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Stifle those motorcycles!
Now that the nice weather is here, so is the ungodly noise of motorcycles. Most of these bikes are so loud that they set off car alarms and force people to keep their windows closed.
These bikers seem to feel that only their rights count. The rest of us are just expected to accept this nerveracking noise without question. Well, enough is enough. Most of these motorcycles are strictly for pleasure, at everyone else’s expense.
If people who own cars or trucks have a loud muffler, their vehicle can’t pass inspection. Obviously, the same rules don’t apply to motorcycles.
At a time of huge fuel costs and environmental issues, these bike owners seem to thumb their noses at the rest of us. There are also excessive-noise laws on the books, but the police seemingly don’t care, choose to ignore the law, or are incapable of enforcing the law.
At a time when Philadelphia is known nationally as "murder city," enforcing noise laws is not at the top of the police priorities.
One suggestion: Restrict motorcycles to major highways, i.e., Roosevelt Boulevard, I-95, the Schuylkill Expressway, and keep them off of neighborhood streets.
Jack Miller
Rhawnhurst
She’ll pick her
own carpets
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton recently said if elected president the first thing she would do would be to remove the Oval Office rug.
Is that the same rug that her husband Bill and his girlfriend Monica were on?
William E. Staudt
Fox Chase
Let the building begin
at cancer center . . .
My advice to Fox Chase Cancer Center is that if they are very sure of their position is to go ahead and build the new research/care pavilion and parking garage. As long as they delay the start of construction, they are giving a very small vocal minority of opponents the upper hand in the dispute.
Given the overwhelming support of the Fox Chase and Burholme communities, there is very little reason to delay this much-needed project any further. The construction of a 1,000-car parking garage will help alleviate a serious shortage of parking spaces that causes employees to park in the communities. This will help immensely in quality-of-life issues raised by residents living nearby who have not had full access to their parking spots during the day. The pavilion will aid in providing state-of-the-art medical treatment to thousands of patients who live in the Delaware Valley, including many members of the Fox Chase/Burholme communities.
It is clear that Save Burholme Park knows very well that the proposed construction of the above-mentioned facilities has very little relevance to the proposed expansion of the facility on the Burholme Park area yet to be transferred to Fox Chase Cancer Center, as the new construction is planned to be built only on property already owned by Fox Chase Cancer Center.
This group knows very well that what they are trying to block is not the same as their efforts to block the transfer of Burholme Park land over to the Fox Chase Cancer Center.
I find it curious Save Burholme Park praises the Fox Chase Cancer Center for their amiability in meeting with them to answer their concerns and does recognize the good work the center has provided to the communities. Yet, no one has taken a look at the attitudes of Save Burholme Park in striving to prevent construction of the most needed facilities that would add immensely to the quality of life of the communities.
Before Save Burholme Park accuses Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist) of engaging in spot zoning by changing the zoning from residential to institutional development district (IDD), it should be made clear that Save Burholme Park is engaging in the very same practice of spot zoning while accusing others of doing so. Their filing of a lawsuit to derail the cancer center project is a crystal clear case of attempting to use spot zoning by Save Burholme Park.
It is not reasonable and a viable option for Fox Chase Cancer Center to have to engage in a long and cumbersome process of getting IDD zoning by following all those procedures only to see building costs increase to higher levels. Even if they complied with the spirit and the letter of the law, there is no guarantee that their building plans will not be derailed again by Save Burholme Park. All relevant building plans already approved can be transferred over to IDD zoning.
It is clear that City Council and the mayor fully support the building plans along with the rest of the communities. It is time for Save Burholme Park to drop its fight against the building plan and allow the community to reap the benefits of the new facilities.
James K. Goodwin
Oxford Circle
. . . We need answers
to key questions
I’ve noticed in my recent drives on Cottman Avenue and Township Line Road that there appear to be properties that are being maintained but abandoned.
I am curious if Fox Chase Cancer Center is behind the purchasing of property near the cancer center. My fear is that they are buying up lots with expectation of widening the roads for their proposed expansion into Burholme Park. I have already noticed that the former Acme/dollar store near the corner of Church and Township Line roads has been purchased by FCCC as well.
I would like to know the extent of this so-called "traffic" report by Councilman Brian O’Neill, which mentioned that the buck stopped with him. How long does it take to furnish a report? To monitor the traffic should only involve one or two months worth of calculations. I think the citizens deserve to know what is happening behind the scenes.
There is a silent majority of people who want to protect the park and beautiful areas that surround the park. We don’t want traffic headaches and bulldozing of existing homes for the use of Fox Chase Cancer Center. Please redevelop or expand elsewhere.
David Carlin
Burholme
Medical science sheds
new light on the unborn
Several weeks ago, a letter in the Northeast Times entitled Abortion foes shouldn’t get to choose challenged statements I made in a prior letter where I applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to ban partial-birth abortion (PBA).
