The mayor appears to lack common sense

To most normal people who have a strong sense of the difference between right and wrong, using a taxpayer-funded government vehicle to take your wife and friends to a concert at the Post-Gazette Pavilion would register as wrong at the very first thought ("Mayor Drove Police Vehicle to Concert," Oct. 3).

The city of Pittsburgh is at a point where it desperately needs strong leadership and experience. The mayor has, time and again, clearly demonstrated that he is lacking the decision-making capabilities that strong leaders possess. The mayor's use of this vehicle to go party with his friends is a brilliant example of the sense of entitlement to which our government officials have become accustomed.

I'm sure the mayor never gave a second thought to using this vehicle as his personal party mobile. That's a problem! If he did think twice about it and used it anyway, that's even worse. I am not a resident of the city, but I truly hope the voters of Pittsburgh make the wise decision of voting for Mark DeSantis in November.

SCOTT SLAGLE
Upper St. Clair

---

He's disappointing

As a Western Pennsylvania native and former Pittsburgh resident, I keep tabs on Pittsburgh news through the Internet from my current home in Youngstown, Ohio. Pittsburgh is a city of which I've been proud since the moment I was born 53 years ago.

I have witnessed many Pittsburgh highs and lows in that time, but nothing comes to mind as more absurd than the current, utterly outrageous episode of "Flaw & Odor: SUV," starring Mayor Luke Ravenstahl ("Mayor Defends Use of Police Vehicle," Oct. 4). For the last half dozen or so years I have been terribly disenchanted by the arrogance of public officials from the highest levels of government on down, and after observing this debacle, I not only feel further disheartened but also infuriated. Exactly what kind of conceit is it that allows one to expect he can drive a federally funded police intelligence vehicle to a Toby Keith concert? Since I suspect the mayor wasn't gathering intelligence on the latest in country music, I question the intelligence he displayed in the first place by not choosing to drive his personal vehicle.

Mayor Ravenstahl reminds me of the boy who does not want to practice his violin lessons because everyone else is outside playing. I believe he has the aptitude and skills to be a virtuoso of leadership, but if he hasn't the courage and discipline to adhere to the higher standard he recognizes and acknowledges, then I'm sure Pittsburgh voters will allow him to live his life like other 27-year-olds when they go to the ballot box.

CHRIS TRAVERS
Youngstown, Ohio

---

Energy necessity

Regarding "Wind Turbine Foes Make a Flap" (Sept. 18): Opponents to wind energy claim to care deeply about "pristine wilderness" and "valuable trout streams." Their concerns range from the scenic effects of placing large industrial wind turbines on mountaintops to the destruction of our forests and wildlife. I have these concerns, but let's not forget that wind energy actually protects and enhances Pennsylvania's forests, waters and wildlife by not producing and emitting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide as our nation's power plants do.

The United States, with 5 percent of the world's population, emits 23 percent of the world's carbon dioxide. Pennsylvania gets 60 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants and with this dumps tons of pollutants into the environment, causing a huge impact on the environment and health of our state. Drive along any road in the commonwealth and you can see, smell and feel the impact of traditional electric generation. The landscape is visibly scarred, streams run orange and our fish are so polluted with mercury that they are unsafe to eat. Global warming is already heating up our trout streams and forever altering our forests.

As a physician I see and experience the alarming increase in asthma and other respiratory illnesses due to the ever-increasing presence of particulate matter in our air. Similarly, urban smog has been linked to low birth weight, premature births, stillbirths and infant deaths.

Wind energy and other forms of alternative power aren't a choice; they are a necessityy that Pennsylvania must invest in. With that investment comes jobs, energy security and solutions to the multitude of problems that mining and coal-fired plants create. It's a win for Pennsylvania and the nation.

MARK BOLES, M.D.
Monroeville

---

Enough danger

Enough is enough. On Wednesday morning another major rock slide hit Route 28 ("Route 28 Open for Slide Cleanup," Oct. 4). This time a tractor trailer hit a large boulder that ended up in the northbound lanes. Luckily no one was killed.

The state's Band-Aid approach to addressing the rock slides is not working. Major dollars are needed to put in a real solution. The money used to add the unneeded third lane for the Pittsburgh Mills mall could have been put to a "lifesaving" solution for the Route 28 rock slide debacle.

It is a state highway, but this is a human life-threatening problem if a rock lands on a vehicle. Since the state would rather waste money on other things, like an overloaded Legislature, it is time for the federal government to step in and add money to this situation (not an unneeded third lane).

