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The publication of a University of Pittsburgh study showing fatal drug overdoses skyrocketing in Pennsylvania between 1979 and 2014 might not seem like good news, but it is invaluable information for public health and law enforcement officials facing a crisis of drug overdose deaths across this state.

The study, published Thursday by researchers at Pitt’s Graduate School of Health, found that fatal drug overdoses increased 14 times over that time period — with the highest rates among women, white people and those between the ages of 35 and 44. The study also found the highest rates were found in counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, those surrounding Philadelphia, and in the northeast near Scranton.

Jeanine M. Buchanich, the study’s co-author, says it doesn’t appear that much will change any time soon. In fact, the numbers from 2015 will likely be worse than 2014, she said.

The only way this gets better is if the people working to blunt the onslaught of these deadly addictions have the right information. This study, which is to break down victims by sex, age and race, is a big step toward making that happen.

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In a display that’s become common in this three-ring-circus of an election cycle, a Pennsylvania judge on Thursday denied a Pittsburgh man’s request to remove Texas Sen. Ted Cruz from the state’s primary ballot.

The argument for doing so — that Sen. Cruz was born in Canada and so doesn’t fill the bill as a “natural born citizen” of the United States and so isn’t eligible for the office of president — is patently ridiculous.

Yes, Cruz was born on Dec. 22, 1970, while his mother, a U.S. Citizen, was in Canada. What does that mean? Precisely nothing, if you’ve actually read the Constitution.

Article II of the Constitution states: “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States ... shall be eligible to the office of president.”

Add to that the rules in 1790’s Naturalization Act, which states: “(T)he children of citizens of the United States, born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the Untied Sates, shall be considered citizens of the United States.”

A “natural born citizen” includes any person who is a U.S. citizen from birth. That includes the children of U.S. citizens who give birth abroad.

These challenges make a mockery of our country’s judicial and political processes.

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An executive order from Gov. Tom Wolf raising the minimum wage to $10.15 for about 79,000 employees of the Commonwealth isn’t going to create economic waves. But it will provide the potential starting-point for a necessary discussion about what, if anything, the state should do for minimum wage earners across the Commonwealth.

The governor wants to move the needle on Pennsylvania’s statewide minimum wage, which has been set at $7.25 per hour since 2009, and says an increase would generate $60 million in tax revenue.

Wolf’s plan has come under fire from Republican lawmakers, who question its timing and wisdom amid an ongoing budget impasse and Pennsylvania’s looming, multi-billion-dollar structural deficit.

Those are fair concerns to raise, and it’s also fair to point out that issues like reforming the state’s pension systems might be higher on voters’ list of priorities.

But perhaps our dysfunctional state government should also consider starting small when it comes to economic reforms. We’ve seen absolutely no evidence over the past 18 months that Democrats and Republicans can collaborate on fiscal initiatives,

If tackling the state’s real, structural problems is too big a task for our elected officials at this time, maybe they should put away their slings and arrows and try actually talking this particular issue out. That might help them to remember what a functioning government looks like.

— PAR