Laurels & lances: A bridge, water and respect

Laurel: To free-flowing traffic. If you’ve been avoiding Freeport Road in East Deer for a year, you can stop taking detours to avoid delays.

On Monday, the road was reopened to traffic with a new longer, wider bridge built to stand 100 years.

The bridge is the last one in Allegheny County to be replaced as part of PennDOT’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project, a public-private partnership between PennDOT and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners. The project replaced 52 bridges in Allegheny County.

Lance: To water, water everywhere. There’s rain, and there’s what has been happening lately. Pennsylvania’s rainy seasons are generally more of the spring and fall variety, but this summer has been soaked.

And the impact is being felt.

There are the basements that are being flooded. There are the flash flood warnings that are popping up on cell phones as often as robocalls. There are the alarmingly large sinkholes.

This isn’t a good-natured grousing about the cold in January or what would be a normal July complaint about the summer heat. This is a genuine concern that we should start gathering two of every animal.

Laurel: To a kid who shows real respect. People have a tendency to complain about the younger generation — they’re lazy and entitled and grew up with participation trophies instead of an appreciation for what their elders have done.

That’s not Liam Samples. The 17-year-old Harrison Taco Bell employee told Army veteran Chris Archer of Lower Burrell that there was no military discount, but instead of letting that be the end of the conversation, he tried to buy Archer’s lunch.

More amazing is that this isn’t a one-time thing. For two years, he has bought — or tried to buy — a meal for anyone who has asked for a military discount. It’s a way he can show his respect, which is important to him.

“It’s something that people should do,” he said.

You know, Liam, you’re right.