There's disagreement over whether business owners along South Monroe Street were notified about the closing of the street for four weeks while sewage storage tanks are connected to underground pipes.

Jim Tomazich, an engineer for the Butler Area Sewer Authority, which owns the tanks, told Mayor Maggie Stock at a BASA meeting on Tuesday that he and someone from the project contractor personally had spoken to each business about the street closing.

Some of the business owners in the project area dispute that.

While perhaps someone at each business was told about the street closing, it seems clear that the message wasn't given to the right people.

Businesses' complaints about the lack of proper notification prompted Stock to attend the BASA session.

Regardless of who was or wasn't told, it's clear that BASA needs to beef up its communications. Official letters of notification should have been sent to each business, listing the weeks that the street would be closed.

Also, to notify motorists who use South Monroe Street, as well as residents of the area, it would have helped to send a news release to the Butler Eagle, so the information could have been widely disseminated.

Instead, BASA opted for a weak public relations exercise. In fact, some people might regard it as another example of BASA's arrogance — the attitude that for years has kept BASA from rectifying recessed manholes on heavily traveled West Jefferson Street, stemming from resurfacing of that street.

Officials in most communities would not tolerate that.

There's a prevailing attitude in Pennsylvania that Penn State University should divulge the costs associated with the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.On Wednesday, at a meeting with alumni in Pittsburgh, Penn State's new president, Rodney Erickson, said that such disclosure would be forthcoming.First, Erickson provided the positive news that payouts stemming from the scandal would not come from tuition, taxpayers or donor dollars. He said costs tied to the scandal would come from a mix of insurance, investment earnings and other accounts.Then, in a demonstration of openness, he said the university in the coming week will begin posting on its website billings connected to the Sandusky case.Erickson probably doesn't yet know the negative impact that the Sandusky case will have on PSU's future insurance premiums. Meanwhile, the interest and investments dollars could have been put to better use.Erickson said Penn State, just in November, had spent $360,000 on a crisis communication firm.There is much unhappiness among Penn State alumni over how university officials have handled the situation. But from the financial-cost standpoint, the university's new promise of openness deserves positive notice.

It’s about nine months before Slippery Rock University’s homecoming parade, but the borough council deserves praise for trying to resolve parade issues well ahead of the event.At a meeting Tuesday, the council discussed past confusion regarding the borough’s responsibility tied to the event, and there was a suggestion to have a council member and possibly a borough police officer attend the university’s homecoming committee meetings.Councilman Ron Steele offered to represent the council. The university should be receptive to the borough’s representation; the university, as well as the borough, will benefit from the communication.One of the issues involving the parade is the need to obtain permission from PennDOT to close Route 173. That must be taken care of at least six weeks before the parade.Councilman Itzi Meztli presented a good idea: that the council should compile a checklist of things SRU needs to do for the parade and a timetable for those items to be completed.The borough did not yet know the exact date of the parade. It’s usually held in October.“Even though it’s their parade, it’s our town,” Steele said. That’s a good point.Presumably, the university will embrace the council’s early interest in the parade. And that interest should expand to other aspects of the homecoming as the university finalizes them.