Many Butler County residents are fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates and are troubled by the Bucs' continued hard times. Even people who don't consider themselves diehard fans of the team would like to see a winning season for a change, instead of the 100-plus losses that the team has under its belt this season.

Local fans must be wondering what the Bucs' top management is thinking after it made a move in the Pirates Class AA minor league team in Altoona.

While the Pirates continue to stick by the major league team's manager, John Russell, the team fired the Altoona Curve's manager, Matt Walbeck, less than two weeks after he piloted the Curve to the championship of its league.

Do the Pirates really frown on success? Does someone really have to be a loser to be considered a winner by the Pittsburgh brass?

Maybe the Bucs, rather than firing Walbeck, should have promoted him to replace Russell and demoted Russell to Altoona to hone his managerial skills.

Butler County residents who in recent years feared that Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center might have to be sold to a private operator because of financial losses got some good news Thursday, supporting the county commissioners' decision earlier this year to keep the facility.That good news is that the nursing home's net loss from January through August was $42,812, suggesting a significantly lower deficit than the annual $500,000 to $1 million losses that the facility had experienced in recent years.The net loss for 2009 was $536,341; in 2008, $1 million; and in 2007, $1.1 million — a difficult financial situation for the county to continue to endure.And there was further good news Thursday about Sunnyview's finances. Despite the net loss, from an operational standpoint the facility recorded a bigger profit during the January-through-August time frame — $383,725 compared with $108,827 in 2009.Among the costs the county assesses Sunnyview are building depreciation and portions of government center staff salaries, including the personnel department and county solicitor.To his credit, during the time of uncertainty over Sunnyview's fate, Dr. William DiCuccio, the facility's medical director and former executive director, remained optimistic — predicting that the net loss would become negligible because of reduced expenses and a stepped-up emphasis on rehabilitation services.That prediction now is coming true in a significant way.Perhaps one good aspect surrounding Sunnyview's period of uncertainty is that it forced necessary financial scrutiny. It must be hoped that that same level of scrutiny continues, no matter how much the facility's finances improve in the future.

The Boy Scouts' Campaganza last weekend at Moraine State Park was a credit not only to the Scouts and event planners, but also the park, its staff and everyone else who had a role in making the event the big, safe success that it was.With 10,000 Scouts — and 5,000 to 8,000 other people — congregated in one place, some problems might have been anticipated. But if there were any, they were minor.In fact, maybe the biggest problem that the Scouts encountered was the long waiting lines to participate in some activities. But for most of the Scouts, even the wait often was fun as they watched others enjoying the activities.From a financial standpoint, Campaganza also merits positive notice. The Scouts broke even in terms of the $300,000 cost of the event, which began Sept. 24 and ended last Sunday.Scouting councils from the Boy Scouts' Northeast Region, which includes the Moraine Trails Council, organized the event. And the planning proved to be virtually flawless, producing a splendid event despite a light rain at times and a cool breeze coming off Lake Arthur.As at least one Scout pointed out, it was difficult sleeping — but not because of any discomfort — but because of excitement and anticipation about Campaganza activities still to come.The Boy Scouts proved again that they know how to organize a great event consistent with Scouting's mission and objectives.Butler County residents can feel proud that their county was given the honor of hosting the great event.