There is always some new form of insanity coming out of Harrisburg but Friday we learned about S.A.N.E. instead from Sen. Elder Vogel.

Sen. Vogel has been representing a small piece of Butler County for a number of years but with the redistricting he is now representing a much larger piece and we are glad. (Full disclosure would require that this writer state that Sen. Vogel attended Freedom High School in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County just one year after the writer so they have known each other for over 50 years.)

Sen. Vogel brings an understanding of small communities, farm life and proper behavior that many in Harrisburg just don’t understand. He is a very welcome addition to the new responsible area he now represents.

Farmers, hunters, bicycle riders, and nature lovers will like and respect him. He brought the new program called S.A.N.E. to the discussion at the legislative meeting of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. S.A.N.E. is an acronym for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. That is the person who has the responsibility to give a complete medical examination to any victim of sexual assault.

There are very few persons certified across the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the latest reports there are only 49 S.A.N.E. examiners to serve the 276 hospitals in Pennsylvania.

The examination takes four to five hours to perform and beginning qualifications start with the examiner being a registered nurse for at least two years. Vogel stressed that the program needs both money and awareness to succeed.

This would go a long way toward solving these assault cases in cities large and small. The sooner the examination is performed it would seem more likely the crime could be solved.

We are at times difficult on our elected officials and we do try to hold them to high standards of moral integrity. We don’t want our area being represented by people that can’t be respected because of their poor personal behavior or lack of good judgment.

We are glad to see Sen. Vogel take on a larger piece of the county and believe he deserves our trust and support. Sen. Vogel and Sen. Scott Hutchinson are truly “keepers.”

— RV