— Laurel: No one should complain about the Richland Township supervisors doing what is right in the name of safety. Large trucks are being barred from using the steep section of Donald Lane, a popular shortcut through a business district between Elton Road and Industrial Park Road. The supervisors will ban the trucks through a weight-limit ordinance. It makes sense.

Laurel: Academic awards keep piling up for Bishop McCort Catholic High School. Five McCort students have advanced to the third round of CyberPatriot, the nation’s largest youth cyber defense challenge. Led by coach Mark Anderson, McCort is among the 51 teams that qualified to compete again today to determine the 12 teams that will compete in the finals. The competition began with more than 650 teams. Good luck, Crimson Crushers.

Barb: Here’s a case to watch. A 37-year-old Mentcle, Indiana County, man, Jody Bennett, has been charged with desecrating the casket of an 11th-grader by reaching in and stealing two handheld video systems and three games. State police charge that the theft took place at an Indiana County funeral home. The high school youth, Bradley D. McCombs Jr. of Clymer, had died in a Christmas-morning traffic accident.

Laurel: Our newsroom long has had a theory that no matter what big event takes place around the country, there is always a local tie. As it turned out, there was a Johnstown tie for the New Year’s Day Winter Classic hockey game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Everything Ice, a downtown Johnstown business, provided the portable rink piping system for the practice rink that was set up just outside Heinz Field and used for youth, high school and amateur hockey games as well as public skating. Actually, Everything Ice’s role was not surprising. It has built about 800 ice rinks throughout the world.

Laurel: Congratulations to Greater Johnstown High School’s Gervon Simon, who has won the 2010 Point Stadium Award. The junior quarterback also took Point Stadium Play of the Year honors. Simon was involved in all four touchdowns as Johnstown defeated rival Bishop McCort 27-14 on Oct. 15.

Barb: Talk about poor oversight. An estimated $1.5 billion is owed the city of Philadelphia by court defendants who jumped bail or failed to pay fines or restitution. Officials this week said they are not willing to let the debts slide any longer, and that the new Office of Court Compliance will pursue about 400,000 people who owe money, much of it unpaid for decades. About time, wouldn’t you say?

Laurel: We salute Windber American Legion Post 137. It will put a $2,500 grant from Johnstown-based Community Foundation for the Alleghenies toward a campaign to make the post home handicapped-accessible. A worthwhile project indeed. The post home has been in existence since 1915.