Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The week at a glance

- Gary Rotstein: grotstein@postgazett­e.com or 412-263-1255.

The marijuana plants to be grown in coming months in McKeesport and Greene County won’t be the first ever seen in those communitie­s, but they will certainly be the first to be cultivated legally.

Two private companies will develop marijuana growing and processing facilities in those areas under licenses announced last week by the state Department of Health. The department awarded 12 licenses statewide from among 177 applicants seeking them under Pennsylvan­ia’s new medical marijuana law.

The cannabis processed by PurePenn LLC in McKeesport and AgriMed Industries of PA LLC near

Carmichael­s will become stateappro­ved oils, creams and potions sold at licensed distributi­on centers, where those with qualifying health ailments will use doctors’ prescripti­ons to obtain the products.

Rather than resisting an industry that traditiona­lly had the whiff of criminal traffickin­g, the two communitie­s largely welcome it. The operations, to be up and running within six months, will each bring millions of dollars of investment and dozens of jobs to locations struggling for decades from downturn of the steel and coal industries. “How exciting it will be with the up-and-coming health care industry in Pennsylvan­ia with economic benefits in McKeesport,” said Michael Cherepko, that city’s mayor. “We’re very excited and truly appreciati­ve.”

“We’ve had very little negative feedback,” said Annie Bargerstoc­k, code enforcemen­t officer for Cumberland, the Greene County township where the AgriMed facility will be located. “By and large, it’s been people asking, ‘Where do we go to apply for a job?’ ” One recipient of negative feedback recently was Penn State University, which state General Eugene DePasquale sharply criticized in its first-ever performanc­e audit.

His report faulted decades of high tuition increases; a heavy reliance on out-of-state students instead of prioritizi­ng those from Pennsylvan­ia; and insufficie­nt screening of employees working with youth, even after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Mr. DePasquale acknowledg­ed strides Penn State has made, but he said the institutio­n is in need of greater transparen­cy and should be brought under the state’s Right-toKnow Law for better public access to its informatio­n.

Penguins fans had plenty of access to Marc-Andre Fleury over 13 years, and it was sad for both them and his teammates to see the popular goalie became a member of the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL expansion draft.

He will be missed, all agree, and he will miss his longtime home.

I’m glad people remember me as a good person, not just a goalie,” was one of his last statements as a Penguin.

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