The writer called my statement that the Supreme Court’s decision could possibly save thousands of women, the same age or older as a little girl named Amillia Taylor who was born at 21 weeks, as "misleading and ludicrous."
If the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers says there are about 5,000 partial-birth abortions a year on healthy moms — with healthy babies at least the same age as Amillia Taylor when she was born — and if abortion doctors are not allowed to kill them by driving scissors into the back of their skull when they are almost completely delivered as in PBA, then you have in fact saved thousands of little girls from a terrible death.
The writer then does what anybody who is trying to defend the indefensible would do — play semantics. She’s upset because I referred to little Amillia as a "woman" as she then attempts to dehumanize her by comparing her to a ballpoint pen to insinuate she was less than human because she was very small at birth.
I am glad that the nurses and doctors in the neo-natal unit who cared for her didn’t think so. I’ll refer to her as a little girl — I hope that will not cause further anguish.
To see amazing pictures of Amillia at birth go to google.com and search on "photo of amillia taylor."
Remember, those saved by the court are at least her age or older. Sadly, I did find out though, that I cannot assume that every little girl saved by the court’s ban on PBA will not now be killed by D&E, where instead of having scissors delivered to the back of the skull, they are dismembered in the womb and then removed. I hope that a dilation-and-extraction ban is next.
In my letter, I quoted a statement from the New York Times by the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers and also supplied a link to a scanned copy of the exact presentation by abortion doctor Martin Haskell describing how to perform a partial-birth abortion.
The entire Haskell presentation was entered into the Congressional Record during the PBA debate and was beyond challenge. The writer calls the statement and presentation "anti-abortion propaganda." Only an abortion ideologue could deduce that.
These are really bad times for the abortion industry and its supporters. Advances in medical technology such as four-dimensional ultrasound now allow us to watch very detailed multi-dimensional movies of our children long before birth.
I saw my youngest girl sucking her thumb very early in my pregnancy. Other discoveries by those in the medical community dedicated to healing and saving life continue to save more and more pre-mature babies earlier and earlier.
Ten years ago, Amillia at 21 weeks would not have had a chance. Most Americans will celebrate these advances in saving innocent human beings as great news, especially parents of pre-mature children.
But you will see abortion industry advocates growing more hysterical, angry and illogical, yearning for the days before medical science opened the window to the womb and kids like Amillia didn’t have a chance, as they yearn for the days when they could tell us children before birth were just a blob of tissue and could get away with it.
Marianne Lacey
Holmesburg
Loesche school aide jobs
are in jeopardy
A few weeks ago, 13 employees of Loesche Elementary School, including myself, were informed that because of budget cuts we could not keep our jobs at Loesche. Our assistant principal and 12 paraprofessionals (SSAs) were told they will not be coming back in September because the school could not afford to keep us.
Paraprofessionals are a strong influence on the children at our school and are one of the reasons our school has achieved adequate yearly progress (AYP) status four years in a row.
We assist children who need that little extra help with their schoolwork, befriend a child whose parents do not have the time for them because they have to work long hours to make ends meet, we are the eyes and ears around school, making sure that everyone is safe, among other things.
The SSAs at Loesche are vital to the daily operation of the kindergarten program, especially during lunchtime and to those children who have special accommodations. Within my seven years at Loesche as an SSA, I have held many important positions, some of which are being part of the disciplinary team and DIBELS testing team, helping with kindergarten lunches, assisting the office staff and several other duties which I perform daily.
I took the job as an SSA to help the children, and it angers me because these cuts were not supposed to affect the schools themselves but are indeed, and it will hurt the children.
Across the school district the downsizing of staff within the schools is no way to help the children of Philadelphia get a better education. It is proved that uneducated children increase the crime rate, which is something this city does not need.
Another thing — the idea of smaller class sizes will probably never become a reality because next year at Loesche alone they will have every class at its maximum capacity with a handful of SSAs to assist the children and teachers. The last day of school will be a sad day for many people at Loesche Elementary.
I have always believed in public education, having two sons who attended Loesche Elementary, Baldi Middle School and now attend Swenson High School, and I am hopeful that a new administration downtown will make things better for everyone, especially the children.
All of the SSAs let go from Loesche will receive a termination letter by June 30, but IF the school district finds more money in the budget we hope it will save our SSA positions and help Loesche Elementary School continue to be the wonderful school it is today.
Renate Pittmann
Somerton
Cohen should resign,
says top state Republican
Pennsylvania Republican Party chairman Robert A. Gleason, Jr. was sickened to learn that state Rep. Mark Cohen, a member of the Democratic House leadership, wasted tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on books and magazines for personal use, further weakening the public’s trust of Democrats in office.
