Butler area residents who watch Pittsburgh television newscasts experience a sense of dismay and concern over the crime situation in this county's neighbor to the south. Virtually every day there's a report of a shooting, stabbing or other violent incident or incidents.

But are the city of Butler and its neighboring municipalities flirting with the prospect of becoming more crime-infested themselves? Based on a couple of incidents in and around Butler during the past week, some people might be fearful about whether that's already happening.

Butler Eagle readers on Monday faced the front-page headline “Police seek shooting suspects,” referring to an incident on the evening of April 9 in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Butler Township.

On Friday, Eagle readers, when they picked up their newspapers, saw the front-page headline “Night fight leaves 2 men with injuries.” That article was about an argument on West Cunningham Street that escalated into a stabbing and one man being pushed onto Cunningham, where he was struck by a passing vehicle.

People here are becoming increasingly fearful of their safety, in part because of the prevalence of drugs and the crime that it spawns. The incidents on April 9 and Thursday night did nothing to allay those fears.

Two incidents of this kind in less than a week are not encouraging news that area communities' battles against crime are as effective as residents want them to be.

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers did themselves and all sports — professional down to sandlot — a favor Monday when, prior to their game in San Francisco, they came together to denounce the attack of a Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium following the teams' Opening Day contest on March 31.The longtime Giants fan, 42-year-old Bryan Stow, a paramedic and father of two from Santa Cruz, Calif., was left in a medically induced coma following the attack.Stow was wearing a Giants jersey that day. That's what attracted his attackers, who were wearing Dodgers clothing.Players from both the Giants and Dodgers on Monday, in addressing fans, stressed that the teams' longtime rivalry stay on the field, not lead to senseless hatred or tragic actions.“This is America's national pastime and let's keep it that way,” said Dodgers second baseman Jamey Carroll.“We're playing each other and we're competitive and rivals, but let's leave it at that,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.He's right. Fans should not become so emotionally consumed by a rivalry that they are willing to inflict serious bodily injury or worse on the supporter of an opposing team.Athletics are meant to be enjoyed as a showcase for competition and talent, not be a basis for criminal actions. And sportsmanship is not limited to the field or arena of play; it should exist in the stands as well.

The spotlight that Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby's concussion has focused on the health issue will be paying dividends for the region's 6,000 youth hockey players.As part of a new initiative, the Penguins will offer free baseline concussion testing and educational programs to players at the pee wee, bantam and midget levels of youth hockey, in addition to high school players.The program, which is being called “Heads Up Pittsburgh,” is billed as a combination effort with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and UPMC Sports Medicine.Testing will begin on May 1 at the UPMC Sports Medicine Center on Pittsburgh's South Side.Regarding the 6,000 players that the program is targeting, Dave Soltesz, Penguins Foundation president, said, “Our goal is to test all of them.”Dr. Micky Collins, of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, said, “This time of year, about 20 percent of our concussion clinic patients are youth hockey players — both boys and girls.”Soltesz said the program will focus on pee wee, bantam, midget and high school players because those players are involved in body checking.Crosby wasn't initially tested for a concussion after a hit in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 because he wasn't experiencing any symptoms. He began experiencing symptoms about four days later.“Heads Up Pittsburgh” will give young hockey players the kind of attention and valuable concussion information that they'll need as long as they participate in the sport.The Penguins, Penguins Foundation and UPMC Sports Medicine deserve praise for this worthwhile effort.