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Active-shooter training coming to Bear Creek charter school

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Intel chiefs score democracy’s slam dunk

<p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to any and every firefighter who faced the searing heat of flame and the brutal cold of the freshly passed &#8220;polar vortex.&#8221; It&#8217;s a double whammy few would ever want to face, as is quickly evident to even the most casual observer during fires such as the Friday blaze on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. Cold caused a fire hose to crack, turned water from hoses into sheets of ice under foot of those combating the inferno, and made hoses so stiff they couldn&#8217;t be rolled up. And that&#8217;s secondary to how cold it had to be for the people operating the equipment and trying to save property and lives. The fact that the city department saved a next door building that, at one point, was within a foot of the flames, earns kudos on its own. Doing so in such conditions merits high praise and thanks.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to the Luzerne County Council kerfuffle prompted by an apparent staff error that resulted in forms sent to prospective council candidates seeking, well, TMI. Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck rightly questioned why the 12 people who applied to fill a seat vacated by Edward Brominski received requests for personal information and approval to perform a &#8220;consumer report&#8221; checking things like credit, character, general reputation and personal characteristics. Council Chairman Tim McGinley said the forms were sent by mistake, and that a new form asking permission to do a criminal background check was sent instead, to make sure none had felony records that would preclude holding the office. McClosky Houck also argued candidate resumes should be made public, a thornier issue because of privacy concerns for the 11 people who do not get the appointment. That seems to have a simple solution: Redact any such personal info and let taxpayers see the relevant work history and skills they bring to the table.</p><p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to Dennison Township supervisors for pulling off the rare act of reducing property taxes this year. As reported in last Sunday&#8217;s paper, 15 of Luzerne County&#8217;s 76 municipalities increased their tax rate, while 60 made no change. Dennison actually lowered the rate by 16.6 percent, saving a person with a home assessed at $100,000 about $10 this year. No one is going to celebrate with a big vacation or long-delayed kitchen remodeling, but even this small rollback is well worth marking in a region where taxes go down about as often as the Susquehanna reverses direction.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to the growing penchant of state lawmakers to see expanded legalized gambling as a budget fix, a trend highlighted in Tuesday&#8217;s paper with news that Mohegan Sun Pocono will bring sports betting (in some form) to the local gambling mecca. This isn&#8217;t a knock on the idea of legalizing such gambling in more states &#8212; if people are going to do it, better the state get a piece of the betting pie. But money from legalized gambling should, at best, be thought of as a boon to be spent on wish lists, not a fundamental part of a state&#8217;s effort to provide essential services.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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Our View: A heartfelt thanks to firefighters during cold week