Timothy Carson, vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, has done the right thing in resigning from the commission. Trouble is, that resignation came seven years late.

Carson was convicted of driving under the influence in 2003 and 2006 — both times while driving a commission vehicle. He should have resigned after the first incident, considering that his irresponsible conduct had caused a potential liability issue for the commission.

In both incidents, the vehicle was damaged; Carson said he paid for the repairs out of his own pocket. However, he didn't inform the commission as required.

In his letter of resignation to Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday, Carson didn't say why he only now was taking responsibility for the incidents. He did say he has been in treatment since the second conviction.

Some state residents might be wondering how Carson's problems could have remained a secret for so long. That's a good question, considering that most criminal court proceedings are public information.

It raises the issue of whether there's a court system that intentionally hasn't been divulging the problems of people with high state connections.

Hopefully that isn't the case.

The troubled national economy has presented serious fundraising challenges to most agencies. And United Way and Community Chest organizations generally haven't been exceptions.Bucking this trend is the Connoquenessing Valley Community Chest, which covers the Zelienople-Harmony area. Although in recent years it was feared that the Community Chest was on the verge of demise, the latest campaign has far exceeded expectations.The amount raised — $41,000 — is a 42 percent increase from the $28,500 raised last year. Benefiting from the fundraising effort will be the nonprofits Zelienople Area Meals on Wheels, Butler County Food Cupboard, Zelienople Community Park and Zelienople Public Library.The good news is being attributed to new spirit and energy emanating from a young, new board of directors, a beefed-up commitment to succeed, and some new ways of doing things, including the way the Community Chest now gets its message out — by way of a newsletter."A lot of people realized that the organization is needed to help more than ever," said Pat Murray, Community Chest president. "There was a lot of hard work by the board of directors and our volunteers, who helped solicit, and good commitment from the community to help these nonprofit organizations."The CVCC message is that all organizations involved in fundraising must periodically look at themselves and how they're doing things — determine what works and what could be better.Commendably, the Zelienople-Harmony organization, facing the possibility of curtailing its operations, did that and put its findings to work in a successful way.

The Butler County commissioners deserve a thumbs-up for approving a second collection of old medications, presumably sometime later this year.However, the action seemed obvious, considering the success of such a collection last September. In that first collection, 187 pounds of noncontrolled substances and 133 containers of controlled substances were gathered.Those were substances that were not disposed of improperly, where in some instances they might have posed a hazard to the environment. A nationwide study a couple of years ago revealed traces of medications — presumably from improperly disposed of medications — in drinking water supplies.As with the first collection, the upcoming one will collect prescription and over-the-counter medications, pet medications, vitamins and nutritional supplements and inhalers. Off-limits to the collection will be medical devices such as needles, lancets and thermometers.Having witnessed the challenging task that one pharmacist faced during last year's collection, the commissioners approved paying up to three pharmacists to help with the collection.The collection also will have help from the county sheriff's office, which also assisted with the first collection. Law enforcement is required to be present to handle controlled substances.Their task won't be to interrogate people regarding the kinds of substances brought to the collection.According to Sheryl Kelly, coordinator of county recycling and waste management, people have been inquiring when another collection would be held. While the date hasn't been set, at least people now can begin setting aside their old medications, knowing that another collection is in the offing.If the next collection is as successful as the first one, the collection should be an annual event.