Butler County leaders deserve high marks for their decisions regarding the county government pension fund.

Despite the current economic challenges and the ongoing uncertainties surrounding investments, the fund remains solid. On the day the county retirement board met this month, the fund was $15 million higher than a year ago.

The decisions that have allowed the fund to weather troubling economic developments were more diversification of the fund's assets and the county's commitment to continuing contributions to the fund, despite its healthy footing.

Regarding the continuing contributions, county Treasurer Diane Marburger expressed the correct opinion that “once you stop doing that, you're digging a hole.”

And, on diversification of funds, Controller Jack McMillin said that financial tactic benefits the county, especially during bad economic times.

Unfortunately, the fund hasn't been the center of totally positive news. The fund dropped $8 million since April.

But to experience such a drop and still have a solid fund speaks highly about county officials' efforts and close attention to the fund's performance.

No doubt there are other counties that envy the local pension fund's status and perhaps wish they had made decisions in the past that allowed them to continue making uninterrupted contributions to their funds.

Thursday's Butler Eagle article “Some 9/11 charities failed miserably” is a tale of national embarrassment that should provide a wake-up call to everyone who seeks to provide financial help following man-made tragedy or natural disaster.As part of their good intentions, contributors should strive to ensure that those to whom they wish to contribute are capable of doing what they purportedly intend to do.As reported in Thursday's article, some charitable efforts that sprung up after 9/11 didn't have that capability, and it appears that some even were begun more to help their founders than those in need after the 2001 terrorist attacks.“There are those that spent huge sums on themselves, those that cannot account for the money they received, those that have few results to show for their spending and those that have yet to file required income tax returns,” the article says. “Yet many of the charities continue to raise money in the name of Sept. 11,” according to the article.The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a national tragedy; in some cases, the charitable fundraising following that tragedy bordered on the criminal.The generosity of good people should not be rewarded in that way. “Be careful” is the best message for all givers.

It’s uplifting that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court has better judgment than the U.S. district judge who sentenced former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat.Fumo, 68, who remains at a federal prison in Kentucky, was convicted in 2009 of 137 fraud and obstruction counts after a five-month trial. He was found guilty of defrauding the state Senate, a museum and a South Philadelphia nonprofit.After the Fumo jury returned its guilty verdicts, District Judge Ronald Buckwalter sentenced Fumo to a prison term — 55 months — far below federal sentencing guidelines. Despite the number of counts on which the former senator was convicted, he is expected to be released in June 2013.Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term, which would have been more appropriate, considering the scope of Fumo’s violations of the public trust.In its decision, the 3rd Circuit Court ruled that Buckwalter abused his discretion in the Fumo sentencing. The court said Buckwalter was wrong in brushing off more than $1.5 million in losses when he calculated Fumo’s fraud at $2.3 million.According to an Associated Press article, the new fraud calculations could top $4 million and lift Fumo’s sentence guideline to the 21- to 27-year range originally tallied by prosecutors.However, unfortunately, there’s nothing in the Circuit Court’s ruling that Fumo’s 55-month sentence must be changed. Thus, although the case is going back to Buckwalter, he could merely explain his reasoning and keep the Fumo sentence unchanged.That meager sentence created a firestorm in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. If Buckwalter doesn’t budge on the original sentence, a new firestorm will be merited.