CheerIt’s not unusual for people who have experienced a fire to express great appreciation for the volunteer firefighters who battled the blaze. Sometimes people write letters to the editor thanking firefighters for their efforts and praising their dedication to the community and to the safety of others.Letters of thanks are not unusual. What is unusual is a community that invites firefighters to attend a special Mass as a way of thanking them for their efforts. And that’s exactly what happened in Emlenton, where 160 people attended a special Mass on Saturday, March 14 at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church.The special event was the community’s way of saying thank you to firefighters from dozens of fire departments who responded to the Feb. 5 blaze that destroyed the historic Emlenton Mill.The Rev. Bill Barron praised firefighters in his homily, adding “It’s good to get firefighters in one place and thank them.”The massive fire that destroyed the 140-year-old four-story grist mill and damaged some nearby buildings brought out firefighters from not only Emlenton, but also Chicora, Bruin, Parker, Eau Claire, Clintonville and Marion Township. In all, it was reported that hundreds of firefighters representing 100 companies braved the brutal cold to fight the blaze along the banks of the Allegheny River.

Jeer Fallout from turmoil at the top of the Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority continues to emerge. The trouble is more than headaches tied to replacing former executive director Perry O’Malley who was fired by the board. The O’Malley matter is costing money.In January, the authority learned from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Pittsburgh that O’Malley had failed to meet deadlines for applications for HUD funding for a new program for two Butler County properties.Interim executive director John Trant said the failure to meet HUD deadlines would not reflect well on the Butler County authority for future project funding, so the county authority voted to pull the flawed application before HUD revoked it.Despite having spent about $275,000 in preparing for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program to help boost funding for work at the Terrance and Cliffside apartment buildings, Trant said the money should not be considered wasted because the work will be used the next time Butler County’s authority applies for RAD funding.This is unlikely to be the last of the troubling O’Malley news to come out of the county’s housing authority.

Cheer Few issues in this part of the country can inflame emotions as much as the debate over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for the extraction of natural gas. For that reason, public officials and members of the public in Middlesex Township deserve a cheer for keeping things civil at a recent public meeting on fracking in the township.In many other forums, whether debating on cable television or writing in letters to the editor, pro-drilling advocates and anti-fracking activists often resort to name calling and demonization. Too often, the debate over fracking turns into a shouting match fueled by vitriol, hyperbole and personal attacksIt’s hard to see any common ground between those Middlesex residents wanting to use their own land in the way that they choose and those who believe that any gas fracking poses a risk to public safety, school children and the environment.But the March 17 meeting in Middlesex managed to maintain a calm and civil atmosphere. Board President George Born set the right tone at the start of the 2-hour hearing, saying that inappropriate behavior would not be tolerated.The assembled 300 people, presumably including many people with strong views on the subject of private property rights and fracking, did their part by remaining civil. About 35 people stepped forward to share their thoughts, and they too, kept the tone respectful, despite having strongly opposing views.The folks in Middlesex should be proud of taking part in a public forum on a very volatile topic without letting it degrade to shouting, demonization and name calling.