A ‘thank you,’ media concerns, and paving woes: letters to the editor

‘Thank you all for standing together’

We are writing on behalf of Congregation Brit Shalom to thank the State College community for their outpouring of support, solidarity, and love at our services on Friday night. During these sad times, we want to acknowledge our fellow citizens, civic leaders, and religious communities who joined us in remembering the 11 martyrs in Pittsburgh who were killed for being Jewish.

We also want to thank the State College Police Department for providing security and traffic control for the more than 600 people who attended the service.

This is a difficult time for everyone. Thank you all for standing together with us in grief, for standing up against hatred and fear, and for standing committed to the ideal of American pluralism. - Barry Ruback, Rabbi David Ostrich, State College PA, Congregation Brit Shalom

‘Those who have the most to hide’

I have had enough of this president’s unprecedented assault on the press. I spent my entire adult life working on conservation issues as a biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, reviewing permits to fill wetlands and modify streams. There were many huge projects backed by powerful developers with good connections to politicians that would have destroyed hundreds of acres of wetlands or eliminated miles of streams if we had not been involved.

These large projects often became controversial because developers and politicians began pressuring upper levels of government, anticipating our supervisors would be made to reach down and force us to withdraw our objections. Their efforts would have been successful but for a vigilant press

To protect the waters of the United States, I depended on the press to shine the light on these efforts to prevent us from doing our job. During my career, the press interviewed me hundreds of times. I was never misquoted and they never got the story wrong. I became impressed by the diligence of reporters to get the story right and I was grateful we had a free press that I could count on to keep the public informed.

I came to understand that without them, our democracy would only be run by those who had access to the levers of power. It has been my experience that those who badmouth the press are those who have the most to hide. - Ed Perry, Boalsburg, PA

‘Unreasonably rough and potentially dangerous’

Being patient with PennDOT and the Hawbaker crew on North Atherton Street as requested in the CDT article on Nov. 2 would be far easier if their temporary paving were up to standards. Instead, the entire length of the patchwork repaving job in the southbound right lane uphill approaching campus – and other sections -- is a travesty.

It is unreasonably rough and potentially dangerous to vehicles and people. As this section is immediately in front of the Domino’s Pizza location, many of us in Overlook Heights have considered calling the Domino’s “Paving for Pizza” campaign to come out and fix it.

If the same crew is going to finish the paving next year, I request they go back to paving school beforehand.

Also, this is not an “approximately two year” project as stated in the article. Construction started early in the spring of 2017 and, if it ends in October 2019, will put the project closer to three years, including three full summers and nearly three football seasons. - Jeff Deitrich, State College, PA