Credit the people of Slippery Rock for demanding more than the same-ole, same-ole from their elected good-oles.

The citizens committee on solid waste, meeting Wednesday, concluded the borough council acted unwisely when it moved the spring bulk trash pickup from May to March. The rescheduling inconvenienced many residents, especially the Slippery Rock University students living in the borough, because many move away in mid-May and rely on the bulk trash pickup when they clean out their apartments.

Move it back to May, the committee recommended.

Until now, borough council has flatly refused. Council members and borough officials offered no reasons why. They formed to citizens committee as a concession to the protests — and they went so far as to suggest the committee meet in private — which prompted some residents to say the committee was intended to delay any action in hope that the issue might go away.

But the issue hasn’t gone away, and council, with two years remaining in its contract with trash hauler Tri-County Industries, is now under pressure to follow its committee’s recommendation — or explain why not.

It’s a good time also for council to respond to the observations of Chuck Brochetti, a board member of the Slippery Rock Municipal Authority, that the garbage contract is $90,000 more than the previous one, and that the borough may have overpaid its contract by $11,000.

Vigilance is the price of effective democratic rule, and the residents of Slippery Rock are to be congratulated for their vigilance.

Jeer Things like this don’t happen here? Guess again.State police said Butler resident Corey C. Sager, a convicted sex offender, had been using Facebook and e-mail accounts for more than a year to contact juvenile girls.Investigators, acting on a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, learned that Sager had a profile on the online dating site, myyearbook.com, and was using it to exchange e-mails with a 14-year-old girl.The investigation also found that Sager, 27, for most of 2012 and this year maintained a Facebook account under a fictitious name.Five years ago, Sager pleaded guilty to charges he engaged in sexually explicit online and cell phone text message conversations with an underage girl. He was 22 at the time.Troopers last week arrested Sager on felony and misdemeanor charges. He remains in the Butler County Prison on $150,000 bail.Under Pennsylvania’s version of Megan’s Law, registered sex offenders must notify police when they move, change employment or enroll in school. Additionally, an offender’s e-mail accounts, social networking accounts and Internet service providers also must be reported.The law may be explicit, but that’s small comfort when a convicted offender can fly under the proverbial radar as long as Sager is purported to have done so.The best advice is for parents to be on guard: Know what your children are doing online and via cellphone — and with whom.

Cheer The People’s Republic of China is a vast land with an equally vast population. It’s humbling to realize China’s high-honor students outnumber the United States’ entire student population.China has more teachers, too, including a newcomer from Butler County. Jenna Gannon, a 2009 graduate of Knoch High School, is preparing to teach at a preschool and kindergarten in Ningbo, a port city south of Shanghai on China’s east coast.The timing and circumstance are significant. China, a communist nation, is striving to incorporate capitalist principles in its growing economy and is struggling to accommodate the greater freedoms associated with free markets. While it has a long way to go, the introduction of foreign teachers represents a leap in trust for China.Gannon’s adventure is bound to give her priceless experience with children, parents and faculty members in a political and economic climate far different from our own. The addition to her resume will catch the eye and imagination of future employers.Ningbo is sure to make an impression on Gannon, and she is sure to make a lasting impression on Ningbo.We wish her well — and invite her to send us an occasional e-mail about her experiences.