The new Merchant Marines Memorial in Butler's Diamond Park, which is scheduled to be dedicated at 11:30 a.m. May 28, was put in place during the past week and is an excellent addition to the park.

More important than being a positive addition, however, is the fact that it provides appropriate recognition to the mariners of World War II, whose importance to the war effort did not get the recognition that was deserved on the county's World War II Memorial.

The World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., accords the deserved recognition, and so should the local memorial have provided it, without the need for a special mariners monument.

It took nearly a decade for the dispute regarding proper mariner recognition to be resolved. The mariners merit praise for the tenacity and determination they displayed in pressing forward on behalf of their cause.

But it is nonetheless embarrassing to this county that a group of people who gave so much on behalf of the war effort had to endure so much resistance over so many years to achieve what they deserved.

When visiting Butler, people should visit the memorial. In addition to being a monument, it also is a source of education for schoolchildren and for anyone else not familiar with the mariners' role in the war.

Meanwhile, it would be inspiring if many people from within and outside the community would come together May 28 for the memorial's dedication.

Like the military personnel who fought and died in the war, the mariners also deserve continuing thanks for their efforts in ensuring that Western Europe and this nation would not fall into the hands of Axis domination.

May 28 will be a proud day for Butler County, just like the day that the memorial actually was installed in the park.

The issue of the mariners memorial finally has been brought to an end. Too bad that took so long.

The state Department of Transportation says one option for vehicle owners whose inspection and/or emissions stickers are peeling off the inside of their windshields is to have the stickers replaced. PennDOT says the cost will be no more than $4 for an inspection sticker and $4.40 for an emissions sticker.But there's a flaw with that suggestion. Why should vehicle owners have to pay anything for a new replacement sticker if they're not the cause of the stickers falling off?The state transportation agency acknowledges that it is working with the sticker manufacturer to fix the problem. The department says state police are aware of the problem, so there's no cause for alarm if a sticker detaches from a windshield.Transportation officials say motorists can just stick them back on as best they can, such as with tape. That's a good suggestion.But PennDOT's alluding to purchase of a new sticker ignores a reasonable point. When someone goes to a store and buys a product and that product is defective, he or she returns the product for a free replacement or refund.In regard to the inspection and emissions stickers, vehicle owners likewise should be able to go to the place where their vehicles were inspected and get a new sticker for free — since they've already paid once.Sometimes the bureaucratic mind-set is difficult to comprehend.

The city and its streets department workers no doubt had good intentions behind the recent pothole- patching efforts on Mercer Street in the past week. But in some respects, the patching was more effective as a reminder of how desperately Mercer and several other city streets need a proper resurfacing.Filling the worst of the potholes provided some small relief to drivers using Mercer Street, but even drivers willing to veer around the worst areas still find very little smooth pavement.The patching effort targeted a few sections on the street where the pavement had broken up, revealing the original bricks, creating hazards for drivers and their vehicles. But the sad reality is that on Mercer Street, particularly between West Penn and West New Castle streets, there might be more patching than original paving material.Some of the well-traveled street's patches appear to have been in place so long that some of the older patches now have patches. The result is one of the roughest and most suspension-punishing rides in the city.Nearby Broad Street and the section of Washington Street between Penn and North streets are other examples.Leaving new potholes unfilled is not the answer. So, the city's efforts to patch the newest and worst spots is understandable. But what Mercer and a handful of other streets need — and have needed for years — is a complete resurfacing.If city officials are unaware of Mercer Street's condition and its deserved ranking at the top of the "to be resurfaced list," they haven't been getting out enough.City streets workers are not the target of this Jeer. It's the years of neglect by the city that's allowed some streets to deteriorate to the point where patching seems futile.