Cheers and speedy get-well wishes to Blade, the Butler police K-9 dog that sustained an injury Wednesday night while taking down a suspected burglar.

The K-9 was treated for a minor eye injury after tangling with Kenneth Tyson Jr. during a reported break-in at the Hoagie Shop in the 100 block of North McKean Street. Blade is reportedly already back on the beat.

Tyson, 56, of Butler is charged with a pair of felonies and lodged in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail. His criminal records include 15 felony convictions.

Blade's handler, Patrolman David Villotti, released the German shepherd after Tyson refused officers' commands to get on the ground and instead tried to flee.

While Blade engaged Tyson, the suspect began “grabbing at the K-9's face and muzzle,” a police affidavit said.

But Blade got the job done, reducing risk of serious harm not only for officers but for the suspect as well. Officers moved in and handcuffed Tyson. A search of his bag turned up a digital video recorder and security camera that he had allegedly taken from the Hoagie Shop.

Sexual predators like Jonathan Crumb thrive on shame. The former teacher and assistant football coach at Moniteau High School pleaded guilty this past week to five counts of corruption of minors: one count for each girl he victimized between 2009 and 2013.This jeer is not aimed at Crum, although it easily could be; rather, it's aimed at a community that perpetuated the shame when allegations against Crum first came to light.Only one of the five known victims had enough courage to testify against her former teacher. Now in college, the woman said she reported Crum because she wanted to stop him from victimizing more students.She told Butler County Judge William Shaffer she had respected Crum when he began sending her text messages, but his interaction quickly escalated to sexual comments by phone and in person, leaving her embarrassed and ashamed.The woman said she felt victimized a second time when there was a backlash among her peers who believed she had erroneously done harm to Crum's reputation. Her classmates attempted to shame the girl into a retraction, even though at least four classmates knew she spoke the truth, and countless more must have heard the rumors and considered their suspicions. In a tight-knit community, the criminal allegations probably were more of a shock than a surprise.By now the shock has worn off, truth has been revealed and crimes have been confessed and punished. The tight-knit community that harassed the young witness has some retraction of its own to do. They should spare no time or effort in honoring the heroic act and fighting spirit of a young woman they previously shamed.

Anyone with a green thumb knows the pleasures that come from gardening. The process of seeing plants grow large satisfies something in most humans, maybe triggering a tendency to nurture. And the results of a garden can add delicious and cost-saving vegetable and herbs to the kitchen table.In most cases, gardens comprise a small patch of soil in the back yard or a raised-bed for the more serious. Sometimes it's a small pot of herbs or a tomato plant in a 5-gallon pail on a patio or balcony. But along Route 8 south, in Penn Township, one business has been attracting attention from passing motorists admiring the substantial garden in its parking lot area.At J.K. Hydraulics, company owner John Krelow has for the past three years worked with his employees to establish a substantial vegetable garden featuring tomatoes, onions, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, beans and celery, as well as a mix of herbs.Krelow's three primary employees tend to the garden during short breaks throughout the workweek. Rather than being an added responsibility or a burden, the workers find the 30 minutes or so spent tending the garden to be a nice break in the work day.One employee, Grant Glover of Butler, mentioned what most gardeners know: time in the garden, digging in the soil, pulling weeds and tending to growing plants is relaxing, even meditative.Cheers to Krelow and his employees for the roadside garden that people driving up and down Route 8 have enjoyed watching through the summer. The garden might even inspire other businesses with a little unused space to put in a few plants of their own.