Slippery Rock borough council gets a conditional cheer this week for reconsidering its decision to move up the borough’s spring bulk-trash pickup from early May to mid-March.

Council is forming a fact-finding committee to review the decision, along with complaints and requests to move the date back to May to coincide with the end of Slippery Rock University’s academic year.

Opponents of the move, including landlords who rent to university students, say the earlier date deprives the off-campus students of a service they need — and have paid for. Borough officials, who previously have said the decision was final, apparently have yielded to the complaints.

Council has appointed its vice president, Christy Tichy, to the committee, which also will include a member of Slippery Rock Development and representatives from Slippery Rock University, the business community, landlords and residents at large. Most of the committee members will be appointed Aug. 6.

An independent, broad-based and open-minded committee is the way to go. It should be able to compile the positive and negative implications of the March vs. a May bulk pickup and the voluminous comments, both pro and anti, documented in council meeting minutes along with news reports and letters in the Butler Eagle.

Slippery Rock residents have a reasonable expectation that their elected leaders work for the best interests of everyone. A thorough review of the trash pickup issue, and an informed recommendation from the committee, fits that expectation.

Jeer A word of advice to the vandal or vandals who toppled headstones in late June at the Mount Vernon Cemetery in Washington Township.Maybe you were just showing off in front of friends, but what a stupid thing to do.You committed a criminal act. Under Pennsylvania law, desecration of a burial site is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to five years in prison for each offense.The possibility of harsh punishment ought to keep you from boasting about what you did — someone you tell might turn you in.For that matter, how do you know your accomplices won’t report you? Maybe you should report yourself — the first to confess usually gets a lighter sentence.Maybe you acted alone, and there were no friends; if that’s the case, then you have bigger problems than a criminal investigation. Please seek out the psychological help you need before you do harm to yourself or others.There’s little hope you would report yourself. But it would be the right thing to do.

CheerThe earliest known mention of hockey appeared in 1363 when King Edward III of England issued a proclamation banning “such idle games” under penalty of imprisonment.Despite the royal edict, hockey flourished over the ensuing 650 years; that’s good for Cranberry Township, which stands poised to cash in on a massive construction project focused entirely on the sport.UPMC and the Pittsburgh Penguins intend to build a 175,000-square-foot sports medicine and training complex along Route 228 near the Westinghouse Electric Co. headquarters.Roger Altmeyer, UPMC’s community project development director, says the structure will feature two ice rinks — one exclusively for the Penguins and the other for high school teams, tournaments and community events. Medical offices on a ground floor beneath the rinks would be dedicated to the treatment and research of sports injuries and rehabilitation.The development is likely to become a Mecca for professional and amateur hockey, home ice for some of the world’s best trainers, coaches and tacticians. It will boost the economy and provide additional revenue for the township, Seneca Valley School District and Butler County.Not bad for an idle game once banned by the king.