The Mars School Board gets an "A" for reversing its decision to move bus stops from five cul-de-sacs. Changing of the stops would have created more dangerous conditions than what exist with buses backing up in those cul-de-sacs.

The board also gets a good grade for taking the issue a step beyond the five cul-de-sacs in question — Fox Trot Drive, Hidden Oaks, John Quincy Adams Estates, Lakeland and Pine Ridge Farms, all in Adams Township. The board advised officials of Adams and Middlesex townships to tell potential developers that no new cul-de-sacs smaller than 96 feet in diameter would be entered by district buses in the future.

Indeed, if legal, officials of those townships should install that provision in their construction and development regulations.

The five cul-de-sacs covered by the school board's reversal June 2006 decision had not started using their new, more-dangerous stops. They were granted a reprieve to the start of the 2008-09 school year to allow time for other bus stop plans for those neighborhoods to be evaluated.

The five cul-de-sac neighborhoods have contended all along that there is no safer alternative to what currently exists. That the board agreed to exempt the neighborhoods from the bus stop policy demonstrates a willingness to listen to constituents' concerns and also, commendably, admit an earlier error.

Still, it's unfortunate that the issue remained unresolved for so long.

There is bipartisanship in the Pennsylvania General Assembly after all, but not the kind over which state residents should be elated.The Senate has approved unanimously a bill that would prohibit commercial diesel vehicles, such as tractor-trailers and buses, from idling for more than five minutes during any hour-long period. Violators would face fines of $50 to $150.The measure, Senate Bill 295, now goes to the House for consideration.While the bill's intention makes sense — to try to reduce noise and fumes — state residents should wonder how the limit will be enforced, if it is signed into law. Do police really have time to worry about idling vehicles when there is so much serious crime to address?Actually, they don't.Gov. Ed Rendell, in his 2008-09 budget proposal, calls for more spending geared toward bolstering police manpower statewide. Presumably, the governor isn't advocating any of that additional manpower to be placed on "idling diesel duty," but it is inevitable that some of those officers would spend at least a small fraction of their time "getting on the case" of truckers and bus drivers who violate the provision — while serious driving and other infractions go unnoticed.Instead of an issue so minor, the General Assembly ought to concentrate on the "important stuff" — with similar bipartisan cooperation. However, on too many issues with serious ramifications, it has shown itself to be incapable of that.

It's well known that inequities exist in property assessments and resulting tax bills. Under-assessed properties contribute less than their fair share of property taxes to municipalities and schools, and as a result place a larger burden on all other taxpayers.In Philadelphia, one high-profile example of property tax inequity has emerged that is both outrageous and possibly linked to political clout.State Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Phila., is under federal indictment for fraud and obstruction of justice over alleged misuse of about $1 million in taxpayer funds and misuse of another $1 million in assets of a nonprofit agency. In order to raise money for his legal defense, Fumo is trying to sell his 27-room mansion in an upscale section of Philadelphia.Fumo's asking price for the home is $6 million, but the house is assessed for tax purposes at $250,000.Fumo's current property taxes amount to about $6,611. But if the home were assessed at $6 million, his current asking price, his property tax bill would be about $165,000.When Fumo first put his house on the market at $7 million, the discrepancy with the assessed value raised such a stir that local tax officials said they would investigate. Last week, the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes announced that it cannot find Fumo's file.When Fumo first listed his house at $7 million and the gross under-assessment story first broke, the tax board voted 4-3 against quickly reassessing the lawmaker's mansion. The board argued that to do so would be an unfair spot assessment.Coincidentally, two of the four tax board members who voted against the immediate reassessment have close ties to Fumo.Fumo is known as a kingmaker in Philadelphia and is considered one of the state's most powerful lawmakers. He is a millionaire and is well-known for having a preference for spending what he called OPM — other people's money.The details of the indictment against Fumo suggest that he apparently did just that in Harrisburg, and also was doing it in Philadelphia, by allowing other taxpayers to pick up the slack for his grossly under-assessed and undertaxed home.