Congratulations and a job well done to the organizers of a candidate forum for those running for a seat on the South Butler School Board. The forum on Tuesday night drew a couple dozen people and featured seven of the nine candidates up for election.

It was a smashing success. The candidates spent about 90 minutes speaking on issues that ranged from the district’s financial condition to how they would ensure continued educational quality in the classroom.

Events like this are rare in municipal elections. And the importance of giving people a chance to hear directly from those who would represent them in local government can’t be overstated.

It speaks to the quality of the South Butler School community that this even was so well organized and attended. We wish more communities would take note and follow this example.

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

State Sen. Scott Wagner’s gubernatorial campaign is off to an inauspicious start in May, after what should have been a routine luncheon speech at a York country club turned into a messy confrontation.

Wagner was being recorded by a super PAC opposition researcher when he apparently got fed up and initiated an angry confiscation of the researcher’s camera. That apparently wasn’t enough for Wagner, who continued the confrontation when the man pulled out a cell phone camera and tried to get his equipment back.

There’s nothing good about the amount of outside money and political groups pouring into Pennsylvania politics. But it doesn’t appear that Wagner was being heckled or otherwise provoked before Tuesday’s kerfuffle.

If he can’t handle the spotlight of opposition research, what makes him think he’s ready to live in the governor’s mansion?

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

Pennsylvania deserves credit for moving to address a shameful state of affairs that was revealed last year: a tremendous backlog of rape kits that have languished for more than a year without being tested.

By the end of 2015 the state had 1,908 such kits on its books, according to a statewide study. As of March 7 the backlog had been reduced to 1,214, the Department of Health reported Tuesday.

That’s essential work to move these sexual assault investigations forward. But there’s much left to be done, and little money with which to do it.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has voiced concerns that lawmakers haven’t approved money to ensure crime labs can test all future kits within six months of submission. That’s money that should be found somewhere in the budget. The state must do all it can to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice swiftly, and assure victims that their reports will be treated with diligence and respect.