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Tuesday, December 18, 2001
The mayor's list of terms for road project is a sign of progress
I believe that by providing a list of issues to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission regarding the Route 51 to I-376 Mon-Fayette Expressway project, Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy has taken an important step forward ("Murphy Lists Terms for Toll Road in City," Nov. 29). Since the state Legislature assigned the expressway project to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the commission has involved communities in the design process and sought to resolve their concerns.
I am encouraged that the mayor recognizes the need "to create a transportation investment that contributes to the vitality of the city and the future of southwestern Pennsylvania." The expressway project responds to that need. Also, this new highway will offer important benefits for Pittsburgh, including reducing rush-hour traffic in numerous city neighborhoods, addressing horrendous traffic congestion on the Parkway East and improving access to medical, cultural and sports facilities in the city.
I would trust that the mayor also recognizes that a central goal of the expressway project is promoting economic revitalization of the distressed Mon Valley. The Route 51 to I-376 section of the project will vastly improve access to nine brownfield sites and more than 700 manufacturers. As a state senator serving the Monroeville area and parts of the Mon Valley, I have seen firsthand the need for economic revitalization and traffic congestion relief in my district.
It is in the best interest of southwestern Pennsylvania to move beyond debating the need for the expressway. I ask that the mayor join the turnpike commission in a spirit of cooperation and reasonableness. With 35 miles of the expressway to be open by spring 2002, we need to work together as a region to complete the entire project.
STATE SEN. SEAN LOGAN
Editor's note: Sen. Logan, D-Monroeville, represents the 45th District.
Indelible image
The photo of Shannon Spann, widow of Mike Spann (the CIA officer killed in the prison uprising in Afghanistan), carrying her 6-month-old baby boy while following her husband's casket in Arlington National Cemetery, is deeply ingrained in my memory ("Warrior's Farewell," Dec. 11).
I have two wonderful boys and a lovely wife, a sister in the CIA, a brother-in-law in the intelligence community and a father who was a career military officer. So for me, the images are extremely difficult to swallow. This is probably the way it should be, as we should never forget those who give their lives for us all, as well as those who love and miss them.
God bless Mike Spann for making the ultimate sacrifice for this great country. And God bless Shannon Spann and her son -- may His presence provide them with the necessary strength and guidance. My thoughts and prayers are and will forever be with them. Their images will forever be with me.
SEAN O'HARA
About the Tulane clinic
In a Dec. 5 letter ("Pitt Hopes to Have a Stronger Environmental Law Program"), University of Pittsburgh Law School Dean David Herring purported to correct facts reported by Post-Gazette staff writer Don Hopey in his Dec. 2 article "Law Clinic Reaction Unusual, Others Say." Unfortunately, Dean Herring neglected to get his own facts straight.
He falsely claimed that "the educational benefits available to clinical students [at Tulane Law School] were severely curtailed when the Louisiana Supreme Court changed the court rules to prevent students from representing most citizens' groups."
To the contrary, the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic remains the largest and most active law school environmental clinic in the nation. If Dean Herring had checked with me, the clinic's director, he would have learned that the Tulane clinic complies fully with all court rules without any sacrifice in the educational benefits available to our student attorneys.
ADAM BABICH
A debate for generations
This is in response to Pat Miller's letter "Greater Concerns," Dec. 6) (and the many other letters to the editor all year urging Democrats to "get over" the election of 2000 and cease the debate.
When the loser of the popular vote was catapulted into the White House after a messy "win" in his brother-the-governor's home state and a questionable Supreme Court decision, a new chapter was added to our nation's history.
Discussion and debate on the election of 2000 will no doubt continue in newspapers, on television, in future films and documentaries and at family dinner tables for generations to come. The actions and motives of all the protagonists will be the subject of academic research and will be scrutinized by political scientists, historians and constitutional experts. The election will be analyzed in future decades in its entire historical perspective
If future educators do their jobs correctly, our children's grandchildren will be debating the election, its aftermath, its historical and political significance and the legitimacy of Bush's presidency in their high school and college history classes long after we are dead.
