As our bridges rot, where do turnpike tolls go?

Citizens, taxpayers and drivers of Pennsylvania should be worried about the infrastructure of our bridges. Too many of our own are in desperate need of repair or replacement.

With Gov. Ed Rendell on the warpath to lease out the turnpike, I wonder if he too is concerned about who will pay for these repairs.

There are numerous bridges and overpasses alone in the eastern suburbs that reveal too much steel support from the concrete. This worries me each time I visit my family in Penn Hills. Will it take the collapse of one of our own overpasses to garner the attention of PennDOT to begin preparation to repair or replace our dilapitating bridges? Will it take death or destruction of private property and human life before our roads are rebuilt?

I reside in Florida and make bimonthly trips to Pittsburgh. The overpasses/bridges in Pennsylvania are in the most dire shape of any of the states I drive through.

With all the money that I believe the Turnpike Commission makes daily from vehicles traveling across the state from one end to another, there is no reason our roads and bridges should be in such bad condition. One has to wonder: Where does this money go? Certainly not back into our roads.

PAUL MOSCHETTA
Jacksonville, Fla.

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No free ride

I have to surmise that Gov. Ed Rendell has been looking for a good reason to place tolls on I-80 and perhaps other interstate highways. Sadly, he just found one in the tragedy in Minnesota.

It has been common knowledge around southwestern Pennsylvania for many years that the interstate highways are in deplorable condition. Why is this so? According to those congressmen opposed to tolling the interstates, the government takes good care of them, therefore we don't need tolls. Evidently they are more concerned with the business communities across the northern tier of Pennsylvania than they are with maintaining the highways in a safe condition.

What the congressmen don't want to admit is that the government ignores its responsibility more often than not, allowing the roads to deteriorate and fall apart.

The decisions of where and when to spend money is politically motivated with "more favored" areas getting the money while others languish in the darkness of potholes and rusting bridges. This has been going on for many decades simply because the federal government didn't spend the money they should have to maintain the roads.

Common sense tells us it is time to place tolls on these highways.

This is a national problem as testified to by the falling bridge in Minnesota, not just a Pennsylvania problem. As you travel across this country on these highways, you will discover that a great many of them in other states have already imposed tolls on them.

There is no free ride. The sooner Congress realizes that, it will do the right thing and allow us to place tolls on our interstate highways.

JAMES A. HAMMER
Hampton

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The Iraq drain

As I watched with great sadness the tragedy of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, I couldn't help but think of all the money that is being spent on an unnecessary war.

We are in Iraq on the pretense of helping them structure their government and giving them what their country needs to survive -- while in this country, we are losing wonderful American citizens in such a tragedy as the collapse of the bridge.

Imagine how wonderful our bridges and highways would be if the money being spent on war was spent to make our own country safer and more beautiful.

Our governors fight with the federal government for money for necessities such as our bridges and roads, while there are billions of dollars being spent overseas for citizens of another country who don't appreciate what we have done for them.

It's time for our government to wake up and take care of home first.

PATTY HOLBROOK
Ross

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She's no priest

Unless a person had the name of George W. Bush and resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., it would be an absurd presumption for someone to claim to be president. Equally absurd is the assumption that Joan Clark Houk is a validly ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Church ("A Year Later, Woman Priest Sees Growth," July 31). Until the Vatican recognizes her ordination, Mrs. Houk is doing little more than playing dress-up when she dons clerical vestments.

There is little doubt that Mrs. Houk is a moral individual and a nice person, but she definitely is not a Catholic priest. If she really is a Catholic in conscience as she claims, then Mrs. Houk should renounce the bogus charade, and petition the bishop to fully reinstate her into the sacramental life of the church.

With all of the local news, I am amazed that the Post-Gazette continues to focus its attention on a few persons who are discontented with the Roman Catholic Church's ruling on female ordination. Why not give equal coverage to the hundreds of thousand of Catholics in the diocese who are still comfortable enough with their church to attend Mass on a weekly basis?

JAMES WUDARCZYK
Lawrenceville

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Our awful war

Letter writer Patrick Kelly ("Al-Qaida in Iraq," July 31) can explicate timelines but he can't escape responsibility: the killing presence of al-Qaida in Iraq today is a direct result of the U.S. decision to "fight them over there so we won't have to fight them here."

I have never understood how Americans could not be outraged at the shameful immorality of that statement. What interpretation of the Golden Rule makes it OK to wage all-out war in the backyards of people who did nothing to us, killing or displacing almost 5 million Iraqi citizens? The utter devastation that is taking place in Iraq today is a direct result of the actions of the U.S. administration, Congress, military, taxpayers, voters and citizens -- you and me. We the People are responsible.

Al-Qaida terrorism is not stateless; it originated in Saudi Arabia, where the radical Wahhabi ideology that motivated Osama bin Laden was and still is supported by the Saudi ruling family, taught in its schools and financed with its wealth.

Yet, We the People are about to compound the felony: We are about to send $13 billion in weaponry to Saudi Arabia to enable that Wahhabist monarchy to join the United States and Israel in economically crippling if not militarily destroying democratic Iran, which had not and has not threatened the United States; and We the People will send $30 billion in additional weaponry to nuclear-armed Israel, which is in violation of over 60 U.N. Resolutions involving its territorial boundaries and its ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinian Arabs.

FLORENCE WYAND
Allegheny West

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Some neighbor

Thank you so much for publishing "Excuse Me For Living (In Your Uptight, Pretentious, Neighborhood)" by Matthew Khoury, about his misadventures on Beechwood Boulevard (Portfolio, Aug. 2). It gave me and my colleagues a much needed chuckle over his immaturity and selfishness.

It amazes me that he deems his relative youth (age 25) a sufficient excuse for his actions. I know adolescence is longer these days than it used to be, but I still feel adult behavior can be expected from those in their mid-20s. Maybe I'm wrong.

It is true that living in an urban environment exposes one to a certain amount of noise. It also puts one under an obligation to understand that one person's "happy noise" is another person's nuisance. I can't think of any neighborhood outside of a college dorm where outdoor bongo concerts at 10 p.m. would be greeted with pleasure.

Before condemning his whole neighborhood, Mr. Khoury might try being, well, more neighborly.

MICHAEL PLITTMAN
Greenfield

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Stigma of epilepsy is worse than the medication side effects

I am a woman with epilepsy and take 450 milligrams of Dilantin every day of my life. I am the CEO of a consulting firm and the host of a radio show.

I am writing this in reference to the Aug. 1 article "Roberts Is Facing Tough Choices on Epilepsy," discussing the decision that Chief Justice John Roberts must make about whether or not to use medication, if there is a diagnosis of epilepsy. The article (from The New York Times) states that medication has "troubling side effects such as drowsiness or insomnia, weight loss or weight gain, skin rashes, irritability, mental slowing and forgetfulness." The article also says seizures can be a frightening experience for both the patient and family.

There are people taking medication for epilepsy who have side effects and a seizure may be disturbing for someone who sees a seizure for the first time. But this information continues to reinforce the negative and frightening stigma attached to epilepsy.

There are many successful people who have epilepsy and take medication and have their seizures controlled.

Pittsburgh Steeler Alan Faneca is a great man who has proven to the world that you can be a person with epilepsy and play in the NFL. The only person he is frightening to is the opposing team.

Remember -- stigma is worse than the side effects of medication.

JOYCE BENDER
CEO
Bender Consulting Services Inc.
Robinson

The writer is a board member, Epilepsy Foundation of Western and Central Pennsylvania; vice-chair, Epilepsy Foundation National Board; and host of "Disability Matters with Joyce Bender" at www.voiceamerica.com.