where we stand The hard work of Dubuque Regional Airport employees has paid off with the longest-standing safety record of any U.S. airport.
If you need another reason to follow Dubuque Regional Airport's mantra to "Fly Dubuque," last week's safety announcement might be just the ticket.
Officials learned that the Dubuque airport earned its 22nd consecutive year of perfect compliance with Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139. FAR Part 139 governs safety standards for airfield operations, safety and maintenance at airports served by commercial airlines. That means the Dubuque airport meets or exceeds all federally mandated standards, rules and policies that promote safety. FAA inspectors evaluate the overall compliance in 23 categories.
No other airport in the country has a perfect compliance record for a consecutive 22-year period. Not one.
It's no fluke. Airport employees work hard to maintain the standard of excellence at our airport. Isn't that the most important thing when it comes to air travel?
Further incentive to fly Dubuque will be a major facelift, for which ground was broken last week. The new facilities will include a passenger terminal, airplane taxiway, parking facility and access roads. Completion is still four years away, but the new construction will be a boon to the airport. At the same time, Dubuque's airport marked 25 years of commercial service by American Eagle airline, a subsidiary of American Airlines. That partnership has been an important one for the entire Dubuque community.
Maintaining quality air service isn't something that happens by accident. It's an amenity that must be nurtured and tended. That's why airport officials, government leaders and members of the business community have promoted efforts over the years to keep bringing passengers and flights to Dubuque.
Congratulations to Dubuque Regional Airport.
Before one project is even finished at the University of Dubuque, another major undertaking is getting started. UD alum and trustee Joe Chlapaty and his wife, Linda, have donated $13.5 million to fund the first phase of new campus student housing and an indoor intramural/practice facility, university officials announced last week.
That brings the Chlapatys' list of donations to the university to a whopping $85 million. Joe Chlapaty, a 1968 graduate of UD, is the CEO of Advanced Drainage Systems Inc.
The gift comes while construction of the Performing Arts and Campus Center heads toward a spring opening. Donations from the Chlapatys made the state-of-the-art facility possible.
Not only does this kind of major philanthropy literally change the face of a small campus, it serves as an inspiration to others. The Chlapatys aren't the only inspired givers: Just last month, an anonymous donor gave $12 million to UD's endowment fund.
Here's hoping generosity is contagious.
It is disturbing to learn that the Boy Scouts covered up decades of reports of sexual abuse and even more troubling that the leaders accused were often told to quietly resign without bringing the allegations to light. Those hundreds of cases span decades into the 1990s.
It is also disturbing that - even in 2012, when awareness and attitudes about this sort of criminality - Boy Scout officials continued to try to keep the so-called "perversion files" secret.
The Scouts correctly point to the group's improved policies today, such as requiring that two adults be present at Scouting activities, to prove a change in culture. That much might be true, but by arguing in court that these crimes should remain secret shows that Boy Scout leadership doesn't understand the harm this sort of secrecy builds. Sexual exploitation of children is a crime - not a public relations problem.
Institutions must learn that when a scandal occurs, rather than fight the release of information, they would be better off getting it out into the open and addressing it.
That these incidents were buried for 40 years is tragic, but not all that surprising. But that some would want it to stay buried in this day and age is deeply disappointing.
Editorials reflect the consensus of the Telegraph Herald Editorial Board.
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