Laurel: To careful deliberation. When it comes to money, it seems like government seldom needs any encouragement to plunge forward, planning first and finding a way to underwrite a project later.

That makes it refreshing to see Jeannette content to let a pot of funds sit until the right way to spend it is determined.

The city is not one of the 18 municipalities in Westmoreland County that were being pushed to file the paperwork for their part of the American Rescue Plan funding in June before the deadlines came up and the chance was missed.

Jeannette is set to get more than $900,000 from the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package. However, because of various strings on what the money can and can’t be used to fund and the fact that Jeannette didn’t get hit by the kind of unexpected expenses some municipalities did, there isn’t an immediate need to fill or an imminent project to get off the ground.

It is smart to let the money sit until the right use is found rather than rush out and spend it on the first qualifying project to arise. The city has until the end of 2024 to spend the money and is taking the right tack by being thoughtful in the meantime.

Lance: To unexplained big game. There is plenty of wildlife in Pennsylvania, and finding a random animal unfortunately ending up on the side of the road is nothing new. Deer, groundhogs, the odd skunk — plenty of things end up on area pavement.

But a rhinoceros? Aspinwall police may very well be the first law enforcement officers in the Keystone State to explore the case of a taxidermied rhino head showing up on a sidewalk.

Why a lance? This isn’t a statement about big game hunting. No, rather it’s confusion about why this rare piece — the World Wildlife Fund says there are only about 27,000 rhinos left in the world — would be so carelessly discarded. If it was unwanted, it could have been donated to a zoo or museum, which seems like a better way to honor the life of such an animal.

On the watch list: To grand gestures. Pittsburgh City Council has a proposal on the table to offer paid bereavement leave for nonunion employees who experience pregnancy loss.

“When I think about workers’ rights, this is a piece that’s missing,” said Councilman Bobby Wilson after introducing the legislation.

It is absolutely the kind of gesture that an employee who has experienced an early miscarriage or a stillbirth could appreciate. Such losses can be traumatic and lead to depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, on top of the simple physical recovery.

But more information on the cost would be welcome. The legislation would also cover bereavement for those who have suffered failed in vitro fertilization or surrogacy loss, which is pertinent as the city began including the costs of infertility treatments in employee health care coverage.

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