Pittsburgh City Paper presents its 2017 Sh*t List of public servants who need to clean up their acts, or risk being flushed
Politics is one of the few places where turds actually rise to the top
“I’m drivin’ here!” must be Mount Lebanon’s equivalent to NYC’s “I’m walkin’ here!” Commissioner John Bendel (D-Ward 1) introduced a bill that would fine pedestrians up to $300 for jaywalking in a town with a vibrant, walkable business district and a walking-only school system. Commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance, and the Mount Lebanon Police Chief supported the vote by claiming the region has a lot of “pedestrian entitlement.” Meanwhile, car crashes involving driver error in Pennsylvania increased 14 percent from 2014-2016.
41 comments:
And you can hardly call the City Paper part of Trump's America.
Kinda hope Bendel gets a copy and n’at.
Mary E
As an expert in the area and an avid pedestrian, I can honestly say pedestrians should be using the crosswalks and we should fine them for not doing so. At the same time, we have an obligation to provide safe, well marked crosswalks at every intersection. But the responsibility cuts both ways and pedestrians need to follow the rules and laws the same as the drivers do. Hopefully you enforce laws in both directions.
Absolutely agree, for some reason pedestrians and especially joggers are under the impression that they have a right to just step off the curb and everything and everybody must stop for them.
I've seen deer at times using more sense when crossing a busy road.
Today, I saw two women exit the public safety building with a stroller they walked straight across Shady without looking to see that the don't walk sign was flashing and completely oblivious to traffic and the sign.
Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way. It's the law. Bendel and his cronies have turned the law on its head. No surprise there.
Wrong 12:19!
First, pedestrian must obey crosswalk signals if they exist and second :
Title 75 - PA General Assembly
(b) Exercise of care by pedestrian.--No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute a hazard.
Which means if a vehicle has already started to make a left turn (before the pedestrian entered the crosswalk) with incoming traffic the pedestrian cannot expect them to stop their turn and risk being broadsided by the on coming traffic.
Not only is it the law it is common sense!
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=0&chpt=35&sctn=42&subsctn=0&mobile_choice=suppress
12:19....Pedestrians DO NOT ALWAYS have the right-of-way. Please read the law. To shorten that up for you the following PA Vehicle Code violations have been in existence for a while:
3542(a) - Drivers shall yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
3542(b) - Pedestrians shall not suddenly leave curb and walk or run into path of a vehicle so close as to constitute a hazard. (Applies most to crosswalk at Washington School. You can't just hit the cross button, illuminate the lights in the crosswalk, and blindly cross the street without the clearance to do so.)
3544(a) - Pedestrians Walking Along or on Highway - Pedestrians shall use a sidewalk or pedestrian path when available. This means all of those runners and walkers you see, especially on Washington Road, are required by law to use the sidewalks.
3544(d) - Pedestrians walking on a roadway shall yield to traffic upon a roadway
The ordinance that was passed about a year ago now enforces the Vehicle Code section 3541 - Obedience of Pedestrians to Traffic-Control Devices and Regulations. In passing that ordinance it now enforces the following sections:
3113 Pedestrian Control Signals
3113(a)(1) - "Walk" - pedestrian may proceed across and shall be given the right-of-way. (VEHICLES MUST YIELD)
3113(a)(2) - "Don't Walk" - pedestrians should not cross. Essentially if you are hit by a driver while crossing in a crosswalk through the "Don't Walk" signal you are at fault and can be cited despite whatever injuries you may incur.
3113(a)(3) - Flashing "Walk" - pedestrians face a possible hazard and should cross with caution. Driver's shall yield to pedestrians in crosswalk at this time.
The ordinance was enacted for pedestrian safety. Drive through the business district in the evening and let me know how easy it is to see the pedestrians that jump out behind vehicles and cross the street when and where they shouldn't. You'll also see kids and other adults jumping into crosswalks when they shouldn't because they feel entitled to cross in a crosswalk. It is a misinterpretation that could potentially get you killed.
Last week, I saw several moms walking past the Clearview Commons area. The did NOT check the traffic and didn't even look up when they entered the intersection. As a car came toward them and had to SLAM in the brakes, these mom's looked up and got all offended. One of them threw her coffee at the car and challenged the driver to a fight! What?? Then another mom spit on the car and called the driver a "turdburger".
MLPD posted this on Facebook when a car on Bower Hill Road at Marlin had flipped over on August 2.
Elaine
Mt. Lebanon Police Department
Mt. Lebanon Police Department While we agree that the failure of drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks is a serious and dangerous infraction, which we regularly enforce, there is a common misunderstanding about when there is an actual violation.
Section 3542 of the PA Vehicle Code states,
"Right-of-way of pedestrians in crosswalks.
(a) General rule.--When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection."
The key word in this section is "WITHIN". Standing on the curb next to the crosswalk is not considered to be "within" the crosswalk, and therefore vehicles are not required to yield.
Also, please understand that a pedestrian can be in violation if they step from the curb in front of a vehicle when the roadway is not clear for safe passage.
