Here we go again. The Post-Gazette reporter who claimed we have THOUSANDS of deer in Mt. Lebanon, now says that most of the protests have been lawful.
Sorry, John Hayes, but ALL of the protests have been lawful and peaceful. It is our constitutional right to protest.
I am sick and tired of the scare tactics being used for the deer killing which will start on Monday night.
Commissioner Kristen Linfante wrote in an email to an anti-deer cull person:
Please feel free to call me if you have additional questions. In addition, I know you alerted us to a protest that will take place at the Connor Rd site. Considering the placement of that sight, and the placement of the no trespassing signage, I do want to warn you that the police officer that accompanied me to the site informed me that any protesters will likely be arrested for trespassing. This is not meant to be a threat from me - I am simply telling you what the officer told me.
I have yet to get a response to my Thursday, March 5, 2015 6:16 PM email to Manager Steve Feller, Chief Coleman McDonough, and the Commission concerning the use of Bird Park. Merlin Benner is crying "Harassment" when people are trying to find out about Bird Park.
You're damn right there is some concern there, Mr. Benner. We have a right to know if you are shooting in Bird Park! Nobody will confirm or deny use of Bird Park.
Brian Benner of Wildlife Services* said the company is cooperating with police.
“We haven’t had many real problems yet,” he said. “People are trying to find out where the corrals are, and there’s some concern there.”
Deputy Chief Aaron Lauth was quoted as saying
“We haven’t been told by the contractor that anyone has caused damage to equipment or done anything else that would interfere or make [the site] unattractive to animals,” he said.So, Mr. Benner, why are you saying that you don't trust us? Mr. Hayes, I don't see anything unlawful. Knock it off, Boys.
*Note to John Hayes. The name of the company is Wildlife Specialists LLC, not Wildlife Services. We stopped doing business with those clowns in 2008.
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| Gate up at Robb Hollow 03.07.15 |
29 comments:
"Wagging the Dog" by the Mt. Lebanon Public Misinformation Office most likely.
Why doesn't the Post Gazette grow up and become a real big newspaper and investigate what is going on with the high school renovation?
Laughed my ass off when I read this quote.
"“If we get complaints that people are banging pots and pans at night or creating a traffic hazard, obviously we’ll respond to any issue when we can,” he said of any possible protests."
The PD will respond if anyone creates a traffic hazard... how close are Benner's feeding stations to roadways.
By all means, let's protect drivers from deer accidents by luring Bethel deer closer to where we're driving.
We won't mention that feeding deer is also illegal in Mt. Lebanon according to Ordinance 501.1.
I'd say, according to Fraasch/Moertel accident study the real traffic safety issue is navigating Washinngton Road to get to a commission meeting.
To be fair, the Commission Discussion Agenda for Tuesday indicates that Commissioner Kelly Fraasch will have a whopping FIVE MINUTES to present her ideas for a seminar on deer proofing gardens and an Education program on deer feeding prohibition. Whoppee!
Elaine
I hope part of that five minutes will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of urine and repellents that Benner will proclaimed destroyed his ability to kill deer.
Maybe also the safe handling of SuperSoaker squirt guns.
Yes, Put those pots and pans back in the cabinets. The Kitchen Police will soon be knocking on your door.
...respond "when we can."??????
"Sight" LOL Kristen Linfante go back to college and study grammar not violin (or whatever). Its SITE.
I could give a rats arse whether Linfante knows the difference between sight or site.
It's her lack of foresight concerning the ramifications her leadership has had on a once cohesive community.
"What the Kluck", right Kristen.
What will the kitchen police do when Hare Krishnas show up to protest?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bdzOdPTZ34
There is a gate up at Robb Hollow! OMG! Make it stop!
