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Milton Street
is no Frank Rizzo
Regarding your editorial last week, I find it an insult to compare Milton Street to Frank L. Rizzo.
Rizzo may have been outspoken but he wasn’t a criminal who hid behind his race and politics. Now Milton Street is stating that he is going to sue the Moorestown Police Department for a "political arrest." Well, if he had paid the tickets (or not gotten them in the first place), there would have been no need for an arrest.
I find him to be an embarrassment to the city of Philadelphia, more so than his brother John. He is making a mockery of a very important election, and to come out by insulting his fellow running mates is par for the course for an ill-mannered, obnoxious politician, who thinks that because of his color and convictions he can get away with anything.
Eileen Smith
Tacony
Does God really
want that?
Regarding Claire Orr’s letter, God wants to help the homosexuals, in the Feb. 15 edition:
Ms. Orr, in your passionate use of the Bible to support your denunciation of homosexuality, you ask us to "please see: Leviticus 20:13."
Well, I took your advice and saw it, and unless my eyes deceive me it says, "If a man lies with a male....they shall be put to death."
Hey, if you believe we must obey every command of God in the Bible, then shouldn’t you be crusading to have all active homosexuals killed? Or haven’t you paid attention to how often Jesus quoted Old Testament practices and said, "But I say to you....."
I think he had people like you in mind. Of course, you have to start by knowing that YOU need help.
Edward Huber
Active Christian and dedicated Bible reader
Burholme
Alarming news for
childbearing families
One might reflect on the closure of the obstetrics program at Jeanes Hospital by paraphrasing the opening sentence of Jonathan Franzen’s award-winning novel The Corrections: "The alarm bell has been ringing for years."
The abandonment of OB care is not a new problem; it began in 1997, for the same reasons we see today.
Jeanes Hospital provided obstetric services for and attended approximately 1,600 births per year. While it may be a secondary priority in light of fiscal pressures or relative to more profitable medical treatments and procedures, the steady rate of 50,000 births per year in the commonwealth remains constant, inevitable and a core part of a family’s life cycle.
In the fall, Maternity Care Coalition released our Childbirth at a Crossroads research report (available at www.momobile.org), making clear that we have long since passed the threshold of providing timely, affordable and quality maternity care.
This is the 14th hospital closing since 1997. An alarm bell is no longer sufficient to bring the public’s attention to the health care crisis we are witnessing for childbearing families.
Amidst these troubling realities, we at Maternity Care Coalition have several urgent and unanswered questions. First and foremost, what are the transition plans for informing families and redirecting them to new services?
While the hospital understandably seeks to reconcile expenses with revenues, what will families in the Northeast do when that most transformative of experiences, birth, is imminent? Do the remaining hospitals within the Temple Healthcare system have the capacity to absorb the 1,600 births previously covered by Jeanes? Taking into consideration last year’s increased Medicaid dollars directed to Temple, what were Jeanes’ financial shortfalls?
How will this closure impact the remaining hospitals that are also suffering under financial duress? Hospital administrators have already contacted MCC to tell us that "there is no more room at the inn," asserting that they simply do not have the capacity to absorb Jeanes’ 1,600 births per year.
The ultimate question is: If obstetric care is unprofitable for all local hospitals, do we as a community support this as a reason for all OB units to close? Or will we wait to panic until the last doors are shut to birthing mothers?
It is time — as consumers, providers, advocates and hospital administrators — to demand that local and state leadership prevent women from facing the prospect of having to deliver babies in hospital hallways. This is a risky game, and we are passively watching from the sidelines.
JoAnne Fischer
Executive director Maternity Care Coalition
The good Samaritans
of Frankford Avenue
I just wanted to say thank you to the people at Shelly’s Nail Salon on the 7200 block of Frankford Ave.
On Feb. 15, I parked outside of their nail salon to go to Affordable Eyewear. When I got back to my car and tried to get out of the spot, I realized I was stuck on a pile of ice.
My mom was with me and she was trying to kick the snow when one of the workers from Shelly’s brought us out a shovel to use. After about five minutes of trying to shovel my car out, another worker from Shelly’s came out to help us shovel. He then tried to push me out, and then he even got into my car to try to get it out himself. When this wasn’t working, another gentleman who had pulled up behind me got out of his car and helped the man from Shelly’s push me out onto Frankford Avenue.
If it weren’t for these WONDERFUL people, my car might still be stuck on Frankford Avenue. It just goes to show that there are still good people in the world that are willing to lend a helping hand!!
Cindy Curran
Fishtown
Cartoon was anything
but funny
What a tasteless, inconsiderate and obnoxious "cartoon" published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Times. What the Andy Reid family is facing is every concerned parent’s worst nightmare. The entire Reid family deserves our prayers, not the ridicule as depicted by your thoughtless actions.
David W. Campbell
Rhawnhurst
It’s raining cats
and coyotes comments
This letter is in response to two letters in last week’s edition of the Northeast Times, Gina DeNofa’s letter about trap, neuter and return (TNR) as well as Richard Iaconelli’s story about the passing of his cats.
