Bravo!: To Manfred Honeck. The maestro bows tonight as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. And he's sure to be a hit at Heinz Hall. Mr. Honeck, unknown to some, is a rising star on the international music scene. And we wish him a long and fruitful tenure in Pittsburgh.
Lance: To Luke Ravenstahl. Pittsburgh's mayor again denies allegations of corruption leveled by departed, and paid-off, Urban Redevelopment Authority boss Pat Ford. But what Mr. Ravenstahl and no one else seems to want to volunteer is what legal jeopardy they feared if they didn't add a financial premium -- and a "hush clause" -- to the contract of a guy who quit. Not hush money? It's classic hush money. And as we noted in a Sunday editorial, it's a perfect matter for a grand jury.
Laurel: To Mike Turzai. The Republican state representative of Bradford Woods is the driving force behind legislation that would end the Port Authority's mass-transit monopoly in Allegheny County. It's held that monopoly for more than 50 years. And the business model is broken. What a great opportunity to let the market, not organized labor, drive mass transit.
Laurel (with a caveat): To the Taser review. A group of legal eagles will study the use of the suddenly in vogue law-enforcement tool in the wake of the death, apparently by Taser, of Andre Thomas last month. We have no doubt that Tasers have saved lives. But reviewing how they're used to determine if, in some cases, there have been abuses, clearly is in the public's best interest. The caveat: The review panel is lawyer-heavy. Adding members representing a better cross-section of the community would give greater legitimacy to the effort.
On the "Watch List": Cogent thinking. In a Tuesday editorial, The Toledo, Ohio, Block Bugler took local transit union boss Pat McMahon to task for not allowing his rank and file to vote on a fact-finder's proposed contract with the Port Authority. But on Sept. 4, the same Bugler chided the public for challenging Allegheny County Council's drink tax with a referendum. On one hand, The Bugler urges fealty to representative democracy. On the other, it urges it be undermined. How's that work?
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