The Pennsylvania General Assembly is once again demonstrating its uncanny ability to bobble a task despite having that task spelled out for it.

Last November, state voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution to allow child witnesses to testify by videotape or closed-circuit television. In a second question, the General Assembly was given the responsibility of writing the rules for children testifying outside a courtroom.

In March, the Senate passed a bill called the Child Witness Testimony by Alternative Methods Act. However, the measure has been stalled in the House Judiciary Committee, with no guarantee that there will be action anytime soon.

The situation is reminiscent of the way state lawmakers took until virtually the last minute to pass a measure complying with the new federally mandated limit - .08 percent - for determining whether a motorist is driving drunk. The legislature knew the task needed to be done; otherwise, the state would risk losing federal money. However, lawmakers were unable to lower the limit from .10 until the deadline for action had nearly passed.

While there is no deadline for action on the child witnesses measure, seven months should have been more than enough time for lawmakers to complete what the voters dictated.

The source of the current disagreement is a provision in the Senate bill that lets judges decide when and how witnesses or victims under the age of 13 may testify outside the presence of the judge, jury or defendant. Under the measure, the trial judge first must determine that testifying in person would cause the witness the kind of "serious emotional distress" that would prevent effective communication.

Judges should have flexibility in this matter; they are capable of evaluating the circumstances in individual cases - much better than lawmakers through a single set of rigid guidelines. And, the Senate bill is patterned after model legislation issued two years ago by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

Two-thirds of the states already have dealt successfully with the child-testimony issue, but Pennsylvania continues to bobble along on so much that comes its way.

Part-time legislatures in other states are accomplishing much more in less time.

With 73 years under its belt, the Saxonburg Fireman's Carnival is Butler County's recognized threshold to summer.The public loyalty that embraces the weeklong event was visible in a big way Thursday evening as one of the carnival's highlights - the fire company's parade - defied thunderstorms that battered the area before, during and after the parade.As a front-page story in Friday's edition of the Butler Eagle reported, "thousands of people thumbed their noses at the weather" and ensured that the parade would again be a big success. However, the weatherman also merits to be included in this cheer for keeping the weather from becoming an intolerable obstruction, despite the best intentions of the people present.But one older man in attendance maybe shed light on why Thursday's predictions of ominous weather didn't ruin the parade. "If it's time for the Saxonburg parade, then it must be raining," he said.Still, the overall public loyalty to this summer-kickoff - not only to the parade, but also to other carnival events - is something to be cherished. Thousands of communities across this nation wish they could boast such a close-knit spirit.

The Butler Shade Tree Commission has again allowed its presence to be felt in a positive way by hanging beautiful flower baskets on the light poles along Main Street.The flower baskets are an appropriate followup to the commission's tree-planting project that resulted in all of the trees along Main Street being replaced. Future plans include installation of planters and sidewalk lighting on Main Street and expanding its area of work to some of the downtown's other key arteries.It's important to note that all of the commission's work has been accomplished without the use of tax dollars. The commission has been able to obtain grants, and generous donors such as Sprint have added other money to the beautification efforts.To recognize Sprint's generosity - $10,000 given over the past several years - the commission appropriately named the flower basket project the Sprint Main Street Baskets.With Mother Nature providing the "watering can," the commission should have no difficultly keeping the baskets looking beautiful. Presumably the commission has a plan in place for keeping the baskets watered if and when Mother Nature chooses to take her moisture elsewhere.