There's not anything to cheer about the fact that teachers of the South Butler County School District are on strike.

But amid that troubling scenario there are two things about which to take positive note.

First, the approximately 500 people who attended Wednesday evening's school board meeting cannot go without notice. The attendance showed the interest and concern of district residents and teachers regarding the stalemated negotiations.

Second, the board exercised the proper judgment in relaxing the normal rules of order to accommodate all of the people who signed up to speak at the meeting.

For more than an hour, audience members filed to the microphone to make their opinions known. One of the more poignant comments, expressed by parent Howard Neff, was, "I think if we are real quiet we can actually hear the fiber of our community being torn apart."

While there were a number of comments in opposition to the teachers' stance, high school science teacher David Hall told the board and others in attendance that "we are not selfish. We are selfless. We are teachers."

At this juncture, no one can tell whether the strike will be settled prior to Nov. 18, the date on which teachers must return to their classrooms under state law, so the district can complete 180 school days by June 15.

Whether or not that is possible, one thing is clear: The strike isn't benefiting the district in any way.

People's interest and the opportunity for free speech have recorded success in the contract dispute, as was evident at Wednesday's meeting.

Unfortunately, those successes, by themselves, were not enough to break the impasse.

Presidential Campaign 2008 followed an all-too-familiar scenario for the city of Butler. Both parties' presidential and vice presidential candidates again snubbed the city, despite campaigning in Pennsylvania numerous times.Perhaps when the next earmarks are handed out, a study should be commissioned as to why this city always is ignored.Could it be that Butler's vote tally is so predictable that candidates feel no urgency to expend any of their time and energy here? Could it be that the party organizations here are so weak that they lack the ability to be given attention by the national candidates?People here become energized during presidential politicking. They watch the candidates on television and read about them in newspapers.But the full energy and impact that such races produce are lost here when the candidates snub this community, even when they get within 50 or 100 miles of the city.Local political party leaders should ask themselves why Butler always is left out of the action. Then they should explain the reasons to members of their party.

It would be refreshing if many more election campaigns here and everywhere else could be conducted in the upbeat way this fall's 69th District state House contest was conducted.The district covers portions of Somerset and Bedford counties. Voters in that district were selecting a replacement for a retiring lawmaker.The two contenders, Republican Carl Walker Metzgar, a lawyer, and Democrat Ken Warnick, a college director of student services, distinguished themselves by the honorable and spirited campaigns that they conducted. They touted their abilities and voiced their ideas but never resorted to mudslinging.And, after the ballots were counted Tuesday night, they continued to praise one another for the way each proved to be an asset to the political process."His (Warnick's) spirited campaign challenged and invigorated our campaign," said Metzgar, who was the victorious candidate and, at age 27, will become one of the two youngest members of the state House. "He ran a noble and commendable race, and I couldn't have asked for a better opponent.""He's (Metzgar) a good man," Warnick said. "He worked very, very hard."Warnick even offered to be of help to Metzgar in any way the new freshman lawmaker might see fit.Campaigns built upon mudslinging might interest voters for awhile. But that tactic eventually becomes old and is a turnoff to most people.Metzgar and Warnick were a credit to the political process. There ought to be many more like them, from grass-roots America to the federal level.