Laurel: To working smart. Pennsylvania is a checkerboard of municipalities. That board is overlaid with other grids and maps and boundaries, outlining the divisions of authority and responsibility of hundreds of agencies. It’s a layering that can be criticized as unnecessarily complicated and potentially problematic.

One of those arenas can be with law enforcement. Police departments nationwide are struggling with keeping their ranks filled.

That makes the decision to close the Brackenridge Police Department unsurprising. Brackenridge is not the only municipality facing this kind of choice. But it is the simultaneous decision to work with Tarentum that is a good model for other communities.

Tarentum’s department is not merging with Brackenridge’s, however. It is taking on the three former Brackenridge officers. On Friday, both municipal councils voted for a shared police services agreement that will last five years.

This is a commonsense solution that serves the people and gets the job done. If only all government agreements met that bar.

Lance: To making bad things worse. On Feb. 7, Landon Maloberti died at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. It was a week after police began investigating abuse allegations due to the “life-threatening injuries consistent with child abuse” that were seen when he arrived at the hospital with three brain bleeds.

His adoptive parents, Lauren and Jacob Maloberti of Delmont, were arrested July 27 and charged with homicide, aggravated assault, conspiracy and child endangerment. Dr. Michelle Clayton, chief of Children’s Child Advocacy Center, called his case “diagnostic of torture.”

But this week, a spokesperson for GoFundMe spoke to a new wrinkle in the case. The online fundraiser platform is allowing donors to request refunds for a campaign the couple started one day after the police investigation began.

“Any little bit helps us as we navigate life right now with our new uncertainty,” the fundraiser page stated.

Funding campaigns for tragic medical conditions are all too regular, whether for catastrophic accidents, diseases or chronic conditions. But the Malobertis’ fundraiser started out seeking money for “good attorneys” before pivoting a day later to funeral expenses. They raised $5,350 before collections stopped Feb. 10.

The couple is at the beginning of the legal journey in this case, and we do not presuppose guilt. However, this is a case where it didn’t seem possible to make things worse. Somehow throwing money into an ugly situation can always do so.

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