The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch received the following email on Feb. 1 from Baldwin Borough resident Cindy Morell, who has taken issue with what she seems deems to be excessive driving speed in some north Baldwin areas. Other than addressing some minor grammatical issues, the wording seen below was written as is. ... I wanted to remind anyone who goes over to W.R. Paynter Elementary School that there is a school zone on Pleasantvue Drive where it is 15 mph and that the parking lot of the school has 15-mph signs posted. Also, as a reminder, the speed limit on Joseph Street in Baldwin is 25 mph. …
Baldwin-Whitehall residents made their presence known in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday—well, at least one page, in the Opinion section. Coincidentally, two men from the district wrote letters to the editor regarding health care, particularly the ongoing battle between UPMC and Highmark. Writes Ed Larkin of Baldwin Borough, "When will it be time to settle this squabble by providing a single-payer, government-run (nonprofit) system that provides health care at one-half the cost like all the other countries in the world? "We don't remember reading much about power …
Whitehall Borough resident Sylvia McGrath has written a letter that has landed in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Many children ... cannot participate (in after-school activities) because they have no transportation home after these activities," McGrath writes in her Sept. 25 letter. "Both parents are working, or families have just one car that the father must use for work, or the mom doesn't drive. "At one time, schools had activity buses for the children. Why can't we put them back on the road?" Read McGrath's full letter here. The Baldwin-Whitehall School District does not …
Whitehall Borough resident Mitch Bjerke has written a letter that has landed in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I resent the voter ID requirement," Bjerke writes in his Sept. 10 letter, "because it essentially accuses voters of voting fraud when election history points to fraud or suspected fraud rarely being committed by common voters but rather by those in control of the system (such as with electronic voting machines). The voters are not the threat. The threat is the system." Bjerke continues by suggesting a weeklong voting period to cut down on voting fraud. "This (full week of…
Baldwin Borough resident Nick Balandiat has written another letter that has landed in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Balandiat, in a Sept. 4 letter to the editor of the Post-Gazette, calls Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a "birther." "When Mr. Romney stated, 'No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate; they know that this is the place that we were born and raised,' he was making a backhanded allegation regarding President Barack Obama's birth status," Balandiat writes. "You expect this birther stuff from Tea Party loons. The Tea Party is filled with them. "If (…
Christine M. Brandau, a Whitehall Borough resident, has made her opinions of Port Authority of Allegheny County well-known with an Aug. 18 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Port Authority, you have chosen to end a 35-year relationship with me," Brandau writes, "and I can no longer financially support your bloated mismanagement of so-called public transportation. "You have chosen to strand me (you see, I do not drive) and to lengthen my work day because my husband and I do not work the same hours, but I will go in early as you leave me no choice. Therefore, the choice I do …
Jean F. Leuthold, a Baldwin Borough resident, writes about a controversial voter ID measure with an Aug. 1 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "What is it with all these people who object to obtaining an ID?" Leuthold asks, arguing that there are a number of other activities that are impossible to complete without one. Read Leuthold's full letter here, where it's written, "Do yourself a big favor and get an ID—no matter what it takes. It will certainly be to your advantage." Thoughts on voter IDs? Disenfranchised citizens? Share them in the comments section below. ... If you …
Beverly L. Darwin, a Baldwin Borough resident, takes on the issue of gun violence in the United States with a July 25 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mentioning a theater shooting in Colorado and other recent episodes of gun violence, Darwin writes, "How many more mass murders do we have to endure ... before we can legislate reasonable gun control in this violent country?" Read Darwin's full letter here, where she writes, "The National Rifle Association rules our country and threatens our representatives into timidly throwing out any gun control attempts." Agree? Disagree…
Responding to news that Shell Oil has selected western Pennsylvania as the home for a natural gas plant, Whitehall Borough resident Laura L. Leete wrote a July 14 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in which she expresses deep concern for the possible negative effects of Marcellus Shale drilling. "I'm saving the cheers for the Pittsburgh Pirates and not the Marcellus Shale-related industries until some experts can assure me that drilling for natural gas in residential neighborhoods and state parks will not further pollute my already polluted air and water," Leete writes, "that…
Whitehall Borough resident Cornelia Smollin wrote a July 12 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in which she calls the United States' nuclear program "idiotic," "futile" and "needless." Smollin pens, "James Bukes of Mt. Lebanon writes in his July 8 letter ('Some Need War') that 'generals and admirals need a war in order to continue to command large numbers of men and women and preserve their exalted status. In fact, they are afraid that the absence of continuing conflict would put them out of work.' "I agree with him completely." Smollin continues by recommending readers to …
