Cheer

When Dave Marlarkey of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 249 called World War II vets “precious and few,” on Wednesday, at a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, he struck the right note.

Then he handed things off to World War II veteran Daniel Zarnick, who shared his memories of the war — and the attack that pushed American into the conflict — with those lucky enough to make the time to hear him speak.

Wednesday’s ceremony was a touching tribute to the thousands of Americans who died 75 years ago, as well as the millions of people who put their lives on the line to fight for humanity’s future over the following four years.

It was particularly moving to hear Zarnick close his remarks with a plea for peace and diplomacy — two things that often seem unattainable these days.

Zarnick’s remarks were a fitting reminder that our veterans have much to teach us; and that we owe them a debt that can never fully be repaid. Their bravery and selflessness are characteristics to which we should all aspire.

Jeer

It was the right move when, on Thursday, an Allegheny County judge denied Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s demand to examine voting machines used in last month’s presidential election.

The judge, Joseph M. James, rightly noted that Stein’s camp has failed to produce any evidence — compelling or otherwise — of voting irregularities, or show why her claim of “statutory authority” to examine the machines was legitimate.

Not content with a simply humiliating defeat, Stein’s lawyer, Douglas E. Lieb, went further down the rabbit hole after the ruling, babbling about the “tremendous obstacles Pennsylvanians face to securing absolute assurance,” of the election’s integrity.

Stein and her lawyers are right that Americans deserve elections they can trust. But they veer into fantasy while making the case that their recount would have achieved certainty or alleviated the concerns of Americans skeptical of election integrity. If anything, their baseless recount efforts have made things worse.

Cheer

“Things left undone become harder,” states an adage. At least in one case — selling decommissioned school buildings — this is inevitably the case. So it’s good news that the former Bruin Elementary School, closed down since 2012 amid declining enrollment, has been approved by school board members for sale to the Nonprofit Development Corporation of Butler County.

It’s true that the sale — reportedly for $1 — isn’t ideal. It would have been far better for the building, appraised at $236,500 in 2012, to have been sold by the district in an arrangement that would recoup some of taxpayers’ money.

But after four years on the market without serious offers, it was apparent that no such deal was forthcoming. The district’s choice was between unloading an empty building that was costing taxpayers up to $30,000 a year to maintain, or continuing to foot the bill for upkeep. That’s an easy decision to make, and board members made the right call in approving the sale.

Now it’s up to the corporation, which has said it hopes to create a human services hub there, to work hard and turn the building’s fortunes around.