Back in my days working for the local Daily Bugle, an editor began a campaign to emphasize positive events in this area. He came up with a logo “Good News” to be inserted into stories.
As these things tend to go, quotas were established. News, sports, features, all had to use the Good News labels daily, sometimes multiple times a day.
There came a night when the man putting together sports pages had limited options, so he put Good News art into a story of a track meet.
This horrified the overall newspaper editor, who read it the next day and noted that while it was Good News for the victorious team and all event winners, perhaps the losing team/athletes would not view it as Good News.
I cannot recall the exact timing, but Good News proclamations in stories long ago went the way of the dodo bird, joining local ownership of our newspaper, television and radio outlets in the distant memory category.
But I do feel that good things about the area bear mention. So, allow me to commend Southmont Borough for promising and delivering.
The back story is my wife has wanted rid of bushes she once planted in front of our house (we’ve been here pushing four decades) that had become larger than promised. She visited the folks at Southmont’s borough building and was promised such trimmings are picked up curbside the first Monday of each month. A shredder makes wood chips of it all and the mess is gone.
My wife, with the considerable help of my son and a borrowed reciprocating saw, labored mightily Sunday. They took out the bushes and produced two stacks of cuttings, each the size of a small car, that were piled near the curb.
I doubted the brush would be picked up in prompt fashion, but I was wrong. Bright and early on Monday two men who must be part magicians made the piles disappear.
I went out later in the day to clean up a bit of leftover residue, but they had done a good job.
Again, congratulations on a job well done.
Alas, the rules of cosmic balance have not been repealed. For all light, there must be some darkness.
I have written here previously of my problem getting my most recent water/sewer payment to the Greater Johnstown Water Authority confirmed.
Said payment was due Aug. 2 and I had called when the check had not been cashed, only to be told a tale of woe that implicated the post office. I was instructed then to call back Tuesday if the check had yet to be cashed.
It would be cashed by then, the woman had predicted boldly on that first call, noting people were working late to make it so.
That didn’t happen, so I called again today (Tuesday) as instructed.
This time I got a mathematics lesson, as in four women going through 20,000-plus bills takes time. I resisted the urge to suggest more help be hired and the bills being mailed earlier to provide more time.
Instead, I took her word that I had until Thursday before it became a problem for me and she virtually guaranteed things would be handled by then.
Maybe I can get the Southmont tree/limb workers to help out at the GJWA?
Sam Ross Jr's site 