Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances

Lance : To Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy. Mr. Murphy has begun airing his campaign commercials. One features hizzoner in what seems to be a spontaneous, heartfelt and doggone near-teary-eyed soliloquy about all the things he's done to keep Pittsburgh from falling apart.

That would include holding high the cudgel of eminent domain against one private enterprise - the Pittsburgh Wool Co. - in favor of another private entity - the H.J. Heinz Co. Murphy alludes that he did so to keep Heinz from leaving town, which the condiment giant long ago denied it ever seriously considered.

Now we know Murphy can be an emotional fellow, and that's perfectly OK. Of course, the sincerity quotient of the almost-crying Murphy ad would be a tad higher if the mayor did not appear to be reading from a prompter. We can only wonder if he is prompted to ''(Cry here).''

Laurel : To the Club for Growth. The conservative Washington, D.C., advocacy group is pulling no punches in an advertising campaign targeting Pennsylvania's senior United States senator. Radio and television commercials note that Republican Arlen Specter is working to keep taxes high; he ''never met a tax he doesn't like.'' A Specter spokesman calls the ads inaccurate. Hardly.

Lance : To Pittsburgh Council President Bob O'Connor. Mr. O'Connor, also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor, is lobbying the state Legislature to allow the city to appoint two members to the city school board - in addition to the nine members elected by the public. O'Connor says a bridge needs to be built between the city and district.

That's true. But officially expanding the size of a now-independent government body isn't the answer. O'Connor's laudable intent could be accomplished just as easily over a few regular cups of coffee.

Our condolences : To motorists along Route 28. The heavily traveled artery is no picnic on good days. Add a major construction project to the mix and, well, commuters are lucky to get home for dinner. And the picture likely won't be pretty for the next six months . Yes, the $7.7 million Etna bridge reconstruction project is under way. But there is a saving grace: Visit the Trib's Web site ( www.triblive.com, ) for several comprehensive detour maps.

An inquiry : Why, oh, why does the statue of Roberto Clemente on the Federal Street side of PNC Park appear to have been installed backwards • It's positioned so that the legendary outfielder's back faces those entering the ball field. Any chance that Roberto could be turned around•