The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch received the following email on July 6. Other than addressing some minor grammatical issues, the wording seen below was written as is. ... As the only national organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats, we are deeply disturbed and dismayed by comments concerning cruelty to cats made at a recent Baldwin Township Board of Commissioners meeting ("Man Wants Stray Cats Controlled—Or Shot," June 6, 2012). The article quotes a citizen as publicly stating that he should be allowed to shoot cats and that he has murdered two cats himself by …
The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch received the following email on June 22 from state Rep. William C. Kortz II (D-Pennsylvania's 38th House District). Kortz represents south Baldwin Borough, among other areas. Other than addressing some minor grammatical issues, the wording seen below was written as is. ... While Pennsylvania's new voter ID law still faces a legal challenge, state officials recently announced a new way to get a non-driver ID card without the cost of obtaining an official birth certificate. Under the law, voters can get a non-driver ID card without paying the usual $10 fee by going …
"As the county's top fiscal officer, Controller Chelsa Wagner leads the fight against inefficient and inequitable spending, working to root out fraud, waste and abuse in county government. Chelsa ensures the controller's office is a direct, effective advocate for Allegheny County, this region, and most importantly, the taxpayers." Those are the words used on the Allegheny County Controller's website to describe the job, or jobs, assigned to Wagner during her time in that office. And for Wagner, the former state representative who once ran an office at Whitehall Borough's Caste Village, she's …
Rev. Dr. Bruce E. Bryce isn't laughing. Bryce, the congregational care pastor at the Baldwin Community United Methodist Church in Whitehall Borough, wrote an April 24 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in which he asks for respect for Christians when it comes to ridicule. "When a Jew or Muslim is degraded, offended or ridiculed, it's called anti-Semitism," Bryce writes. "When the public display of the Ten Commandments is challenged, it's called civil liberty. When a Christian is humiliated, satirized or dishonored, it's called comedy." Bryce has wondered if the "Golden Rule" …
Are most Republicans hypocrites? Baldwin Township resident Christopher V. Lang III wrote an April 10 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that claims as much, starting with the topic of Marcellus Shale drilling. "I'm well aware of the Republicans and their need for less government by the way of letting people govern themselves," Lang writes. "So I was wondering why Gov. Tom Corbett took all the rights away from our communities to handle the Marcellus drilling issues in our backyards." Lang also opined on "Obamacare," known formally as the Affordable Care Act. "Along the same …
Nick Balandiat strikes again with another letter that has landed in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Balandiat of Baldwin Borough wrote an April 1 letter to the editor of the Post-Gazette that suggests that the United States consider splitting up its country into separate conservative and liberal entities. And it's not an April Fools' joke. "Is anyone surprised that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the Affordable Care Act?" Balandiat writes. "I'm not. It's a Republican court. "Maybe we should go a step further and just break up the country. Let the conservative paradises blossom …
In response to Marcellus Shale discussions on this website, the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch received the following email on March 27. Other than addressing some minor grammatical issues, the wording seen below was written as is. ... The new, energy-based economy that is emerging in Pennsylvania and several other neighboring states is seen as a form of life support for some of the most economically depressed areas of the country. For the Rust Belt region, which lies atop an abundant formation of natural gas known as the Marcellus Shale, the jobs supported by production of this clean, cost-…
Thirty-one area residents, including writer Thomas Dufour, of Whitehall Borough, signed a March 27 letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that encourages the Allegheny County Council to formally oppose the recognition of "corporate personhood." Dufour's letter also praises the Pittsburgh City Council for already doing so. Indeed, on Dec. 30, the Pittsburgh Council passed the following legislation: "NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby calls on our elected officials join the tens of thousands of citizens, grassroots organizations and …
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau's controversial March 15, 2012, version of the "Doonesbury" comic strip has set off an array of different responses from around the United States. And that conversation came to Whitehall Borough on Friday when E.A. Svirbel, Ph.D., of Whitehall, offered her take on the cartoon with a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The strip, which many newspapers—excluding the Post-Gazette—chose not to publish, shows a woman seeking an abortion about to be given a transvaginal sonogram. A medical professional whom the woman is seeing says, while performing the …
Whitehall Borough resident Robert Smiley penned an interesting letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday. Smiley has suggested that some people are sending the United States "back to the 1900s" with their views on women's reproductive rights. Smiley wants those guilty of that to be the ones who should raise babies of unwanted preganancies. Read his full letter here. What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below. ... If you have a complaint, want a topic covered, want to publicly congratulate someone or have something else to say altogether, please send an …
