Laurel: To the Port Authority fact-finding report. A state mediator recommends a modest wage increase for unionized employees of Allegheny County's mass-transit agency. But it also recommends they pay more for their health insurance, phasing out free health-care benefits for life upon retirement and elimination of a very generous monthly pension supplement. Sounds like the real world to us. Let the negotiations proceed.
Lance: To Pat McMahon. The president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 is upset that the Trib managed to garner details of the aforementioned fact-finder's report. Mr. McMahon says there was an agreement not to disclose it until the union decided whether to accept or reject its recommendations. We commend to McMahon this oft-repeated sentiment: Public transit, public money, public disclosure -- when it most matters.
Laurel: To the Ravenstahl administration. Its promise to upgrade the woeful condition of Pittsburgh's police vehicles is about to hit the streets. The first of $9.1 million worth of new patrol vehicles are set to bow next week. Forty of 109 patrol cars, truck wagons and motorcycles now are being outfitted. Good policing requires personal skill, of course, but it also requires the tools to complement those skills. And the importance of reliable vehicles cannot be underestimated.
Best wishes: To the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh. This worthy nonprofit has worked from founder and CEO Dan Holland's house for its first six years. Now, it's moved into a home of its own in Homestead. The group is best known for making the public aware of historic preservation opportunities in the region. We wish it the best in its new digs. We can't wait to see what it comes up with next.
On the "Watch List": Municipal street trees. Many local communities rightly take great pride in their efforts to "green" their streets with some really marvelous and infrastructure-friendly trees. But maintaining them is another matter. Fall should offer a great opportunity for communities to trim trees that, in too many cases, present more of a hazard than an enhancement. Unpruned trees are a liability taxpayers can't afford. It's time to get the hand saws and pruning shears busy.
Here we go: The Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2008 regular-season campaign Sunday against the Houston Texans at Heinz Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. It's generally agreed that the Black and Gold have the toughest NFL schedule this year. And many a pundit says this could be the year that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger enters the rarefied air of The Bastion of Truly Great Quarterbacks. If his offensive line can protect him, that is. Here we go ...
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