Laurels & lances: Fixing up & tearing down

Laurel: To restoration. Outside the VFW Post 92 in Lower Burrell stands a piece of history.

It’s a Vietnam-era helicopter, the kind that carried service members, rescued the wounded and took enemy fire in battle. It stands there as a kind of memorial to those who served in those actions — as well as to those who didn’t make it home.

But after 50 years or so, even the most rugged, battle-tested equipment can feel the weight of age and weather. The Forbes Road Career and Technology Center students stepped in recently to offer their services.

Forbes students come from Allegheny Valley, Highlands, Penn Hills, Plum, Riverview, East Allegheny, Gateway, Wilkinsburg and Woodland Hills school districts. They learn the skills that will be valuable in the job market, like repairing cars and trucks.

This may be the only time they put those skills to work on a helicopter — or on a piece of history.

With materials provided by Mogie’s Mission, a Lower Burrell-based charity honoring the late David “Mogie” Magill, and the Vinson Pelisari Foundation, the students breathed new life into the aircraft. It’s an act of service from all involved and an expression of respect for all service members.

Lance: To missing the point. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s mayoral hopefuls met in a televised debate on KDKA.

On some points, Democrat and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor and Republican and former Pittsburgh police officer Tony Moreno stuck to their party positions. O’Connor, for example, would continue a policy of not partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Moreno, on the other hand, suggested that would change with him at the helm.

If there was one thing that brought the two together, it was piling on Democratic Mayor Ed Gainey, who lost his reelection bid during the primary. Both criticized him for a lack of transparency and for the city’s bad financial picture.

To be fair, we’ve done the same, taking Gainey to task for those failings and more. We’ve even done it within the last week.

But Gainey wasn’t on the stage for the debate. Nobody had to point a finger. The guy they were blaming has already been fired by the voters and is enjoying the same slow walk to the exit that Gainey delivered to Bill Peduto before him.

Both candidates would have done better service to Pittsburghers by focusing less on Gainey and more on their visions for the future.