Editor’s note: This editorial was modified Thursday, May 26, 2005, to correct the affiliation of Port Authority police officer William Wagner. A point of order: Pittsburgh Democrat mayoral nominee Bob O’Connor is acting like he’s already been elected mayor. And given the 5-to-1 voter registration edge that Democrats have over Republicans, he likely was in Tuesday’s primary. But there is a Republican nominee. And Joe Weinroth is the best candidate the GOP has put up for mayor in decades. Mr. O’Connor takes Mr. Weinroth for granted at his own peril. Laurel: To Allegheny County voters. Despite the efforts of the last vestiges of the Democrat Machine, voters overwhelmingly approved the elimination of six of 10 elected county row offices in Tuesday’s election. The streamlined government not only will save money and be more efficient, but it’s expected to pave to way for commonsense consolidation of many city-county operations. A new day has dawned. Lance: To the Michael Diven campaign. The Republican state representative was sorely disserved by his party in his unsuccessful race for state Senate against Democrat Wayne Fontana. Unrealistic internal polling fueled an arrogance that came back to bite the GOP. Post-loss, the attitude is “no big deal.” Heads should roll. And if they don’t, other prospective Republican candidates would be wise to steer clear of the crew that lost the 42nd District race. One more time: Pittsburgh City Councilman Sala Udin, in office for a decade, lost his re-election bid Tuesday when former staffer Tonya Payne won the Democrats’ nomination. We’ll use this opportunity to ask — one more time — where Mr. Udin took a city car several years ago and racked up thousands of miles on the public dime. He’s never explained. Time to come clean, Sala. What do you have to lose? On the “Watch List”: Mt. Lebanon wallets. Reform-minded voters advanced their cause Tuesday by advancing several supposedly reform-minded candidates to the fall school board race. A secret half-million-dollar buyout of a former superintendent, a secret contract extension for teachers, and steadily rising taxes fueled voter ire. The question now is if anything really will change. Stay tuned. Laurel: To James H. Boyd and William Wagner. The state trooper and Port Authority police officer, respectively, risked their lives to save the life of a Cranberry woman attempting to commit suicide by jumping off a Downtown bridge. Their selflessness is the sign of heroes, a word we’re sure they would be uncomfortable accepting. But heroes they are. Lance: To the darker side of human nature. As Trooper Boyd and Detective Wagner struggled mightily to save the life of that woman attempting to leap to her death off the Smithfield Street Bridge, more than a dozen pedestrians did nothing to help. This says much about our society. And none of it is much good.

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