[naviga:h3]Cheer

Cheers to the stewards of regional disc golf courses that attracted hundreds of world-class professional athletes to Butler County and the surrounding area earlier this month.

In case you missed it, Slippery Rock University was the place where disc golfer Paul McBeth of California won his fourth straight world championship on Aug. 10.

That’s never been done before, and Butler County residents got a chance at a front-row seat because of the quality of this region’s courses — specifically the courses at Moraine State Park, Slippery Rock University and Deer Lakes Park.

Those courses, which pros throughout the week-long competition said impressed them with their difficulty and pristine condition, are all open to the public.

The organizations that maintain these facilities and the people who put in the time and effort necessary to make them world-class destinations deserve credit for attracting so many new faces to our region, and helping to put Butler County’s best foot “fore” -ward.

[naviga:h3]Jeer[/naviga:h3]

A jeer to whoever thought it was a good idea to deface the Christie Avenue playground in Butler with graffiti.

Spray painted initials on playground equipment and the playground’s shelter, which recently had been decorated with the help of neighborhood children, have upset parents and city officials — and rightly so.

The playground, renovated by the neighborhood itself, is a welcome symbol of what a community can do when people come together to make a project happen. It took the neighborhood years of work to round up the contributions and grant money to renovate that playground. They and the entire community are deservedly proud of their efforts.

The vandalism, which was reported in the Eagle’s Aug. 6 edition, can’t change that. But the senseless damage is a sad reminder that some people always begrudge others nice things.

Wouldn’t it be sweet justice if the vandal or vandals were caught in time to help clean up the mess they made?

[naviga:h3]Cheer [/naviga:h3]

Cheers to graduates and officials involved in the Butler County Veteran’s Court, which conducted its second graduation ceremony on Wednesday and celebrated five service members who completed the treatment-based program.

In many cases, these men and women need help that can’t and won’t be found in a jail cell, and they’ve been conditioned by the military to be too tough to ask for it.

The court shows there is reason to believe our county is on the right track when it comes to responding to veterans issues. The program also leverages one of the most powerful resources available to troubled veterans: Fellow service members who best understand what they’re going through.

Butler County Judge Timothy McCune pointed to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a common problem among veterans, and the issues go wider and deeper than that: Homelessness, joblessness and suicide.

The court’s honorable treatment of Butler County’s veterans can be a road map forward in confronting these problems. And graduates themselves will hopefully use their stories to become part of a growing solution.