The April 16 Post-Gazette carried a story by Joe Grata regarding Indiana bats and the Southern Beltway project. It contained some misleading information on how this endangered species might affect the project ("Endangered Indiana Bat Endangers Projects: Southern Beltway Put at Risk," April 16). Had Mr. Grata contacted my office, he would have discovered that the whole story is not quite as scary as he suggests.

The attention-grabbing headline followed by statements that the Indiana bat is "delaying progress on construction" of the next section of the Southern Beltway and "beltway plans could be halted" are all premature and unwarranted, considering that surveys have yet to be conducted to determine whether Indiana bats are even present at this site.

The article states further that the Fish and Wildlife Service has only recently raised this issue with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. In fact, we advised the commission in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 that, because the project will involve substantial forest clearing, it is within the range of the Indiana bat and suitable habitat is present, the project site should be surveyed to determine if this species is also present. We have no idea why the surveys were not done years ago.

It is much too early to speculate on the risk that endangered species pose for the Southern Beltway. Even if the Indiana bat is found, it would mean that the involved agencies will need to work together to avoid significant detrimental effects on this species, but the outcome of this consultation process is not likely to have a noticeable effect on the final project design.

DAVID DENSMORE
Supervisor
Pennsylvania Field Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
State College

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Associate Editor Dan Simpson had a column praising Jimmy Carter as a peacemaker ("Jimmy Carter, Peacemaker, Realist," April 23) at the same time U.S. News & World Report ran a lengthy article condemning Mr. Carter for having a "blind spot about terrorism." Mr. Carter met with terrorist mastermind Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas, who is responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and thousands of rockets that have killed and injured hundreds of Israeli citizens.

Jimmy Carter has a history of support for Hamas, which is a terror group with much blood on its hands.

Mr. Carter asserts that the initial violence occurred when "Jewish militants" attacked Arabs in 1939. He ignores the fact that Arabs launched terrorism against Jews in 1920, 1928, 1929, 1936 and 1939. This continues to this day.

Mr. Simpson writes about Hamas proposing an "initial 10-year truce with Israel" if it withdraws from the land it seized in 1967. Mr. Simpson does not know that in 1967 Egypt, Syria and Jordan started the 1967 war to destroy Israel. Israel defeated these Arab countries. Israel's enemies started wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and lost them all. Since when do losers dictate terms?

U.S. News says: "The peace process is difficult enough without Carter's lies. He says U.N. Resolution 242 specifies an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 border. It does not." I suggest Dan Simpson see the U.S. News & World Report piece. The contents are quite different from Mr. Simpson's long anti-Israel article and his usual anti-Israel stance.

RICHARD MOTTSMAN
Mt. Lebanon

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In Dan Simpson's column "Jimmy Carter, Peacemaker, Realist" (April 23), he proves himself to be the same hopeless, pitiful, naive dupe that Jimmy Carter was, is and always will be. He says Hamas "proposed an initial 10-year truce with Israel if it withdraws from the lands it seized in 1967, comprising implicit recognition of Israel as a state" (emphasis added). What about explicit recognition?

And what guarantees are there that Hamas will adhere to the treaty? None. Its goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, and no piece of paper will change that. Furthermore, it is against the law for a private citizen to conduct diplomacy.

PETER FULTON
Mt. Lebanon

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In regard to the April 24 editorial "O Bummer: Clinton's Pennsylvania Win Promises Only Trouble": As a Post-Gazette subscriber for many years, I was not surprised by the editorial board's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama. Some on the board had already written opinion pieces with great praise for Sen. Obama and contempt for Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The Post-Gazette board does not exactly have a great track record of major endorsements. In recent years, Mark DeSantis, John Kerry, Al Gore ... do I need to continue?

With that said, was it really necessary to compare the Democratic primary to the civil war in Iraq? How in good conscience could you equate a political battle to a real life-and-death battle where we continue to lose our fine sons and daughters? I doubt Sen. Obama would agree with your analogy.

Taking the seriousness of the war aside, why can't you just congratulate Sen. Clinton on a fine victory without continuing to verbally trash this woman? I'm still trying to find where it is written in the Democratic bylaws that the candidate closest to 2,025 automatically wins. It's not a closest-to-the-pin contest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the reason for superdelegates?

One favor for all Democrats, PG: Please endorse Sen. John McCain in the general election.

TONY SGRO
Collier

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Hillary Clinton's suggestion ("Clinton Calls Out Obama: One on One, No Referees," April 27) is self-contradictory, and Barack Obama was right to reject it. But it's wrong to avoid further debates between now and the Democratic convention.

Mrs. Clinton's terms ensure an unreal debate, just as a no-holds-barred match proves nothing about wrestling skill. The candidates already engage in grandstanding, logical fallacies and cheap shots. With no referee, the temptation would be overwhelming.

Voters need exactly the opposite: a confrontation featuring a real referee, someone with stronger intellectual principles and more moxie than Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos. I'd suggest law professor Arthur R. Miller, moderator of the PBS series "The Constitution: That Delicate Balance."

