For far too many of us, Monday, Jan. 16, will be, at best, just another day off work or school. Few of us will stop to really think about the man who is honored on that day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In reality, this world would be a far better place if all of us stopped for a bit and really thought about Dr. King, about the role race plays in the way we think and respond, about the horrifying events that unfolded not centuries ago, but in our lifetimes.

Avalon officials showed their appreciation this week for two police officers injured during the pursuit of a suspected drug dealer earlier this year. Working in plainclothes along with Police Chief Tom Kokoski, Officers Sean Khirley and Walt Johnson pursued the fleeing suspect through a 20-foot jump and over a fence, finally nabbing him and recovering a quantity of suspected heroin. Both officers and the suspect were hospitalized after the chase. While Khirley has returned to duty, Johnson remains off-duty with a leg injury.

What do you do when you have one of those weeks -- or days -- where you just seem to get hit from all sides?

I've found this past week to be very depressing. Any week in which I have to sit through a three-hour Bellevue Council meeting is off to a rocky start in the first place, but this has definitely been a week when many of us would have been better off avoiding the television news all together.

Tuesday night's Bellevue Council meeting was, in every way, classic Bellevue Council.

All the elements were there: off the cuff motions, nobody showing up for a hearing, documents not distributed, a procedural change that created complete confusion and, after three or so hours, an extended debate over some trvial thing.

Being an EOE (equal opportunity editorialist), it is only fair that we take a look at Avalon's proposed "excessive calls" ordinance with the same jaundiced eye used to evaluate Bellevue's "nuisance tenant" ordinance a few years ago. Both fall into the same category of well-intentioned efforts that have taken the form of terrifyingly bad laws.

Sometimes things happen in the course of gathering news that defy our best efforts to shape them into a news story.

On Monday, Jan. 4, The Citizen staff attended five different municipal meetings. At the first four, the procedure was pretty much the same. The meetings began at the advertised time with the swearing-in of newly-elected officials, followed by the election of a president and vice president. They then moved quickly through such first-of-the-year business as naming committees, appointing a solicitor, and setting meeting dates for the coming year. The meetings ended with everyone sharing refreshments and good will.

The lack of a state budget. Swine flu. Bullying. Property tax reform. Wage tax collection reform. Health care reform. State test scores. There are any number of critical issues requiring the attention of school board members.

So please, please tell us why the Avonworth School Board would involve itself in something as relatively insignificant as a booster organization trying to collect money it believes is due from two parents?

Helen Crooks Helen Reitz Crooks, 79, wife of the late William H. Crooks Sr., died Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. Mrs. Crooks enjoyed cooking and making cookies. She was an avid reader, enjoyed bowling, bingo, trivia games and traveling.

Kenneth Todoverto Sr. Kenneth M. Todoverto Sr., 81, of Bellevue died Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Loretta Todoverto; four children, Kenneth Todoverto Jr. and his wife Sandy, Janice Barry and her husband Mike, Carla Pritchard and her husband Glenn and Donna Boyer; his sister, Louise Killian; and five grandchildren, Brian Verlihay and his wife Steph, Steven Verlihay, Glenn Pritchard Jr., Becky Pritchard and Ally Boyer.

Voters in Emsworth and Ben Avon will have the only real local government choices to make in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Emsworth, four candidates are seeking election to three four-year seats on the borough council, while Ben Avon voters will fill three council seats from among five candidates.

Although it appeared that few people on Bellevue Council actually wanted to pay a new part-time office clerk $15 per hour, a resolution doing just that was approved by officials at Tuesday’s work session.

Miscues, misinformation, lack of preparation, bad acoustics and outright distrust factored into a series of events that ended with the hiring of a temporary office clerk at the same salary paid to the former assistant director of administrative services.

DAS Doug Sample defended the higher hourly pay rate, arguing that job would entail more than just clerical work.