Laurel: To joining forces. Pennsylvania is peppered with lots of municipalities, overlapping with counties and school districts and authorities that all have their own little fiefdoms. The Keystone State is third in the nation when it comes to various local government divisions, with the U.S. Census Bureau putting only Illinois and Texas having more.

But it can be hard to get local entities to work together, despite the benefits in both spending and workload. So kudos to Tarentum and Brackenridge for looking at ways to share services for the good of everyone in their adjacent communities.

“Any way we can work together and be good neighbors is good,” Tarentum Council President Scott Dadowski said. “How we get there, I don’t know, but I don’t think anyone would disagree.”

Lance: To contaminated water. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County spent weeks dealing with toxic chemicals in its system in 2021. The situation left 250 water customers in McKeesport’s Lower 10th Ward without water for almost a month.

Lines were flushed and samples taken as the water underwent daily testing. Cost of that process has not been released, but it could come to light as MAWC has now filed a lawsuit against more than two dozen chemical manufacturers, including 3M and DuPont. The suit takes issue with the manufacture of chemicals despite warnings of toxicity and water system damage.

Laurel: To getting back to business. The Allegheny County Department of Health is moving on from the buckled-down emergency mode it has been using for the last two years under the covid-19 pandemic.

After having briefings with pre-submitted questions for Health Department Director Dr. Deb Bogen and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, this week marked a return to reporters actually being able to ask questions at an in-person gathering. That is tempered by the news that the briefing will be replaced by a weekly written report instead.

Monday will mark the second anniversary of Allegheny County’s first covid death but a return to business as usual seems to be spreading.

“The next and final chapters have not been written and I will not pretend to predict them,” Bogen said.

Lance: To moving the party. New rules at Point State Park are forcing the relocation of a beloved annual event to a new location.

First, let’s say there’s nothing wrong with having a festival in the Pittsburgh Cultural District. That sounds like a blast.

But Three Rivers Arts Festival and Point State Park go hand-in-hand. It’s not the Cultural District Festival, after all. The confluence of people and art and the jewel-box setting are reflected in the way the rivers come together at the Point.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a point about post-festival clean-up and wear and tear on the grounds, but here’s hoping that before 2023, the state and the organizers can come up with a way to continue the festival in the place it was meant to be.

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