Laurels & lances: Stores, seats and lunch ladies

Laurel: To more stores. After years of the news out of malls being all about closings and going-out-of-business sales, it is refreshing to have the trend at one shopping center going in the opposite direction.

Westmoreland Mall is seeing not just new tenants but also returning ones. It’s great to see locally owned Neecs Sneaks and Rock Bottom jewelry coming into the Hempfield location. However, it is even better to see that two stores that had closed have the faith to reopen.

Charlotte Russe announced a company-wide closure in March 2019. When the chain of clothing stores was purchased by Toronto-based YM Inc., there was news that some would reopen. The Westmoreland location should see that happen in the spring.

Christopher & Banks closed more than 400 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. It is expected to be back in business at Westmoreland Mall in early December.

Lance: To an empty seat. Peter Nkemakolam won a seat this month on the New Kensington-Arnold School Board representing Region 3. Unfortunately, he lives in Region 2.

Because of that, Nkemakolam can’t be sworn in with the other winners at the Dec. 6 reorganization meeting. Instead, the board will have to appoint someone to represent the region in his place.

This may be no one’s fault. Nkemakolam said he was unaware of the structure of the regions and that he reached out to the Westmoreland County Election Bureau but was told the ballots were already set.

It does, however, seem like someone at the district or the county should have been able to figure out where you need to live to run for the office. It also seems unfortunate for the people of Region 3 that they will spend the next two years represented by someone picked by the eight members of the board instead of the hundreds that showed up at the polls.

Laurel: To dishing up a deal. The Norwin School District is able to compete with area fast food restaurants thanks to a new contract with the union that represents its cafeteria workers.

The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and the district came to an agreement that takes starting pay for food-service employees from $10.80 an hour to $14.80 an hour.

The $4-an-hour hike is considerably more than the district’s 20-cents-an-hour offer in August, but it does reflect the reality of the employment picture at the moment, with most front-line retail and food-service jobs abandoning minimum wage in favor of higher pay in the midst of high demand for workers.