Elaine
Please notify the Pa Game Commission (PGC) with your concerns, that Wildlife Specialists LLC 's corral killing site in McNeilly Park violates the mandated safety buffer zone protecting residents and businesses in Baldwin Township
Please email:
Rich Palmer, PGC, Deputy Director of Field Operations, rpalmer@pa.gov
CC:
Kelly Fraasch, Mt. Lebanon Commission, kfraasch@mtlebanon.org
Matthew Santoni, Pgh. Tribune Review, msantoni@tribweb.com
(Add any additional email contacts you want to notify)
While Mt. Lebanon has a special permit from the PGC that allows it to hire Wildlife Specialists LLC to shoot deer within the state mandated hunting safety zone of 150 yards (450 feet) within its municipality, I don't believe this permit authorizes Wildlife Specialists LLC to erect a corral shooting location that violates the state mandated safety buffer zone that protects occupied residences and commercial buildings in adjacent communities like Baldwin Township. The location of the McNeilly Park killing corral is located an estimated 300 feet behind the CITGO gas station with tanks in the direct line of fire, and it appears even closer to the homes on Donaldson Drive and Highridge Drive, which all reside in Baldwin Township.
Pa Game Commission Safety Zones
https://pagamecommission.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/safety-zones/
It is unlawful to hunt for, shoot at, trap, take, chase or disturb wildlife within 150 yards of any occupied residence, camp, industrial or commercial building, farm house or farm building, or school or playground without the permission of the occupants.
A number of residents on Donaldson and Highridge Drive have been asked about this corral killing site, and they were totally unaware that it existed right behind their homes or that the shooting was planned to start on Monday. No permission had been requested of them, and they have been given no notification or warning. There aren't even warning signs posted at the Baldwin Township access areas.
Baldwin Township was notified, but apparently will do nothing to stop this violation of the state mandated safety buffer zone that protects their residents and businesses, nor will they enforce their own hunting or discharging weapons ordinance, which says presents an enormous public safety hazard. Apparently, Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Coleman assured them that this corral killing program was "perfectly safe". This raises earlier concerns about who will police the police, and the conflict of interest involved in that scenario.
If Baldwin Township doesn't enforce it's own hunting and discharging weapons ordinance, and fails to report the violation of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's state mandated 150 yard safety zone regulation, which threatens the safety of its residents and businesses, then this failure to enforce and report these violations might be found by a court as intentional and reckless endangerment, and hold Baldwin Township liable if any damages, injuries, and/or deaths occur. Regardless, Baldwin Township can not give permission to Mt. Lebanon or Wildlife Specialists LLC to violate the state mandated safety buffer zone enacted to protect its residents and businesses.
This situation needs to be investigated before any shooting takes place.
I believe this culling is designed to serve two purposes:
1) the police have a delusion that clearing the roads of deer temporarily will make their jobs easier
2) Kristin believes no deer in her yard will bring her peace and joy
Sadly, both parties are colluding to deceive the public and promote their self-interests at the cost of public trust.
Dear Lebo,
Here is a concept for you to mull over the weekend:
Construct validity is the appropriateness of inferences made on the basis of observations or measurements, specifically whether a variable measures the intended construct.
The police have told Mt Lebanon that they have countless "deer incidents" that provide a legitimate rationale for killing all the deer.
But what is a "deer incident"? How is it measured? It is valid if calls to animal control about a deer in a back yard are included within this measure? What if all calls to animal control were subtracted from the "deer incident" report? How many would be left? We don't know... because Chief McDonough doesn't care. He just wants to kill animals.
Watch it Elaine. The next thing you'll see is them expanding those No Trespassing cull zones to include all of the bubble.
Aren't the pro-cullers complaining that many of the protesters aren't residents.?
And we certainly don't want the wrong class of grocery store shoppers tromping around our neighborhoods.
Maybe it's coming already since the LeboAlert is up announcing the hiring of more police officers.
Gotta keep out the disruptive riff raff don'cha know.
Now banging pots and pans in a public park brings police threats. How about talking? Yelling "hi, neighbor" or "Kids, stay away from that crummy deer corral!" How about swatting the thicket with a stick or just tromping around in the snow?
The one ordinance — we do have on the books — NO DEER FEEDING!, supposedly put in place to discourage deer from entering the community, goes violated everyday.
