Cheers to Gov.-elect Tom Wolf for setting the right tone by requiring his transition team to abide by a strict no-gifts policy. Wolf spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan says the “just say no, thank you” rule will extend to the entire executive branch of state government under the new governor.

The gift ban is part of an ethical conduct code Wolf is requiring transition employees to sign. His incoming chief of staff, Katie McGinty, was the first person to sign the agreement.

A no-gifts policy is not the norm for Pennsylvania politics. State law allows gifts of any value to public officials, including lawmakers, and requires disclosure only when the annual value reaches $250 for gifts or $650 for “free” travel, meals and lodging.

Gov. Tom Corbett has reported accepting thousands of dollars' worth of gifts from lobbyists and business executives with interests in state policy, including trips on private jets and tickets to concerts and sporting events, during his four-year term. His detractors called the practice unseemly, but the administration said Corbett complied with legal requirements.

Wolf pledged in his “Fresh Start for Pennsylvania” campaign agenda: “The rule will be easy to apply and easy to report — no free lunches, no free tickets to ball games and no free trips to conferences or vacation resorts.”

It really should be that simple.

Jeers to 59-year-old David L. Lancos. The Beaver County man is accused of preying on the kindness of a Butler County woman to feed his gambling addiction.Lancos told the unnamed Oakland Township woman he had cancer to con her into giving him nearly $15,000 for nonexistent medical treatment in a scam that lasted for more than a year, according to Trooper James Long, the investigating officer.Lancos is charged with a felony count of theft by deception. The victim told investigators she gave Lancos $300 a month for 15 months, believing she was paying for his medicine. She also gave him money for two trips to a cancer center in Philadelphia — trips he never took for treatments he never received.She even took out a $9,000 loan for Lancos to pay off lawyers to liquidate his share of the family business. At least that's what he told her the money was for. Lancos, who operates an at-home locksmith service, assured his former friend that he would pay her back the $9,000 once the business was sold.He never did pay her back, never intended to. Police say he gambled it all away.

Cheers to Cathy Woller of Penn Township, Margie McKain of Chicora, and their Pink Steel teammates.They’re an all-woman dragon boat racing team, and every member is a breast cancer survivor.Last month Pink Steel took second place in the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission Dragon Boat Competition in Sarasota, Fla.The Pittsburgh-based team finished first in the United States but lost the international title by less than a second to an Ontario, Canada, team.Dragon boating, a Chinese tradition where a crew of 20 paddle a canoe in unison to a drumbeat, has been around for centuries.And in 1996 a Canadian sports medicine specialist, Dr. Don McKenzie, determined that the paddling motion is therapeutic for breast cancer patients — the paddling motion eases the risk of lymphedema, a post-cancer treatment condition that can cause swelling and fluid retention.Woller, 70, says the team also offers a support system of women who face a common challenge. More than teammates, the women are there for each other in their personal lives, too, supporting one another through treatments and surgeries with meals and words of encouragement, she says.That’s worth celebrating. And so is their silver-medal finish.