Where did the summer of 2022 go, and how did it happen so fast? It seems like only a few days ago we were wondering when the hot, humid days of summer would arrive and bring with it the smell of freshly mowed grass and roadside stands hawking strawberries and corn.

And it seems in a flash it not only came but was gone.

Most of the local schools have started, and the remaining school starts early next week. Pathetic Pirate baseball is losing time and space to college and NFL football.

Politics is rearing its ugly head already for the fall election cycle, and some of the extremists already are talking about the 2023 elections while there is still plenty of time for them to ruin their plans with bad behavior.

Potholes aren’t the fault of the weather yet; but rather the fault of poor workmanship on the roads that were disturbed for repairs by utilities or road crews.

Fall festivals have already started and the days are getting shorter. The clocks fall back on Oct. 30th.

Progress is much slower to show promise and results than is deterioration. The change from season to season can cause progress to move slower as tight budgets make it hard to cover expenses when two seasons overlap.

Work crews can’t fill potholes, rake leaves, trim trees and mow grass at the same time.

New ideas and improvements in the mind of Mayor Bob Dandoy are still in the blossom stage, while things such as city sidewalks, the Penn Theater and Memorial Park are continuing to decay and become dangerous eyesores.

Time will be the best way to solve those problems, which were created or left to decay by the previous administrations of the city. Maybe we could claim that we are eligible for part of the billions the government wants to forgive in student loans and somehow get any easy way out of debt — hand ave money left over for an old-fashioned beer blast.

That seems to be the way of the world these days.

The activities on Main Street are a welcome sign of life and hopefully a boost to the financial well-being of local merchants. But they hardly represent real progress.

Maybe what the city needs is an old-fashioned neighborhood improvement day. Maybe we could expand the city services by doing more of our own care-taking in the community rather than expecting others to do it for us.

Community support, together with buy-local and farm-to-market programs, can invigorate Butler. The city can help by enforcing some of the laws already on the books for requiring upkeep of yards, sidewalks and houses. A couple of houses were demolished and removed from the island neighborhood, and what remains is an improvement.

We would like to see President Joe Biden and Gov. Tom Wolf cut the $24 billion dollars currently aimed at paying for student debt in half and put the rest into our communities.

I know that money could be put to good use in every community across the state. Maybe someone needs to re-think the use of those billions, and instead of buying votes for reelection, invest in America and our small cities.

— RV