Regardless of the laws on the books, we ask that everyone do their part in helping to keep our roads, sidewalks and crosswalks as safe as possible. Please slow down, pay attention, follow the laws and be courteous to each other.
We'll do our part by continuing our dedication toward proactive and aggressive enforcement of traffic violations throughout our community. #LookUpLebo
Hi Elaine. 10:03 here. Just wanted you to know that I made that story up. Wanted to see if you would publish fake news. And you did! Sad!
Well, you got me.
Elaine
I knew it was fake at "turdburger." Only "organic bison burger" could have possibly been spoken. Obvious satire.
10:03 found their gotcha hilarious, it's the fool pedestrian that just walks out into the street without looking both ways to see if the coast is clear, even with a walk or don't walk signal.
Drivers might be blinded by oncoming headlights, talking/texting on their cellphone (oh that never happens in the bubble) or just fiddling with the radio and you may be 100% in the right for being in the crosswalk but that isn't much good d if you're impallwd on the grill of someone's BMW.
So have your laughs, turdburger.
I will - thanks! Just trying to highlight the point that this blog is bullshit and that Elaine is NOT a journalist in any way. Cheers!
Wonder how many other fake comments 10:03 has left on this blog just to have a confrontation or gotcha moment to disparage Elaine?
Dave Brumfield - since it is your last year in office, and you have nothing to lose - why don't you tell everyone what you really think about the drivers in MTL? Why don't you tell them what you thought the solution to the deer problem REALLY was--not the one you voted for that we all knew would fail?
Just trying to prove the point that this blog is not journalism. Just an old crank with too much time on her hands who knows how to use Google alerts. If Elaine hates this town and everyone in it, do something real to make it better. If she just wants to tear things/people down, I'm happy to continue tearing her down.
A 300 dollar fine is steep for many people in Mt. Lebo. There are individuals who pass through on their way to a minimum wage job, as well as resident retirees on fixed incomes. Was the 300 dollar fine part of the ordinance?
10:03's 'gotcha' speaks volumes.
Elaine post an article from the City Paper and doesn't add any editorial comment and 10:03's only contribution is to attempt to embarrass Elaine.
Sorry 10:03, you failed and this is one of the few instances where I wish Elaine didn't accept anonymous comments.
No one under this post attacked Commissioner Bendel on his jaywalking fine except for the City Paper, but 10:03 is going to try and disparage Elaine and her blog. That's real classy 10:03. (If it matters I approve of Bendel's initiative on jaywalking)
It's people like you that make Mt. Lebanon the community it is today.
1:54 where did Elaine tear down anyone in this post. Go after the City Paper, they're the ones that put Bendel on their Sh*t List.
1:54 proves how ignorant they really are.
Mercian-Webster dictionary Definition of journalist
1
a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium
b : a writer who aims at a mass audience
Since Elaine at times wires newsworthy post she fulfills A. She also seems to have a fairly decent audience so she also fulfills B, so by definition.... she is a journalist.
Oh please Jason-give me more stories about how the "oligarchy" wants to come after you and your family and everything you hold dear. I am so sick of you white people complaining about how bad you have it. This is not a conspiracy against your way of life.
And Elaine - if you don't like anonymous comments that call you out as the fucking crazy bitch you are, then change your blog. Otherwise, I'm gonna keep it up. I'm tired of your sad sack ways. "OH MTL IS MY HOME BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE RICHER THAN ME AND THEY ARE KEEPING ME DOWN." Please. Wake the fuck up.
CP also put Toomey and Trump on their shit list. You agree with that, Elaine?
THIS BULLSHIT BLOG IS NOT A NEWS MEDIUM YOU DUMBFUCK
You got me again, 1:54. I do take advantage of Google Alerts. I would be happy to do a post on Google Alerts and show people how to use alerts in case there are people out there, other than you and me, who don't take advantage of that free alert. And are you ready for this? I am not a journalist. I have never admitted to being one. I certainly don't earn what journalists earn. I don't have the training or the background. I'm a blogger. In fact, I'm "just" a Mt. Lebanon housewife. It says so on Facebook.
Elaine
Elaine, don't sell yourself short!
4:03 what do you think about Rendel, Stack and Costa being on the Sh*t List?
For that matter, what do you think of the City Paper?
Nice try. I haven't even started yet.
4:45, a nice example of that MTL love. Teach the children well.
Her blog does meet the definition of mass audience in B.
You still haven't offered us your opinion of the City Paper. Why is that? Do you just have your guns on Elaine's inconsequential, little blog?
mass audience
QUICK REFERENCE In mass society theory in the early days of the mass media, and in the rhetoric of both right- and left-wing cultural critics, the pejorative representation of mass media audiences as a vast, undifferentiated collectivity (see manipulative model). For Mills, mass society replaced the pluralism of multiple publics. Contemporary perspectives within both academic disciplines and the media industries see audiences in far more differentiated terms (see target audience). Furthermore, the size of audiences or readerships for the same content in any mass medium has been dramatically reduced with the widespread diffusion of technological developments such as the web and satellite broadcasting (see audience fragmentation; demassification). http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100138712
So tell us 4:45, why should your opinion of Elaine or her blog or any other topic here carry any more weight than any other contributors' opinion?
