Laurels & lances: Listening, hearing, living

Laurel: To doing the right thing. Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer did just that when he put on a mask.

Balzer was previously criticized by some — and supported by others — for not donning the protective gear required in the courthouse and by Gov. Tom Wolf’s edict. A three-term Republican, he said wearing a mask made him cough more when confronted about coming to meetings barefaced.

But at this week’s meeting, Balzer reversed course. The downside is that it wasn’t because he was following the rules. It was more personal. He put on a mask because of his daughter.

The important thing is that he did it. Maybe if Wolf and the commissioners and the federal government want people to wear masks, they should skip official orders and focus on getting loved ones to lobby for them.

Lance: To not stepping back. Fawn police Officer Keith Lazaron II is in the middle of a problem. He’s suspended while the township supervisors debate what to do about supposed insubordination.

It all started with a call in April when Supervisor David Montanari wanted his neighbor cited. Lazaron responded but said he found no violations. From there, things progressed to police Chief Tim Mayberry checking into his work performance, questions about how Lazaron found out about that and Lazaron making statements to reporters.

Mayberry recommended he be fired. A hearing on the issue was held Monday but was cut short by connection problems. The one thing still connected? Montanari, who says he won’t recuse himself from voting.

Lazaron may deserve to keep his job. He may deserve to be fired. The issue deserves unbiased discussion. That can’t happen if one of the witnesses is also on the jury.

Laurel: To a place to call home. When kids go into the foster care system, it’s about having a place to be safe. For many, though, there is no resolution. There is no home at the end of the rainbow. Kids who don’t go back to their families when issues are resolved or find new families through adoption could stay in foster care until they turn 18.

And then what? When they age out, they don’t have the home base and the safety net that other kids might.

That’s where the Foster Youth to Independence program comes in. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson were in McKees Rocks recently talking about the impact of the program that launched last year.

In Allegheny County, seven young adults have benefited from the program since then. That is a great start, but with a quarter of former foster kids ending up homeless, there’s a lot more to do.