First, thank you, Gina, for the wonderful work you do for the feral cats in your area. I recall letters that you have written, and my hat is off to you for the kindness that you show to these animals. I will gladly sign your petition, though knowing the park, it’s likely to have little effect. Feeding and caring for the cats to them is "littering" and therefore carries a fine of $300.
It seems to me that there are many people using the park that "litter" much more than those trying to aid these helpless creatures. The cats are not there of their own choice, they are usually there as a result of human irresponsibility. Regardless, I hope all those who support those who work with feral cats will sign the petition. The TNR program has worked and is working in many other U.S. cities. Check www.alleycat.org to find more information about TNR as well as information for those who doubt or oppose TNR.
Second, thanks to Richard Iaconelli for the wonderful poem about the passing of his two feline companions. My condolences to you. An excellent online support group for those mourning the passing of an animal companion can be found at www.petloss.com, where others who understand and are going through the same thing can help one another online.
A Monday night candlelight ceremony is quite moving and the site is moderated, so only those who understand and want to provide support can post. This prevents those who might feel the need to ridicule those in grief from posting. Thanks to both of you for providing good information and sharing your thoughts on two very important topics.
George W. Wilson Jr.
Burholme
• • •
When I read Linda Matarazzo Cherkassky’s letter in the Feb. 15 edition regarding the cats in Rush State Park (Tabby is no wild animal), I was first angered but then realized this poor woman is just ignorant and needs to be educated. Instead of her giving out Web sites, she should log onto www.alleycat.org and read all about TNR and educate herself. These cats certainly are not domestic and are considered wildlife. And don’t blame the poor animals, they did not ask to be born.
I ask her, "Are you willing to take them all into your home to socialize them? I hope you don’t have any animals, and if you do, my heart goes out to them."
All I can say to you, Ms. Matarazzo Cherkassky, is I hope in your next life you are a feral cat and you meet someone like you.
Judith Gormley
Morrell Park
• • •
Ms. DeNofa has not done her homework. The reality is that TNR has not been proved to reduce the number of feral cats through natural attrition. Colonies tend to grow in size because migrant cats are attracted to the food source and irresponsible pet owners abandon their cats in colonies. TNR is based on perpetual colony maintenance.
As Ms. DeNofa states, there is difficulty in trapping every cat. However, in TNR those cats that remain untrapped are artificially sustained and better able to breed. Domestic cats have not adapted to the environment. If they did, we would not need to feed them. They are dependent upon humans for their survival.
Wild animals do move into an area to fill an ecological niche, but the only reason domestic cats congregate is due to an artificial food source. Remove the cats and remove the food source. Maintain this Important Bird Area for native wildlife.
There are 70 million feral cats in the U.S. Not even 1 percent has gone through TNR. Adoption is no less workable a solution. Many adult ferals can be successfully socialized. The American Veterinary Medical Association has stated that any reduction through TNR is statistically insignificant. However, well-documented information and studies exist regarding the threat to native birds from cat predation. See Impacts of Feral and Free-Ranging Cats on Bird Species of Conservation Concern: http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/NFWF.pdf
Ms. DeNofa may have good intentions, but her actions result in disregard for the environment and native wildlife and inhumane outcomes for cats.
Linda Matarazzo Cherkassky
Voorhees, N.J.
• • •
TNR works. The Humane Society of the United States, the American Association of Feline Practitioners, Alley Cat Allies and countless other humane organizations nationwide all advocate TNR as a humane solution to controlling free-roaming cat populations. In TNR programs, cats evaluated as domestic or socializable are removed to foster care for adoption. However, true feral cats that have been born in the wild are unadoptable as pets. Having little to no human contact, they are wild by nature and cannot be socialized. Their lives are of no less value just because they are wild. Killing them is not the answer.
Cats are NOT primarily responsible for the decline of the bird population and its prey base. The Audubon Society’s own Web site cites the top factor for songbird decline is human population growth and sprawl. In other words, it is manmade causes (pollution, habitat loss, climate change, hunting, capture and fishing). In managed colonies, cats are vaccinated and do not pose a health risk. Feral cats are generally healthy and studies show that cats in managed colonies can live as long as pets.
Across the country, there are successful collaborative TNR programs: ProjectBay Cat in San Francisco is a TNR and adoption program with the Sequoia Audubon Society: http://www.cimeron.com/html/project_bay_cat.html. Closer to home, a similar program is underway with the Burlington County Feral Cat Initiative in partnership with the NJ Audubon Society: http://www.njferals.org.
If you are interested in saving the cats in Benjamin Rush State Park, please contact info@phillycats.org. To learn more about helping feral cats, visit Alley Cat Allies: www.alleycat.org.
Note: Per the Fairmount Park Commission, Benjamin Rush State Park is NOT part of the Fairmount Park System.
