While approximately 70 percent of Butler County's voters merit a jeer for not going to the polls Tuesday, deserving of the biggest jeer is Adams Township's First Precinct.

There, only about 15 percent of the voters opted to exercise their voting privilege.

Meanwhile, of the eight precincts with the lowest recorded percentage of voter participation, seven were in Adams and Cranberry townships and Seven Fields and Zelienople boroughs.

Looking at the election in general, Regis Young, county election director, said, "Given the importance of the election and the expense of the election, the turnout should have been much better."

Dave Mariotti, county Democratic chairman, observed that "for some reason people just don't look at (an off-year election) as a major election."

But it was, and those registered voters who chose to stay at home for whatever reason missed an opportunity to affect the election's final tallies — and, perhaps, even change some of the election's results.

Election Day produced a taste of winter weather, but it shouldn't have been enough to deter a large number of voters from going to their respective polling places.

Label this general election's turnout a disgrace. The county's registered voters should not be so ho-hum about this important civic responsibility.

Tough, mandatory penalties should be in place for anyone who shoots at a police officer, whether or not the officer is wounded.Gov. Ed Rendell is correct then in advocating a 20-year prison sentence for anyone who commits such a crime."We want to get out onto the street a clear message: You shoot a gun at a police officer . . . even if you shoot and miss, you go to jail for 20 years, no ifs, ands or buts," Rendell said.The 20-year proposal expands upon a bill by House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, calling for a 10-year mandatory sentence for firing a gun at a police officer."We should and we must give maximum protection to those who put their lives on the line protecting us," O'Brien said.The proposal should be a no-brainer for the General Assembly, which otherwise has a penchant for taking a long time to accomplish things, even seemingly simple matters.While a mandatory 10-year sentence seems reasonable, upping that to 20 years would serve as a better deterrent to the crime in question.Rendell should continue to vigorously push his proposal.

Cranberry Township residents should be proud that their police department is a leader in promoting highway safety and in enforcement activities.The department was named one of the AAA East Central Office's Platinum Award winners in recognition of its dedicated efforts."We do our programs to reduce crashes," said Cpl. Dan Hahn, who, along with Lt. Jeff Schueler accepted the department's award at a ceremony at the Pittsburgh Marriott North. "We're not out here just writing tickets. We're out to reduce accidents."In the past, the department has been honored with the AAA Silver Award.In recognition of their safety efforts, the state police at Butler and Grove City Police Department were named recipients of AAA Gold Awards, the second-highest recognition, and the Butler City Police Department received a commendation.All of the awards should be a source of pride by those communities and, in the case of the state police, the broader area that the local troopers serve.The AAA East Central Office is a nonprofit association with 85 offices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Kentucky serving more than 2.5 million members.According to J.J. Miller, AAA safety adviser, "The purpose of the award program is to recognize . . . great efforts that have advanced the cause of traffic safety so they can be shared and emulated by others."