"Rep. Mark Cohen in my opinion had no right to misuse our taxpayer money in this manner and he should resign his position for violating the public’s trust," Gleason said. "Rep. Cohen has joined Congressman Paul Kanjorski in being the second Pennsylvania Democrat linked to the wasteful and unethical spending of taxpayer dollars. The public’s trust of the Pennsylvania Democrat House and Democrat Congress is low, and news like this increases the public’s skepticism of their governing. Judging from Rep. Cohen’s remarks and actions over the past few years, it is clear that he does not own a library card and that he has most definitely lost touch with the people of our commonwealth.
"I hope that the people of his district take notice of these reports, especially considering that he has spent more of our taxpayer money on books and magazines over the past three years than many of the constituents in his district earn for a year’s salary! I would call on his colleagues, like House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, to take strong action against this type of behavior. We should be worried about providing textbooks to the children of the commonwealth, not magazines for our elected officials."
According to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cohen spent a ridiculous amount of taxpayer money on books and magazines, like Vanity Fair. In 2004 and ’05, Rep. Cohen billed taxpayers $28,200 for more than 800 books and magazines. Rep. Cohen explained away his lavish book spending habits as a means to increase his knowledge so that he can better serve the public interest.
Pennsylvania Republican executive director Luke Bernstein responded, "I am not sure how reading Vanity Fair and radical left-wing books help you to perform your job any better, but it would explain what Rep. Cohen and other House Democrats are doing with their time, considering they have only sent four bills to the governor’s desk in more than five months!" ••
O’Neill praised for his
help on behalf of Wesley
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank and recognize Northeast Philadelphia Councilman Brian O’Neill for his efforts on behalf of the senior citizens in Northeast Philadelphia.
Councilman O’Neill worked tirelessly to secure $2.1 million in city financing to help assure the future viability of Wesley Enhanced Living at Pilgrim Gardens, a century-old continuing care retirement community that has become a dependable haven of care and sustenance for Burholme seniors.
As a non-profit organization, Wesley Enhanced Living needed to raise funds from city sources to assure a complete facility revitalization at Pilgrim Gardens. As a result of Councilman O’Neill’s efforts, we will be able to build a state-of-the-art assisted living complex, in addition to a completely modernized income-qualified, independent-living community for Northeast Philadelphia seniors.
From strong insistence within the city to secure the funding necessary, to support with the Burholme Civic Association, I can’t think of a single instance where Councilman O’Neill wasn’t ready to respond to whatever our organization needed at the time.
On behalf of myself, the board of Wesley Enhanced Living, the employees of Pilgrim Gardens and, most of all, the current and future residents of Pilgrim Gardens, let me offer my most heartfelt gratitude to Councilman Brian O’Neill.
Jeff A. Petty
President/CEO
Wesley Enhanced Living
That’s the way the
cookie crumbles, Joan
On May 31 in City Council, our councilwoman, Joan Krajewski, showed her indignation on the unfairness of the trans-fat ban on mom-and-pop bakeries.
Well, Joan, more unfair to me, and I’m reasonably certain to many of your other constituents, is after an almost two-year wait, the best you’ve come up with to stem the tide of rental properties in the district is your recent legislative proposal.
I could have saved you two years’ worth of effort on this issue by referring you to a letter to the editor in the July 14, 2005, edition of the Northeast Times, authored by me, that contained largely the content of the bill that you have proposed. You stated your "outrage" at what’s happening in our neighborhoods. Your outrage pales in comparison to the outrage of myself and others at how little you have done on this issue.
In 2005 you implemented a community task force to investigate the rise in rental properties. I and others would be quite interested in seeing the investigation and findings of this task force. Our homes are in most cases our single largest asset. Your lack of meaningful aggressive action has helped to contribute to the decline in our quality of life.
I’ve read and reread your proposed legislation. Where will the enforcement come from? L&I already can’t keep up with their workload. Will they now be turned into the rental police? Why have you been reluctant to take your gloves off and legislate the actions of agents and third parties that advertise and manage rental properties?
The Board of Revision of Taxes already has the capability to identify "alternate" addresses to which property tax bills are sent. This capability may be viewed through the city of Philadelphia’s Web site. Has there been a match run of properties listing an alternate address of tax bill purposes against the L&I database to identify potentially illegal rentals? This is also a good source of information for the Pennsylvania Banking Department in investigating mortgage borrowing.
You tout the 700 complaints investigated by your office and CLIP. Very impressive number, but what were the outcomes of these investigations?
It’s wonderful to be the guardian of trans fats and the mom-and-pop bakeries in the district. It’s wonderful to be a proponent of riverfront development. Our neighborhoods continue to decline and you’re concerned with a Council cookie taste test.
Marc C. Crawford
Mayfair
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