If you get cited for trespassing, I'd suggest a selective enforcement defense. If Wildlife Specialist were obeying the law there wouldn't be a feeding station in the park in the first place to trespass on.
The following appears on the Baldwin Township website.
"Hunting and discharging any type of weapon within 500 feet of a residence and in any public space is prohibited."
Because McNeilly Park is in Mt. Lebanon, does the 500 feet rule still apply across municipal boundaries, or is this a mute issue?
Nick M.
John Hayes, the Post-Gazette's pro-hunting outdoors columnist, is a total hack. He's the mouthpiece for the Pa Game Commission's efforts to promote "hunting" in all of Pittsburgh's suburban neighborhoods, and for his hunter constituents who want to kill tame deer in our parks and back yards.
In addition, he has also become the mouthpiece for Mt. Lebanon's pro-kill administration. I believe there was evidence in the RTK that Susan Morgans, PIO, was spoon feeding him information; i.e. I don't believe that Hayes attends the Commission meetings.
Hayes is not a journalist, but the Outdoors Editor and columnist. He's a pro-hunting columnist with a biased agenda. Unfortunately, the Post-Gazette appears to allows him to write articles like he's an objective reporter, and publish these articles in the local sections of the Post-Gazette like a regular reporter. This is unprofessional and unethical journalism; i.e. readers who don't know his bias agenda think he is real reporter reporting the facts. His biased articles are consistently filled with misinformation and inaccurate data. At minimum, the PG should do a fact check on his articles.
Bottom line, he's a total blowhard.
This is NOT hunting.
This is baiting, trapping and shooting deer, out of season, at night.
Any PA hunter would face serious penalties for any of the above.
There was also a smug Trib editor parroting similar nonsense, so yes, very likely they are rewriting PR pieces from Mt Lebanon, the PGC, QDMA or a handful of other profiteers from this "business"
Elaine, In the deer cull budget I doubt they counted in all the hours the police force is spending on visiting the sites. It has to be costing thousands of dollars wasting tax dollars.
Also, since when do commissioners get "police escorts"? Another waste of tax dollars. I wonder how many times Kristin has used police escorts???
Was "escort service" necessarily the police?
They are not going to be able to get clean shots at 6 or more deer running around a corral with most or the walls covered. ESPECIALLY at night.
Are they also going to assemble a platform/scaffold at night or use a tree stand?
Are they planning to close the parks early on "death nights" so the "experts" can haul their gear in before dark?
How many kids are going to sneak out to see this?
How are Mt. Lebanon police going to clear the area and declare it safe for live fire?
This effort to eliminate the deer population is a canned hunt, which is immoral and totally inhumane.
It's not even a canned hunt. It's much worse. This is shooting trapped animals. Not just one or two, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY.
This blows my mind. This is like the days of buffalo massacres. And in a residential area!!!
This is gonna make Mt. Lebanon infamous for a loooong time.
Maybe Kristin would be happy if a bubble was placed all around mt. Lebo with gates for the residents to get in and out of. Then no deer could get in or anyone else from surrounding communities to visit their precious little town. This whole thing shows such corruption on so many levels.
I am just praying that the deer are smart enough to avoid these black plastic covered enclosures and the killers get no deer in them before the contract expires end of March. But probably Kristin will try her best to get it extended till all the deer are gone. She and all the Stepford wives of the garden club. I personally will never attend another mt. Lebo house tour!!
Why not go and comment about the deer murderers? "Those roses look fabulous! The red reminds me of the deer blood in the parks!"
Marcos Bernell is the PA-One Call Regional Rep for our area. He has direct lines to the utilities. His direct number is 412.464.7113 The Mt. Lebanon deer killing sites have not been cleared yet by all of the utility companies. More calls today and especially tomorrow are necessary. People who call him for help must mention that Saturday’s P-G reported that the shooting will begin tomorrow night. Mt. Lebanon says that if anything happens, it will be on Merlin Benner. Wrong. It will be on all of us. HELP.
Elaine
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