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

Remember back when Jeb Bush had the 2016 Republican presidential nomination locked up? That was long before Donald Trump clinched the nomination, and in both instances, Pennsylvania GOP voters lamented that the state primary comes so late — April 26 — that they won’t have a say in the outcome.

Oh, really?

There’s still a little speculation in the race, as Ohio Gov. John Kasich now is polling neck-and-neck with Trump.

A Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday has Trump backed by 33 percent of Pennsylvania’s registered Republicans, while 30 percent back Kasich and 20 percent back Sen. Ted Cruz. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 5.4 percent.

Additionally, nationwide polls indicate Kasich would perform better against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton than Trump or Cruz would in the November general election — a revelation that’s emboldening a shadow movement within the GOP to stop Trump, at the party’s national convention if necessary.

With an original Republican field of 17 candidates whittled down to three, maybe Kasich is finally finding some political traction.

For patient Republican voters in Pennsylvania, the campaign that’s been all sewn up twice might not be sewn up yet after all.

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

It’s easy to overlook the severity of what was alleged to have happened March 17 at the Chicora home of Harley and Jenna Stone.

Harley Stone “admitted that he had cooked methamphetamine that morning and he never removed the pot bottle,” the arresting state trooper testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing.

The result was a volatile, potentially explosive mix of chemicals.

How hazardous? Bad enough for the trooper to back away and call in the decontamination experts.

Google search “meth explosions” and you’ll see a large assortment of photos showing blown-up houses and injured people. The yellow house on West Slippery Rock Street in Chicora easily could have been added to the assortment.

The Stones are charged with cooking meth. The drug abuse is bad enough. But with three young children in their home, their use of dangerous chemicals in explosive combinations put themselves and their children in extreme danger.

Credit the Clarion County probation officers who were looking for Jenna Stone. They were the ones who stumbled onto the evidence of a meth lab and notified state police.

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

Cheers to 26 area women veterans, both living and deceased, being honored in quilts that were unveiled Monday at the VA Butler Healthcare in Butler Township.

The exhibit is intended to draw attention to the many contributions of women in the military.

The three quilts were created from 10-by-10-inch fabric squares designed by each veteran or her family. The squares depict each veteran’s unique experiences and contributions while in military life.

The Pieceful Patchers Quilters, a local group that takes on many sewing projects for VA patients, volunteered to stitch the quilts together.

The quilt project was a year in the making. The dedication is part of Women’s History Month.

The VA intends to frame the 4-foot-by-4-foot quilts and put them on display at the health center. They could be joined by more quilts in the future.