Please help; the residents of the Allegheny Valley cannot stand anymore obstacles or hazards.

PATRICK ZOLLNER
Springdale Borough

---

Testing treatments

Jan Warner and Jan Collins are correct in their column "Depression, Aging Don't Go Hand in Hand" (Oct. 2 Magazine) that debilitating depression remains underdiagnosed and undertreated in elders within the community.

At the University of Pittsburgh we are testing new and better treatments and prevention for depression and anxiety in later life. Readers desiring further information may call us at 412-246-6006.

MARK D. MILLER, M.D.
Oakland

---

No to executions

The newspaper has been full of astonishing cultural contradictions lately. We see the power of forgiveness, on the one hand, in the way the Amish community responded to horrific losses ("Nickel Mines Legacy: Forgive First," Sept. 30). And then we see Texas appearing bloodthirsty as it insists on its right to kill those who kill, in spite of a Supreme Court challenge to the state's methods ("Texas Executions Still on Track Despite U.S. High Court's Stay," Sept. 29).

Pennsylvania is a state with alternatives to capital punishment. We don't have to resort to state-sanctioned killing to keep our people safe; we have the option of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Forgiveness is a hard thing, and not something the state can provide. But the life-without-parole alternative can provide safety for the population without creating a culture of killing.

The national appetite for the death penalty is waning as 124 death row inmates have been exonerated -- six in Pennsylvania. It's time for Pennsylvania to join the other states that have declared a moratorium on the death penalty. We have alternatives.

NANA W. WILSON
Upper St. Clair

---

Is Mr. Bush lying or just clueless about CHIP?

From his comments on why he vetoed the State Children's Health Insurance Program bill, it is very clear that our president is either a bald-faced liar or has no idea how this country is run ("Bush Vetoes Bill to Expand Popular Children's Health Insurance Program," Oct. 3; "Child Health Veto Irks Casey," Oct. 4).

Mr. Bush says he doesn't want the government to run health care. When my child was enrolled in CHIP during the time before my husband's new job allowed him to enroll in his employer's health insurance, we were asked to choose from a number of private health insurance plans that were a part of the CHIP program. It was private insurance, which Pennsylvania and the U.S. government helped to pay for. It was a godsend.

I could take my child to the doctor for well-baby visits, and when she got a serious cold and needed breathing treatments, we were treated in the doctor's office, not at the emergency room, which saved the commonwealth a great deal of money and saved us a great deal of stress.

Mr. Bush is either a liar or uninformed; I do not know which is worse for a president.

KAREN CROW
Stanton Heights

---

We receive more letters than we can fit into the limited space on the editorial page, so we'd like to share some additional letters with our Post-Gazette Web site readers.

---

How can physicians back nationalized health care?

I have been shocked in recent weeks by physicians' letters to the Post-Gazette attacking the American health-care system in favor of the monstrous, supposedly free health care of Canada and most of Europe. An inescapable fact is these countries pay much more in taxes as a result of their nationalized health care -- health care that, I might add, is not very good.

As an example, taxation is 28 percent lower (percentage of GDP) in the United States than in Canada. The best way to drive down health-care costs is not more government intervention but less. Notice that areas of medicine with less government control have gotten significantly better. Laser eye care procedures are now much better and cost much less now than when first introduced.

Not only is this nationalized health care more expensive, it is worse. Cancer fatality rates are significantly higher in Britain and Canada than in the United States as a direct result of the long waits patients experience when early detection and immediate treatment are needed yet denied. As a recent study from The Fraser Institute in Vancouver pointed out: "Canadian doctors say patients wait almost twice as long for treatment than is clinically reasonable . . . almost 18 weeks between the time they see their family physician and the time they receive treatment from a specialist."

Under socialized medicine, the biggest payment you make may not be tax dollars but your life.

BART DONNELLY
Mount Washington

---

Good marriage decision

Regarding self-uniting marriage: We at The Center for Inquiry Community of Pittsburgh are delighted by the decision allowing such unions to continue ("Judge Says Couple Can Have Self-Uniting Marriage," Sept. 28). We began to offer a ceremony and act as a witness for couples who want such an alternative just this month. We recognized last year that the only choices available were a religious ceremony or one presided over by an "official." Now these couples have a legal option.

DAVID N. CAMPBELL
Founder
The Center for Inquiry Community of Pittsburgh
Monroeville

---

We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.