So get over it, Republicans. This discussion will not go away for your convenience.
DONNA WHITSON BRETT
It's time to stop bickering over this long overdue tribute to Gene Kelly
It is amazing to see the response of some members of the Post-Gazette to the approval by City Council to transfer property to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for the placement of a Gene Kelly Memorial Statue at the traffic island on Liberty Avenue, Downtown. This 7-0 action was a courageous and bold move.
City Council has the right and responsibility to show civic leadership, especially when the Cultural Trust failed to do so for more than two years. It was the original desire of the Gene Kelly Statue Committee -- which includes business leaders, artists and community leaders -- to place the statue in the Cultural District. But even as late as this date, the trust could make no commitment for a specific location for this artwork.
Despite whatever the Post-Gazette might suggest, the time for discussion and debate over a site should end now. Our odyssey has truly been a blessing in disguise, because in our travels from location to location we found what we believe to be the perfect spot for the statue.
The Post-Gazette's editorial board need only refer to Christopher Rawson's Dec. 12 column ("Statue Should Show Joy, Says Widow"), in which Gene Kelly's widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, expressed endorsement of this site. She holds an important key to the future of the project, which cannot be put on the back burner again while there is further debate and study by government and leaders about another location.
The creation of this work of art, which will make a responsibly bold statement about Pittsburgh's new viability as a tourism center and an attractive place to visit and live, is far more complicated than the PG's editorial would have you believe. It involves copyright agreements between Hollywood studios and the Kelly Estate, as well as a contract with the sculptress.
Time is of the essence. If Pittsburgh treats this issue as it does so many others, with political division, the project will die. The Gene Kelly Statue Committee will not allow a project that should have been done long ago to wait any longer. We have followed every proper procedure and are ready to begin design and fund-raising efforts -- to bring something to this city that will make everyone proud.
It is completely unfair to judge the site without allowing landscape architects the opportunity to design a model of what the setting will be. The site will include benches, space to walk and move about and the possibility of creative lighting at night, including the lamppost, to provide a spectacular signature piece for the city.
We will treat this project with the respect and responsibility that it deserves. Traffic concerns can certainly be addressed by the committee and by the city of Pittsburgh as the work proceeds.
This community, for far too long, has allowed needless bickering over every worthwhile proposal to delay that which would make our community a better place. From Skybus to stadiums, our area has suffered from the lack of bold leadership and consensus. Our young people have left because the city refuses to allow itself to grow and move forward.
This tribute to Gene Kelly is long overdue. It needs to be built now at Gateway Center, where it will provide a proper home for someone whose contributions to the performing arts have been recognized everywhere else in the world.
This project will be an inclusive one that will involve corporate and individual contributions large and small. We want everyone to become a part of the effort to create a work of art. We invite everyone to join us as we move forward on this exciting project.
AVIVA RADBORD
An opportunity to inspire
In reference to Editor John G. Craig Jr.'s Dec. 9 column "Statue of Limitations: The Wrong Location for a Gene Kelly Memorial": I agree that the "perfect" spot would be on Fort Duquesne Boulevard at 9th Street, where the new building for the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts is under construction.
I had the pleasure of attending the Kelly Awards presentation the last two years. The special guest on both occasions was the most gracious Patricia Ward Kelly, Mr. Kelly's widow. During her last visit, she met with students from the current school for performing arts and she related that she had a marvelous experience.
It would be great to have these would-be artists pass the statue of Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain" with the message, "Look what you, too, can do." For a change, let's get it right the first time.
RICH TALARICO
Harrisburg
Canonsburg
Associate Professor and Director
Environmental Law Clinic
Tulane Law School
New Orleans
Ross
MELISSA ROSSITER
The Gene Kelly Statue Project
Mount Washington
Squirrel Hill