If the candidates can be kept on topic and forced to confront difficult issues, a real debate might ensue and the public might learn something concrete about them.

EUGENE V. TORISKY JR.
Greensburg

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I'd like to add to the April 24 letter "We Pay, They Don't" about banks and fees. How about airlines? If there's a mistake or we get tied up in circumstances beyond our control, and we need to change a flight, we pay a penalty.

What happens when an airline makes an error and damages your property? I'm still waiting for my reimbursement from United Airlines.

Why can these big corporations make us pay whatever they want and we have no way of making them pay?

JANET STANZIANO
Mount Oliver

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The plans for Market Square are nice, but I am wondering who will be the one to tell the sidewalk parkers (McMasters Way) they must move somewhere. Not a day goes by that these freeloaders don't miss a chance to park for free. Pictures available on request ...

J. GARDINER
Whitehall

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I know that "if it bleeds, it leads," but do Post-Gazette readers get to see only the bad news on the front page? As a proud parent and supporter in the Woodland Hills School District, I have been frustrated by the recent events at the high school ("DA to Assess Fights at Woodland Hills," April 29), but I will not let the actions of a few morons dampen all the good that occurs in our community.

Our high school is home to 1,700 students. Any administrator will tell you that fewer than 50 students cause problems regularly. Why do 3 percent get more attention than the other 97? By the way, that 97 percent includes stellar gifted students, Broadway-bound performers and scholarship-winning athletes. While I am sure our administration is anxious to receive help from District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, I am encouraged that many of our parents are looking to organize and take their involvement to the next level to ensure safety and an academic environment for our students.

Let's hear it for all of our staff, the parents and the 97 percent who are there to make Woodland Hills the best it can be.

TARA L. REIS
Churchill

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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.

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I was pleased to see The Associated Press article "High School Seniors' Financial Know-How Goes from Bad to Worse" (April 9 Web). The issue of financial literacy is one that impacts not only our high school students and youth, but also people at all levels of our society.

This is an issue that receives far too little attention from the media. Nothing underscores the need for financial literacy education more than statistics that spell out the dangerous financial situation in which many Americans find themselves.

In these uncertain economic times, the reports that show individuals and families are losing financial ground at an alarming rate should be frightening to all of us. The traditional value of "save now, buy later" has been replaced with the modern axiom "buy now, pay later." This has huge implications on the health of the American economy and to individual American lives.

Research indicates that poor financial literacy will not only impact an individual's well-being, as stated in the article, but may impact his or her ability to find and keep a job. Many companies are now conducting credit checks prior to hiring, and some preliminary studies show that an employee's attendance and productivity on the job can be greatly impacted by how well he or she is able to budget and manage money.

Because of the importance of this issue to all segments of the work force, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board has partnered with ALISON to develop an online curriculum to teach the basics of financial literacy to anyone with Internet access. The curriculum is available free to anyone who wants to use it at www.alison.com. The development of this curriculum was made possible through the generosity of The Heinz Endowments.

A lack of financial literacy affects people of all ages and socioeconomic statuses.

In uncertain economic times, it is critical that we provide individuals with the tools to manage their money effectively.

RONALD D. PAINTER
CEO
Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Downtown

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The April 24 "O Bummer" editorial was breathtaking in its condescension. "Older voters" did not "think their votes through"?

Well, I'm 79 and thought about Mr. Obama's voting record as opposed to the barrage of abstract vacuities of change and hope.

"Change America can believe in?" Voting for every single Republican-sponsored Iraq war funding bill to the tune of $300 billion? That's change?

Health care? Mr. Obama's plan leaves the 1,500 insurance companies in place even though most of us favor single-payer. Change? Noteworthy too was the PG's refusal to devote one single word to National Healthcare Day promoting single-payer health care, held in the City-County Building lobby on Dec. 14, 2007.

Mr. Obama voted to renew the Patriot Act.

He voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, despite her role in the deviousness that got us into the present mess in the Middle East.

So, please, disagree if you will with my vote for Mrs. Clinton, but do not think it was made because I and others of my generation "were not inclined to think" about our choices.

ROBERT ADAMS
Allegheny West

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For the first time, I've been personally insulted by a PG editorial ("O Bummer," April 24).

Your staff certainly has the right to endorse Barack Obama. But while you stayed positive and praised him for his "fresh and vital" contributions, you certainly went negative on Hillary Clinton and her supporters. Am I missing something here?

You wrote, "The voters were not inclined to think their votes through" and that we've "unthinkingly" gone down the wrong road. You implied we have a "resistance to change" and that our mantra is "No, we can't."

I will certainly vote for Mr. Obama in November if he gets the nomination, but comments like yours anger Hillary supporters. Pot, meet kettle. You can disagree with Pennsylvania's choice, but you don't have to get ugly to do it.

