A news article addressing 61/2 years of fatalities (77) on highways and roads in Greene County appeared in the Observer-Reporter Greene County edition on Sunday, July 15. Emphasized was the relatively high number of lives lost (25) on Route 21 that bears the name of Roy E. Furman, a Greene County native.
The article reported PennDOT safety press officer Jay Ofsanik to have said the fault for the fatality rate "does not lie with the road itself, but with poor driver behavior." Gee whiz, how does that square with the fact that the PennDOT standard speed limit of 35 mph was reduced to 25 mph within the borough of Waynesburg because the archaic street grid, which includes a portion of Route 21 (High Street), cannot safely accommodate steadily growing traffic rates at the standard speed limit?
You could not make up stuff like this. It is like saying the fault of kids growing out of their clothes is not that the sizes are no longer adequate but rather the fault lies with the kids for having grown. Applying PennDOT logic, the solution is to starve the kids in order to stop their growth, progress and development. Good grief!
That brand of logic permeates PennDOT thinking. It is apparent in the not-smart design of the I-70/I-79 "killer curve" and last winter when an inspected bridge collapsed on I-70/I-79 plus the abandonment of snowbound motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Fifty or so years ago, the plan was to expand Route 21 in Greene County from two to four lanes and to bypass the infamous Morrisville/Waynesburg traffic bottleneck. But an elite nobility of both residents and especially absentee landlords having vested interests in our acrid environment of a repressive culture, depressed economy and free (grant) money (subsidies) successfully thwarted the plan.
To those of us who believe PennDOT about the Roy E. Furman Highway in Greene County and about we who are forced to drive on it I ask: Want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn?
Shame on PennDOT. Shame, shame, shame!
Paul Lagojda
Cumberland Township
Has Murtha no
sense of decency?
Recently, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, an investigator in the Haditha massacre case, issued a report recommending charges be dropped against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Not long ago, Congressman John P. Murtha locally declared the Marines guilty. This was done shortly after the incident hit the news and was based on the testimony of locals making the charges and before all the facts could be taken into evidence. The report specifically questions their credibility, since forensic results were inconsistent with the execution-style murders the locals claimed.
In his abominable, politically motivated actions, Murtha acted as "judge, jury, prosecutor, castigator and press agent, all in one."
All I can say is, "Until this moment, Congressman, I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Let us not further assassinate this lad, Congressman. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"
If this sounds vaguely familiar it should. Substitute "Senator" for "Congressman" and you have the words spoken by lawyer Joseph Welch on June 9, 1954. The earlier quote was attributed to Harvard law dean Ervin Griswald. They referred to and were addressed to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.
I now address that question to the supporters of Murtha, because we know his answer, judging by the lack of a public apology: Have you no sense of decency?
Stephen Cady
North Franklin Township