The ongoing turmoil within the Butler County Commissioners Office is troubling. County government ought to run more smoothly.

And, if it’s true that this county has become a laughingstock across the commonwealth because of that turmoil, that is not acceptable and could hurt local efforts to attract new businesses and residents.

But if in the eyes of two of the commissioners — William McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton — Commissioner Jim Eckstein is the sole problem, it’s important for them to acknowledge that at times they’re part of the problem also. That was apparent at Wednesday’s meeting.

When bickering among the commissioners reignited after the meeting’s public comment period, Pinkerton made a motion to adjourn the meeting — while Eckstein was speaking — and McCarrier adjourned the meeting — in effect, pulling the rug out from under Eckstein.

While Eckstein’s approach in dealing with his two colleagues often is inappropriate and bogs down meetings unnecessarily, the fact is that Eckstein was elected to his position just like McCarrier and Pinkerton were elected to theirs.

Having been elected, Eckstein had the right to continue speaking on Wednesday without the meeting being disrespectfully adjourned.

Eckstein should keep his comments brief and to the point — just like the other commissioners should do unless an important situation dictates otherwise. But disrespect such as occurred Wednesday only adds more fuel to the unhealthy atmosphere that already exists.

Eckstein should conduct himself professionally and show respect toward his colleagues, regardless of differing opinions. But the other two commissioners have an obligation to accord Eckstein his right to speak, as an elected official.

It’s long overdue for the commissioners office to function as government rather than as a source of public amusement — and embarrassment.

Cheer It won’t last over the course of a 162-game schedule, but the .643 early season batting average of St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Adams has given Butler County baseball fans — even diehard Pittsburgh Pirates fans — someone else to watch and root for.Adams paved his path to the major leagues as a standout player at Slippery Rock University. He holds SRU’s career record with a .473 batting average.His hitting at various levels of minor league baseball produced impressive numbers, especially his 32 homers and 101 RBIs in 2011 while playing Double-A ball in the Texas League.“We like having his bat in there whenever we can get him in there,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.If Adams continues to produce impressive numbers when he’s in the lineup, it will become increasingly difficult for Matheny to keep him out of the lineup.The Pirates are having early season difficulties, but it’s good that local fans can feel excitement over another team’s player with local ties.It’s unlikely that in September Adams will have anything close to a .600 batting average. But he’s exhibiting strengths as a rookie that can propel him into a successful major league career.Butler County fans should continue to root for Adams, despite their allegiance to the Bucs.

Cheer Amid their busy workload, it would have been easy for the state police to focus their attention on solving more serious crimes than the theft of $1,100 from a lock box during the 2011 Butler Farm Show.But 20 months after the theft, the police have cracked the case, charging a 45-year-old New Castle man who had been working for the firm that provided security during the 2011 weeklong event.The key to solving the crime came by matching one of the suspect’s fingerprints to one of two latent prints taken from the lock box. The suspect, William S. Kobialka, later confessed.But it didn’t come as a surprise to investigators that Kobialka was tied to the incident. At the time of the theft, he was the only person on the farm show grounds with a key to the office where the lock box was kept.Still, until obtaining the fingerprint evidence following denials by the defendant, the investigation remained stalled.But to their credit, police didn’t forget about the theft and continued pursuing evidence.The defendant’s excuse that he took the money “in order to support his girlfriend and family” shouldn’t — and probably won’t — carry any weight at his sentencing.It was a stupid crime that will cost Kobialka much more than if he had sought a second job to meet his financial obligations.Good intentions shouldn’t dictate a light sentence in this case.