Laurel: To Arthur Zeigler. The president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation chides the Murphy administration's single-developer mantra for Downtown's Fifth-and-Forbes corridor. He says it would be far better to independently develop pieces of the retail shopping district, with the aid of primarily private investment and historic preservation tax credits, a la Baltimore. This voice of common sense and reason is most welcome.
Lance: To Craig Kwiecinski. The Allegheny Institute says the South Side Works development isn't generating the kind of property tax receipts that were projected. Asked to comment, the acerbic spokesboy for Mayor Tom Murphy said the administration doesn't comment on institute studies because "they're always wrong" and that the institute is "so clearly anti-Pittsburgh."
To the first contention, we challenge Mr. Kwiecinski to refute every Allegheny Institute study over the last 10 years. To the latter point, we ask this of Kwiecinski -- what's more "anti-Pittsburgh," molesting it as his boss has done, or attempting to save it from the molestation, as the Allegheny Institute has done?
Laurel: To Ramon Rustin. The new warden of the scandal-plagued Allegheny County Jail is pushing to change a policy that never should have been allowed in the first place -- male guards overseeing female prisoners. Mr. Rustin wants to ban the practice in the aftermath of a guard-inmate sex scandal. This should have been a no-brainer; failure to change the policy soon will only invite more trouble.
Laurel: To Mark Cuban. The Mt. Lebanon native who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks twice now has come to the aid of seriously injured Iraq War veteran James Fair. Mr. Cuban gave the ailing Coraopolis man (he lost his sight and forearms in a roadside bombing) $60,000 last year. But his ex-wife, who later filed for divorce, took most of it. Now, Cuban has given Mr. Fair $50,000. Kudos.
A challenge: Pennsylvania has no way to compensate those wrongfully convicted of crimes. Thomas A. Doswell, 46, of Homewood, was just released from prison. He served 18 years for a rape a DNA analysis says he did not commit. If pay-jacking state legislators, judges and Rendell administration officials had any honor, they'd pool their self-dealing gains and compensate Mr. Doswell.
On the "Watch List": Pittsburgh's panhandling bill. City Council will hold a public hearing on efforts to crack down on aggressive panhandling. The ACLU is concerned about the rights of panhandlers. But it's talking little about the rights of people and businesses that some panhandlers infringe upon. We trust this "other side" will come out in force to balance the discussion.