Donna Rohner
TNR Outreach Coordinator
Philadelphia Community Cats Council
Alliance for Philadelphia’s Animals
Don’t worry about
those coyotes, Gina
I am writing in response to Gina DeNofa’s letter published in the Northeast Times on Feb. 8 regarding organized coyote hunts in Pennsylvania by various outdoor clubs.
Gina — you can relax! Although I have never participated in one of these hunts, I know people who have. The results are that the coyotes come out on top every time. Typically, the winner of such an event is the only hunter successful in bagging a coyote. Sometimes, nobody bags one — the quarry is simply too slick. That’s why the cartoon character is called Wylie Coyote. These winter events are more of a fund-raising and social thing at a harsh time of the year than a serious hunting event.
The calls used by the hunters do not duplicate coyotes in distress as you stated, Gina. Rather, they duplicate calls made by whitetail deer fawns and rabbits in distress, as well as various birds, such as wild turkeys, plus feral cats, house pets, etc., because these are what coyotes prey upon.
Despite a longtime war against them by livestock owners and government hunters, the wylie coyote has increased its numbers and spread from western North America to every state in the union except Hawaii (they can’t swim that far) plus all Canadian provinces, all of Mexico, etc.
In fact, Philadelphia, including Northeast Airport near you in Normandy, Gina, is home to coyotes. Just ask the cowboy government hunters who shoot them at that airport, despite the fact that coyotes are a limiting factor on the very whitetail deer those hunters are paid to kill at that airport, plus in Pennypack and Wissahickon parks. A better project for you, Gina, would be to protest the seemingly never-ending hunts by "sharpshooters" in those parks each winter. After killing around 1,000 deer in Pennypack’s annual winter extermination effort beginning in 2001, there has been no noticeable increase in the vegetation the deer were supposedly destroying.
Pennsylvania’s coyote population is estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 animals — not bad for a creature that was almost non-existent here 50 years ago. These coyotes take a heavy toll on wildlife, house pets and livestock. In fact, a coyote was implicated in the death of a human baby, snatched in its own back yard, several years ago in New York State. So, Gina, have no fears about Wylie’s well-being!
Calvin J. Klein
Fox Chase
Don’t lease the turnpike
to foreign investors
Guest Opinion
By state Rep. John M. Perzel
Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposal to close a budget shortfall by leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a foreign company for 75 years is ill-advised, shortsighted and dangerously reckless.
I question whether the governor has fully considered the consequences of such an arrangement, realizing the strategic importance of the turnpike to Pennsylvania’s intra-state and interstate commerce, as well as the nation’s overall intermodal transportation network.
The governor’s claim that the state could make $10 billion from leasing the turnpike for 75 years is a gross misrepresentation. More than $3 billion would be required to retire the turnpike’s debt right from the start. Another $1 billion would go to massive transition costs that the state would have to pay. Within minutes of the deal’s signing, taxpayers would realize an instant 40 percent loss.
Setting aside the commercial consequences of placing this major interstate transportation artery in the hands of a private foreign company, Gov. Rendell’s promise to invest the remaining money and use the interest for bridge and road repairs leaves the door wide open for a future governor to raid this fund for other purposes.
The remaining $6 billion would be easily devoured within 10 years — leaving the turnpike in private foreign hands for another 65 years with no financial benefit to Pennsylvania taxpayers.
Putting this type of crucial government asset in private foreign hands would leave both commercial and non-commercial turnpike users defenseless to the whims and profit-driven motives of a foreign enterprise — with unacceptable levels of unchecked power.
Private firms prefer lease arrangements because of the steady flow of income leases generate. But when costs start to rise and profits get squeezed, these companies could readily break existing labor contracts and pension agreements — resulting in the firing of older workers and replacing them with younger workers with cheaper wages and smaller benefit packages.
Motorists could face the prospect of higher tolls with no representative recourse to challenge the actions of a private foreign owner motivated by profit margins and the bottom line.
But there’s an even larger risk as the governor actively seeks foreign investors.
The east-west turnpike that connects Pittsburgh and Philadelphia also serves to connect the rest of the state with interlocking state and interstate federal highways that are crucial in an emergency, as well as for transportation of military cargo from Pennsylvania’s military supply depots to the Port of Philadelphia and beyond.
Do we really want the major highway used by our military and the state police controlled by foreign interests who have no stake in Pennsylvania’s security?
There are other options.
The governor wants all Pennsylvanians to subsidize our highways through a 12.5-cent increase in the gas tax, when we could shift the burden to those who use the state highways.
Though required by law, Pennsylvania has been remiss in collecting the gas tax from commercial vehicles that fuel-up in New Jersey on their way to Ohio over Pennsylvania roads.
We could also borrow money for road repairs with a 30-year loan funded through the same tolls the private companies will impose while keeping the turnpike in our hands.
Foreign control of our roads is a frightening prospect in our post-9/11 America, and not a route Pennsylvanians should travel. ••
Mr. Perzel, a former House speaker, represents the 172nd Legislative District.
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