Laurels & lances: Preparing & polling

Laurel: To giving shelter. People across the region are bracing for temperatures that continue to fall — and for the first snow of the season.

While no one looks forward to the shift from wearing sweaters to paying heating bills, some have no home to heat. That’s a dangerous place to be when fall turns toward winter.

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services announced Monday that its winter shelter plan will begin Nov. 15 and run through April 30. It will offer more than 600 beds across the region, including a new 140-bed site on the North Side and additional spaces at the Salvation Army and East End Cooperative Ministry. The collaboration with Second Avenue Commons and Community Family Advocates shows a serious effort to meet a growing need.

That’s a positive step because the region has seen more homelessness in recent years. It’s also good government — a compassionate, coordinated response during a time of economic uncertainty.

It’s not the county’s fault that Mother Nature may not have received the timeline. The first snow is expected Monday, five days before the shelters open, with low temperatures forecast in the 20s and 30s.

The county should be commended for its planning and coordination. Maybe next time, flexibility could be part of the plan, too.

Lance: To avoidable errors. Election Day in Pennsylvania should follow a predictable format. Polls are set up, people show up, results are tallied.

That happened Tuesday — but in two counties, it was complicated by Pennsylvania Department of State mistakes.

In Fayette County, the state sent out the wrong voter files, with poll books showing the list from 2024. In Chester County, the rolls included only Democrats and Republicans, as they do for primaries, excluding independents and third-party voters.

The errors created confusion that could have disenfranchised voters.

County officials reacted appropriately, issuing provisional ballots and extending voting where necessary to ensure everyone who wanted to vote got to vote. Kudos to the precincts that made it work.

But the state must do better. Yes, it’s remarkable that we don’t see more errors when so many people go to the polls. But elections depend on trust, and every mistake — even unintentional — chips away at that confidence.