Lance: To Patrick McMahon. The president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, the union representing Port Authority drivers, continues to shop the myth that the state Legislature is going to bail out the moribund mass-transit agency. Mr. McMahon should better direct his time and effort in coming up with a plan to help the Port Authority further reduce its costs as it seeks to reinvent itself.
On the "Watch List":
• Allegheny County politics. For the first time in a long time, the county's political climate is in serious transition. Incumbent Democrat Chief Executive Dan Onorato won't seek a third term. The Democrat establishment worries a divisive primary could give Republicans the office. Republicans could announce their anointed soon. There is much jockeying under way for other offices. It will be interesting to see how the political dynamics play out.
• The investigation of alleged al-Qaida wannabe Emerson Begolly. There's no question that Begolly, a former Harrison resident, is a decidedly troubled young man. And if the allegations that he bit two FBI agents and had a loaded 9 mm pistol are true, he deserves to be punished. But how it appears this investigation was handled is raising questions and doesn't quite pass the smell test.
Laurel: To never forgetting. The Summit Hose Company in Tarentum held a Mass in memory of firefighter Frank Goralka on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of his death in an explosion at a garage in West Tarentum. Good job.
An observation: If you want another example that lawyers and insurance companies run the world, look no further than the Norfolk Southern Railroad's decision to put up "No Trespassing" signs with a threat to prosecute on their tracks at the end of the walking bridge in Hyde Park. The railroad says people coming off the bridge from Leechburg need to walk a half-mile to a regular crossing, which is utter nonsense and something nobody will do. This is Butt-Covering 101. With the signs, if someone does get hit by a train, the railroad will avoid a lawsuit by saying, "We told you so."