I thought my vote through. I'm not resistant to change and I resent your calling me an older voter who "voted the old way." I can name a dozen reasons why I voted for Hillary Clinton, and none of them are mentioned in your mean-spirited attack, which argues that I'm not only stupid, but also ignorant.

Perhaps I can name-call and accuse you of making a hasty, rushed and poor choice in backing Mr. Obama. After all, your endorsement came one day -- one single day -- after your editorial board met with him. Maybe you didn't think things through.

RICHARD P. GOIMARAC
Monessen

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I am appalled at the PG for insulting the majority of Democratic voters in Pennsylvania in last Thursday's editorial "O Bummer" by stating "the voters were not inclined to think their votes through."

The condescending tone degrades Hillary Clinton supporters and makes a mockery of our intelligence. That lack of respect only damages your credibility. Endorsing Sen. Barack Obama is one thing, and I do not have a problem with that. But to question your readers' intelligence in their support of Sen. Clinton is intolerable.

As for Karl Rove, the PG is not above taking a page out of Mr. Rove's playbook and demonstrating a bit of its own fear-mongering by stating that only John McCain is the real winner in Pennsylvania and Sen. Clinton continues to damage the Democratic Party. Pennsylvania finally has a voice in nominating a president, and the PG insults the very voters Sen. Obama may eventually need. Nice job, PG.

If Barack Obama becomes president, his "star" will definitely be battered like most presidents. After all, your candidate cannot walk on water.

CHRIS MERCURIO
Imperial

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Regarding "O Bummer" (April 24 editorial): Yes, we can partially credit the April 22 primary results to "no, we can't" (is that a nice way to phrase plain old ugly racism?), but there were also respectable Clinton supporters who somehow believe, as if the clock can be turned back, that Hillary can bring back the "good old days" including the way the economy was when Bill Clinton was president. But we ended up with George W. Bush partly because of the same trashy "politics" that began with Bill Clinton's misbehaving while in the White House.

If we need to see who can withstand the mudslinging, will Sen. Clinton have to defend her husband's lack of focus on national security since there are still valid questions about negligence in preventing the attack of 9/11?

But another factor weighs in, especially during primaries, and that is "the machine." I've worked polls, and so many people just aren't sure, so when they're handed that ballot list with someone saying "these are the endorsed candidates, you need to just vote for them," more than a few voters appear to be relieved, take the paper and say "thank you!"

Certainly many voters decided early on between Obama and Clinton, but let's not underestimate that seed of doubt planted by Gov. Ed Rendell and the lock-step endorsements by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, which fertilized the seed -- I only hope it doesn't grow into a "Bush" in the form of McCain, now touting that he's a "uniter."

Another factor is that our independent voters, many of whom might vote for Sen. Obama, didn't get to choose at all.

As a late convert to Barack Obama, I only hope that voters get to hear and listen to him, to understand his character and the common goals he addresses.

We desperately need more public servants like Sen. Bob Casey, who, like Sen. Obama, exudes sincerity and fresh honesty and brings, I dare say, real hope and real change to politics and our future.

JEANNE CECIL
West View

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It's that time of year for the GOP to bring out the fear factor to prop up its administration in an election year. Some call this the "B" Western film formula. When the plot got thin, we knew there would be smoke signals and loud war drums. The pioneers would circle their wagons. They would give up their intellect to John Wayne to save their scalps.

As children, we did not think Indians were really demonic. We knew a 25-cent fantasy from reality. How many times can you holler wolf and be credible, except in a cartoon?

HARVEY GOTTSHALL
Connellsville

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I was born in Pittsburgh in 1915. Old-timers will remember me as "Killer Katz" from when they passed my ELCO pest control office on Fifth Avenue. I advertised my logo in the Pittsburgh Press Garden section every Sunday for decades.

I just talked with an old friend in Pittsburgh and he told me that Cyril Wecht was in serious legal trouble. I was sorry to hear that. Here is why. One day, on the way to my office, I passed through Schenley Park and stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. He dumped two heavy books on the seat, one legal and the other medical. He said be was taking courses at Pitt in both subjects. Years later, he became the county coroner.

As secretary of the Pest Control Association of Western Pennsylvania, and a major supplier of pesticides to the pest control industry, I was concerned about the safety of our member pest controllers who sometimes were mishandling the toxicants. This was in the BC era (Before [Rachel] Carson) and the Environmental Protection Agency. I approached Dr. Wecht in his Iroquois Building office in Oakland, asking if he would give an annual physical for our association members because of the possible harm from toxicant exposure. He was gracious enough to do it, for the paltry sum of $25 a person.

He did this for several years, and when the chlordane manufacturer needed evidence of the relative safety of their product when used correctly, before a congressional committee hearing, Cyril Wecht's reports were 25 percent of all the data they submitted. Eventually, they lost and the long-lasting termite control product was canceled.

Now you know why I feel sorry for this man who did so much good for the community.

HARRY L. KATZ
Board Certified Entomologist
Deerfield Beach, Fla.

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