Cranberry Township deserves plaudits for the positive step it is taking on behalf of disabled children.

The township's third municipal park, Graham Park, will include a new baseball field that will enable children with disabilities to participate in America's Pastime in a setting in tune with their special needs.

The field, which will be the home of the Miracle League of Southwestern PA, will be just the second of its kind in the commonwealth.

The Miracle League will be a division of the Cranberry Township Athletic Association (CTAA).

What's unique about the proposed field is that it will have no dirt or raised bases that might pose a danger to disabled children. The field will consist of a rubberized turf that will help prevent injuries.

The only challenge that lies ahead — and it's certainly not an insurmountable challenge for a thriving area such as Cranberry — is to raise $300,000 so the field can be ready for use by spring 2009. Mike Sherry and Doug Lucas, who are spearheading the field project, are hoping that businesses and individuals will step forward to provide the needed funds.

"We are extremely happy and fortunate that both Cranberry Township and the CTAA have so embraced this concept," Sherry said. "The cooperation of these groups will ensure that the construction of this field happens in an expedited fashion."

Cranberry residents should feel proud that their municipality is a statewide leader in such a positive venture.

Pennsylvania's student loan agency is infamous for spending $800,000 to send board members to luxury resorts. Then the agency made headlines for spending $400,000 in legal fees to keep its extravagant travel spending secret. Finally, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency says it is planning to reduce expenses.But the reasons for the fiscal restraint apparently have nothing to do wth the luxury-travel scandal. The cost-cutting plan is in reaction to an expected loss of $44 million in federal subsidies.A memo to the 2,600 employees of PHEAA said that there will be no bonuses for 2007-08 and that non-essential travel and overtime will be ended. The agency plans additional cost-saving measures beyond these obvious steps.In one small acknowledgement of the scandals surrounding PHEAA, the agency says it is considering ending executive bonuses, which caused a storm when it was learned that well-paid executives were given bonuses totaling $573,800 last month. The largest bonus, $181,000, went to the PHEAA president and CEO, whose salary is $280,000.Since the student loan agency's 20-member board includes 16 state lawmakers, the organization's free-spending and secretive ways should not be all that surprising, given the state legislature's behavior with late-night pay raises, unvouchered expenses, per-diem abuses and year-end bonuses.Some spending restraint at PHEAA is a good thing, even if it is motivated by the wrong reasons. The spotlight needs to remain on PHEAA to ensure that changes are forthcoming.

An Associated Press article from Washington reported on the $4 per meatball that the Justice Department paid in connection with one lavish dinner attended by department employees.But while that might have angered some readers, farther down in the story was something that should have angered readers even more:A report dealing with the 10 priciest Justice Department conferences between October 2004 and September 2006 has disclosed that 75 percent of the employees who attended those conferences demanded daily reimbursement for the cost of meals while traveling — effectively double-dipping into government funds.In response to the report, Justice's management and administration office has promised to prevent future extravagances like those turned up in the audit. However, it should not have taken an audit for that office to examine its spending patterns.Years ago it was a report dealing with Pentagon $600 toilet seats that raised eyebrows. Now it's $4 Justice Department meatballs. The indifference to outlandish costs is a result of government officials spending other people's (taxpayers') money.The pricey meatball finding proves once again that amid the walls of the federal government and its bureaucracy, there oftentimes is no justice for the nation's taxpayers.