Hayes vs. Santoni re: coverage for tonight's meeting

John Hayes is the reason why I canceled my PG subscription. At one time, he said that we have thousands of deer in Mt. Lebanon. Matt Santoni has been doing some investigative reporting and not relying on Susan Morgans for information. Both men lurked on my blog. Neither one has asked to be invited. Neither one has been invited.

Matt Santoni: Deer culling back on table in Mt. Lebanon

John Hayes: Mt. Lebanon may use archers to control deer

Santoni: The proposed contract with Connecticut-based White Buffalo Inc. and Jody Maddock of Whitetail Associates would have them vet archery hunters and work with property owners to assemble areas where they would be permitted to hunt the community's deer herd, which the commission wants to thin in the hopes of cutting car crashes.

Hayes: Commissioners are expected to authorize a $15,460 contract with White Buffalo, a Virginia-based nonprofit conservation organization that researches deer control and provides management options.

Santoni got the right state. It is Connecticut. He also mentioned that Jody Maddock is with Whitetail Associates. Neither mentioned that Maddock is project manager for White Buffalo. Santoni wins this one.

Santoni: The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Fine Arts Theater at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Hayes: With expectations of a big crowd, the meeting will be held at the Mt. Lebanon High School Fine Arts Theater at 7 Horsman Drive. The discussion session starts at 6 p.m., and the commission meeting begins at 8.

The discussion session starts at 6:30 PM. Another win for Santoni.

Santoni: Residents and animal welfare activists protested that cull, and a new organization called the Mt. Lebanon Coalition for Coexistence has issued statements opposing the planned archery cull.

Hayes: But Nita Fandray of the Mt. Lebanon Coalition for Coexistence, which advocates a nonviolent problem solution, cited another Mt. Lebanon Police Department statistic; From 2012 to 2014, Mt. Lebanon experienced 1,803 total vehicle crashes. Of those, 144 — 8 percent — were deer-related.

Even though Hayes messed up on Nita's quote a bit, (Deer are not the problem), I'm giving this one to Hayes because he actually interviewed Nita. A win for Hayes.

Santoni: Though Maddock previously told the commissioners he took more than a year to secure owners' permissions to hunt in other communities, McGill said he was reasonably confident they could set up a program for Mt. Lebanon in a few months.

Hayes: not available

Santoni demonstrated that this is another boondoggle in the makings. Maddock needed 18 months or so to do it correctly. McGill is confident that we only need a few months. This one definitely goes to Santoni. 

Santoni: They have not yet approved resubmitting an application to the game commission to control the deer population with sterilization, McGill said.

Hayes: not a word about sterilization 

Because Hayes never mentioned sterilization, Santoni wins again. 

I just did an interview with Maria Gabriel from KDKA Radio. Snippets will be played throughout the day. I was half asleep when she called. Keeping my fingers crossed that I sound OK. Ugh.