Letters to the editor, 09/29/06
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The Kilbuck landslide shows why things must change
An effort to improve the economy of Kilbuck (population 723) with a windfall of tax revenue created an economic landslide.
The environmental and economic impact of a decision to approve a retail complex on slide-prone slopes was predictable. Unfortunately, environmental predictions were ignored and the economic impact is negative ("Rules to Prevent Route 65 Landslide Were Bypassed," Sept. 27).
The lost productivity and commerce caused by the landslide have yet to be measured and may be global. A system that enables three volunteers to make decisions that can have this magnitude of impact is dysfunctional.
The list of problems with the permitting of the Kilbuck Wal-Mart is long and well documented. An underlying problem is that local municipalities are responsible for approving land development. Many are understaffed or overwhelmed with approving projects, and supervisors find themselves up against high-powered legal and engineering teams. Supervisors are pressured to approve projects for tax revenue and vulnerable to lawsuits when plans aren't approved.
In the chase for revenue, municipalities compete for development and will waive ordinances so the developer doesn't move to the next municipality. Kilbuck waived more than 50 deficiencies in the project to approve it. The grading ordinance that was waived may have prevented the landslide.
The county or state should have jurisdiction over development that exceeds a certain threshold of size, has regional impact or when a project borders an adjacent municipality.
A performance standard for municipalities and a streamlined process to dissolve municipalities that fail to meet the minimum standard need to be established.
ROY KRAYNYK
Executive Director
Allegheny Land Trust
Moon
Another blow
Wow, another example of how Wal-Mart puts small business owners out of business ("Business Slides on 65," Sept. 26 Business). The future store isn't even open yet on Route 65 and small business owners are already hurting from the landslide.
I'm sorry, if I have to pay a dollar more for an item so my neighbors can stay employed, I will. Is this what the American way has become? People want Wal-Mart prices everywhere they shop.
If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you want it that badly, then save your money to buy it. That is the American way that I was taught. That's how I am raising my children.
JOYCE PHILLIPS
Sewickley
Nature's glue
Much has been said about the Route 65 landslide. When I saw it first on the evening news, I told myself. "They can't figure out why it happened?" You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. The slope was steep as hell, it rains for who knows how long and the slope was as clean- shaven as a cadet at his first review.
I wrote to your paper a couple of years ago about the subject of "erosion," something I was taught in grade school -- 50-some years ago -- but you didn't print my article.
It was about when I saw the local borough going around spraying poison on sumac trees. Yeah, they might be a pest and they grow fast and also in bunches, but they help hold up the slope. A lot of places that sprayed had the hillside come down on the road.
Now, from what I saw on the evening news, that slope alongside Route 65 was very steep and bare. No trees at all. Yeah, benching might have helped, but trees are nature's glue to hold up the dirt on a slope. Is it any wonder why that slide happened? In my mind, nope.
KEITH J. WHITMORE
Duquesne
Not affordable
Regarding the Sept. 26 editorial "Downtown Living": Finally. You have stated my opinion on living Downtown. I would move there in a heartbeat, but who can afford $350,000 to $500,000?
Having some moderately priced apartments and/or condos would bring more of a mix and not just the rich.
R. HEIM
Beechview
Clinic questions
In Christopher Snowbeck's Sept. 18 front-page article "Retail Health Clinics Planned for Region," he correctly reported that "nurse practitioners ... can diagnose, treat and write commonly used prescriptions for standard family illnesses." Nurse practitioners provide these services, and more, for patients of all ages, across many different settings and receive very high satisfaction ratings from patients.
As a nurse practitioner, I am open to new and innovative opportunities. These clinics provide an opportunity to expose the public to the role the nurse practitioner can play in American health care. NPs are, however, educated to provide a broader scope of care than that dictated by the confines of these clinics.
Later in the article Dr. William Johnjulio of Health Associates of Western Pennsylvania indicates that "the big question" is whether patients will accept care from NPs. The answer to that is "yes," and most patients will be happy to see NPs again.
The big questions are really why this kind of retail-store-based health service has a place in our sophisticated health-care system, and how will these drop-in services coordinate care for complex patients, refer when patient need exceeds the ability of the clinic to provide, and follow up when necessary?
MARYANNE LOEBIG, CRNP
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Point Breeze
A great guy
Russell Peck was a great neighbor and our friend ("Emsworth Man's Killing Shocks Close-Knit Family," Sept. 18; "Wife Charged in Emsworth Slaying," Sept. 17).
He was good at everything. He was a top-notch carpenter, with a reputation for quality and an excellent rapport with his customers. We hired him for many home improvements over time and even kept a "Russell List" of jobs we hoped he'd do for us in coming years.
He was also an excellent bowhunter, always passing venison on to friends. Last year, he gave us an entire freezer's worth and asked nothing in return but a plateful of my wife's homemade pierogies.
Two years ago, he and his brother did their first biathlon, and Russell was hooked. With a vengeance, he'd climb the steep hills above Emsworth, and before long he was a crack cyclist. But Russell never bragged. Rather, the first thing he'd say whenever we saw him was something like, "Hey, how's your mom doing?" Asking about a friend's elderly parent was more important to him. And he was always polite, a real gentleman, with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye that put people at ease. And busy as he was, he always made time to listen.
Our condolences go to his entire family, but especially his parents, who did a fine job of raising such a good guy. We will never forget him.
JIM JOYCE
Emsworth
A single-payer health system would be a vast improvement
Dr. Bill Wood makes a compelling case for adopting a single-payer "Medicare for all" reform of the health system in the United States and in Pennsylvania (Midweek Perspectives, Sept. 13).
In fact, such a plan has been approved by the California state assembly, but the governor has threatened to veto it. He argues that such a program would be government-run "socialized medicine" and would "create a vast new bureaucracy" and "cost the state billions." He is wrong on all three counts.
Medicare is a government program that is financed by taxpayers but not run by the government. Its administrative costs are about 3 percent, while the profit-based system we have is a vast bureaucracy with administrative costs that eat up more 20 percent of our health-care dollars.
Medicare's admitted inadequacies can be fixed more easily than reforming the politically powerful and highly profitable insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The insurance companies' premiums are going through the roof, and the companies increasingly refuse coverage for pre-existing conditions, as the idea of service is replaced by the profit motive.
The highly respected Lewin group did a study in California. Its findings indicate that a comprehensive single-payer system covering everyone would still save billions of dollars.
There is now a bill in our Legislature, SB 1085 and HB 2722, with many of the same provisions. Pennsylvania has an opportunity to lead the nation in providing a model for true reform. It would be good for every resident, help business and be a drawing card for attracting out-of-state companies.
Unfortunately, the PG has failed to give serious coverage to either our state bill or California's.
MOLLY RUSH
Pennsylvanians United for Single-Payer Healthcare
Dormont
First Published September 29, 2006 12:00 am
