Cheer

Criminal charges and civil judgments won’t restore Briggs Buck’s life, but we want to highlight the positive in this case where we can find it.

Buck was killed in 2015 in an alcohol-fueled ATV accident. After the crash he was abandoned by those who should have rushed to get him medical attention. It’s a sickening case that has irreparably changed the lives of Briggs’ parents, friends and everyone involved.

In the wake of a multi-million-dollar civil judgment last week Briggs’ parents, who were represented in court by attorney Ray Conlon, said they believe their son’s legacy as a generous and kind classmate and friend was alive and well.

Chuck Buck, Briggs’ father, also wasn’t shy about sharing his hope that the financial judgment, which the family doesn’t expect to ever receive, serves as a lesson to adults who facilitate and promote risky behavior by adolescents.

We share that hope, and add to it the hope that Briggs’ contributions to the lives of friends, family members, teammates and classmates will live on in memories and shared stories.

If people can remember and celebrate Briggs for who he was in life, and the cautionary tale of his death can save another family the anguish endured by the Bucks, then something positive truly will have come out of this terrible tragedy.

Jeer

There’s no need to mince words: many of Butler’s roads are in terrible condition and in dire need of repair.

This won’t come as news to anyone who lives in or drives in Butler on a daily basis. Potholes, improperly repaired utility work, and degraded pavement are commonplace on city streets — and have been for years.

This affects both residents and businesses in a negative way: no one likes to drive on deteriorated streets, or subject their vehicles to the repeated pounding that comes with traveling on uneven, pock-marked pavement day in and day out.

We’re not arguing that Butler’s roads need to be pristine. But they should be in a condition that doesn’t make drivers wince and hope they haven’t blown out a tire on a routine basis.

Cheer

Congratulations to the men and women who worked diligently in recent months to ensure that two juvenile bald eagles rescued last year have a chance for free lives in the wild.

On Wednesday the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced that the eagles had been returned to the wild near Pymatuning Resevoir — a swath of state Game Lands that is already home to many of the birds.

Bald eagles are no longer listed as a threatened species. And It’s this kind of contentious stewardship by game commission officials — and quick, compassionate thinking by the people who rescued these birds — that has enabled their resurgence.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of observing them in the wild surely realizes how fortunate we are to have these animals in Western Pennsylvania once again.

It’s worth remembering that their return didn’t happen without help, and won’t endure without our continuing commitment.