Give an "A" to Butler's Matt Clement for his determination to regain the form that propelled him to an All-Star Game appearance.

While understandably disappointed about his Aug. 2 release by the St. Louis Cardinals, Clement has set his sights on being on some team's Major League roster in 2009. He plans to resume throwing on Oct. 1 and is looking toward an off-season tryout with a big league team.

Clement has had no medical setbacks since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2006. It was the shoulder problem that derailed Clement's ability to add significantly to his Major League achievements.

He has 87 wins and 1,200 strikeouts and, in addition to playing in the All-Star Game, has a World Series ring.

Clement's agent says that for 2009 Clement will be looking at how good the opportunity is, who the manager and pitching coach are, and whether the team will give him a legitimate shot to help it.

"Every pitcher I knew who had any type of shoulder operation told me you don't feel right again until two years post-op," Clement said. "That will be October for me."

It was not that long ago that Clement seemed poised to have a long, productive career. His career might have been sidetracked but his determination hasn't been relegated to the dugout.

That's the first ingredient toward making a successful return.

The Butler Rotary Club has reason to be proud that some of its members have stepped forward to help National Guard families whose loved ones are deployed in Iraq and during the time those troops are in training leading up to deployment.The Butler club members were the first to join an effort begun by the Newtown Rotary Club. Since then, other Rotary Clubs across the state have begun gearing up to provide similar help.An article in the Aug. 17 edition of the Butler Eagle quoted Pete Richdale, Butler Rotary secretary, who said, "It makes sense to use the Rotary's 400 clubs across the state to help those families find car service or plumbing help when they need it from a reliable source.""The Rotary came out and talked to us, and this seems like a very good idea, and we thank them for their help," said Capt. Gregory Holloway, who is with the 110th Infantry stationed at the National Guard Armory on Kriess Road in Connoquenessing Township.Guard members there expect to leave for training in Mississippi in September and then leave for Iraq in early 2009.A Newtown Rotary member commended the Butler club for being the first outside of Newtown's club to have members join the effort.The quick local response is testimony to the spirit of service that exists here, not only among Rotarians but in other parts of the community.

Men and women sentenced to community service time by the Butler County courts should provide service that benefits the community, and that apparently is happening.But nowhere is it written that while on community service time, they have the freedom to sully areas in which they are not assigned to work.Likewise, there ought to be limits on what they are permitted to do while under the control of the courts in this capacity. That includes such "asides" as smoking and use of cell phones.While awaiting transportation to their work sites Friday morning outside the county Government Center, several members of a community service contingent were puffing on cigarettes — apparently permissible, since no one supervising the contingent told them to extinguish the cigarettes.But one in particular caught the eye of a bystander when he tossed the cigarette butt onto West Diamond Street. Here was a community "service" worker littering the street.Many people might conclude that that was no big deal — that motorists routinely toss cigarette butts out the windows of their vehicles.It's the principle of the matter. These individuals should not be doing anything detrimental while on community service time.Perhaps, instead of allowing the workers to lounge around while awaiting transportation, they should be provided with bags and be required to clean up the area around the courthouse. They're on work time and they should be working.Which raises the question: Why aren't the people who supervise these workers paying better attention to what's going on and ensuring that the workers aren't wasting time while under their control?