbers are in fact correct, that the state will continue in this positive direction.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno did college athletics a favor when he meted out punishment over an incident involving six of his players, including one from Butler, whose charges subsequently were dropped. Angered by his players' involvement in the highly publicized incident and the negative image it cast on the university, Paterno decided that the entire 2007 football team would pay a price encompassing all of next season.Rather than limit the punishment to the six players who were identified as being connected with a fight that occurred at an off-campus apartment, Paterno issued an edict requiring that all members of his 2007 team "clean out the stadium every Sunday after every home game."The pay that the players will earn for cleaning the stadium will be turned over to the university's club sports, whose participants usually perform the work to raise money for their teams.In addition, Paterno ordered that his players work with Special Olympics and build a home in Centre County through the Habitat for Humanity program."We had kids involved in something that was embarrassing, and I think we ought to prove to people that we're not a bunch of hoodlums," Paterno said.It would be refreshing if more college coaches would react sternly in response to players' disciplinary problems or problems with the law. Those who get a "free ride" in terms of tuition and room and board by way of their athletic scholarships should not "repay" their school by bringing shame upon it.