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Saquon Barkley makes his case to be No. 1 overall pick at NFL combine

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Their view: China stands to gain from steel tariffs

Diamonds to U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, for his continued support of the SHINE after-school program. Barletta <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/694680/shine-students-run-rings-around-barletta" target="_blank">visited Lee Park </a><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/694680/shine-students-run-rings-around-barletta" target="_blank">Elementary</a>y School in Hanover Township Thursday for a glimpse at various projects by the students in the program there (SHINE programs are peppered throughout the county). In doing so, he reinforced his staunch support for the program. The truth is that Barletta&#8217;s support of President Donald Trump flies in the face of his support for this program &#8212; Trump has been a proponent of cutting public education money in favor of &#8220;school choice&#8221; programs such as government vouchers for private schools. But Barletta has defied Trump in his administration&#8217;s call for eliminating the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program, which provides substantial money for SHINE. Barletta deserves praise for fighting program cuts.Coal to Barletta for an opening salvo in his attempt to win the Republican primary and thus an opportunity to oust Democrat Bob Casey in the U.S. Senate. Multiple media outlets reported on a flyer mailed to prospective campaign donors that claimed &#8220;America is at war&#8221; with &#8220;violent criminal aliens&#8221; flooding the U.S. Barletta rose to national prominence with his anti-illegal immigration stance as Hazleton mayor, and his flyer may sit well with hardcore supporters, but the use of &#8220;America is at war&#8221; three times in one flyer is hyperbolic at least. Barletta should focus on making his case with facts and concrete proposals, rather than through pandering and fear mongering.Diamonds to Luzerne County Manager C. David Pedri and all those in county government in the last five years for trimming &#8212; indeed, arguably the right word is &#8220;slashing&#8221; &#8212; county debt. During his <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/694463/luzerne-county-government-on-solid-ground-manager-says-in-address" target="_blank">&#8220;state of the county&#8221; </a>address this week, Pedri pointed out that county debt is down from $420.87 million in 2012 to $294.4 million in 2017. Add to that estimates suggesting the county finished 2017 with a $1 million surplus, and the progress is impressive. Clearly the county is hardly out of the fiscal risk woods, but at least it&#8217;s starting to look like we have a chance to find our way out, rather than muddling deeper into debt. Incidentally, 2012 was the start of the new home rule government that replaced three commissioners with a part-time county council and a hired manager.Coal to Pedri for what was, at best, a cavalier approach to changes in the county payroll system. Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck rightly <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/694684/luzerne-county-payroll-contract-blasted-by-councilwoman" target="_blank">raised questions</a> about a contract with ADP begun last June. Details are complex and nuanced (if not arcane), but the bottom line is this: Houck was right when she said Pedri should have brought the payroll management contract to council before signing it. While the county&#8217;s shrinking debt and welcome surplus reflect well on the new system of government, this sort of controversy feeds the critics who keep calling (wrongly) for another government study commission and consideration of changing the form of government again.

Our view: Shine program support earns diamonds