Now maybe if you identified yourself and listed your credential that validate your opinions we might take your foul-mouthed comments more seriously. Otherwise you are just another opinionated commenter, nothing more nothing less.
Elaine, wonder by what authority 3:53 thinks they have the power to tell you to change your blog?
The poster is afraid of Elaine, because her blog is a more powerful influence on public opinion of MTL than MTL Magazine.
Can someone tell me where Elaine lists herself as a journalist or is paid? Just confused, I guess. I thought this was a blog.
That's right 7:57, it is just a blog but it also meets the current definition of a mass medium and therefore whether Elaine claims to be a journalist or not, she meets the criteria for one.
But journalist or not, who cares. What is more frightening is that 3:35 thinks they have the right to tell Elaine what to do and thinks that F-bombs and name calling is civil.
Strictly speaking, Elaine is a commentator. And as far as active, paid journalists are concerned, I don't remember anyone who posts on this Blog as identifying himself or herself as such. I would be curious to know, however. Or how about FORMER paid, credentialed journalists? Anyone here qualify? I know of at least one.
Jason, get a grip. I think the f-bombs, name calling, and horrific troll comments are wrong and disgusting... but... This blog shapes the public opinion of MtL? When was the last time this group "won" on an issue? This blog is nothing but a safe space for the losers of municipal elections. your only relevance in this town comes from kissing up to Elaine- protecting her with your condescending and pretentious complex sentences while waving around your PhD. You act like you've been disenfranchised by the rich... you live on Morrison Drive, no? That's hardly the freaking slums. If you want to make a change, try relating to moderates, be nice to people, try to convince people that you're right. No one on this blog will ever get anything done or make any change if you all keep this up. Like the democrats of today, you've lost any sense of a coherent and unifying message. Except the difference is... people in this community see past the ridiculous yelling of cooked up opinions that won Trump favor. The point of this blog was to "keep the community informed," but with the growing amount of personal vendettas, smear campaigns, and conspiracy theories, the only thing you're "informing" the community of, is that this group will keep losing elections and public opinion with every passing second. Stop trying to eliminate those you dislike in the community with offensive conspiracy theories targeting our teachers and mental health services. Maybe try eliminating them by knocking on some doors and swaying opinion with logic. Christ. It honestly makes me sad to see you guys keep losing with these awful opinions. Tone it down with the condescending attitude, Jason. Cool it with the conspiracies. Elaine, I truly think deep down you're a good person with good intentions, but I think you've lost control of this blog. And to the the trolls.. Jesus Christ. Coming after her husbands death? Here's an f-bomb, those comments are fucking pathetic. Who cares if she's a journalist or not? Sure, some rude things have been said on this blog. But think about it... you're coming after her husband who had mental health issues and died... because you don't like what she said about our commissioners? Get a grip. We're all neighbors. We all want MtL to be great. If everyone could agree to have logical, polite debate, then yes.. this blog could be something great. But right now, it's disgusting on both sides.
What group? There is no group. I don't need a group. Do you?
Blogs don't "win on issues" -- they provide information, perspectives, and alternative forums for debate and the exchange of ideas.
And why do you keep talking about Trump? Who is talking about Trump? Certainly not me. Democrats, Republicans... all irrelevant in local politics... except if you are connected with one of those parties and you want to win some election.
If people want to know what's really going on in the community, especially regarding contentious or controversial issues, they will read Elaine's blog. If they want vapid, expensive platitudes they will read MTL Magazine.
And finally: If this blog is pointless, why do you keep trying to make your point on it?
Rational conclusion 8:47.
I'd like to add some comments though. I believe Elaine started this blog to knock on doors as you put it to shine a light and light a fire under people to pay attention to local issues and to get off their duffs and vote. I believe the original Lebo blog was created to do the same thing. Open a public dialogue and debate on topics dear to community members.
Unfortunately, as soon as someone made a comment that someone else didn't like the trolling started and escalated until the initial topic was soon lost in the hail of slings and arrows.
These battles don't just stop at blogs. If you attended any of the public meetings on the high school renovation project the "trolling" occurred face to face as well. One woman from California went so far as to attack a volunteer school director on his party affiliation or may be it was his preference for the presidential candidate at the time. Whatever, he didn't agree with her on the HS project so she felt everything about his life was fair game for attacks and insults.
Elaine, at a school board meeting presented a petition with 4,000 signatures that a lot of people knocked on a lot of doors to get opposing the Spending on the HS project. How did people in the audience accept we standing front and center, with jeers, catcalling and snickers.
So this goes a lot further than having polite debates on a blog. There's a history here.
8:47 PM, thank you - I guess? Yes, the trolls have gone too far. I will not be publishing their comments anymore, but I did it to prove a point. We have some pretty mean people here. From what I read, having trolls is an indication that my blog has a thriving audience. Trolls wouldn't be trolling if there wasn't an audience. Gee, thanks for the compliment.
I am really tired of the whole journalist debate. I am not a journalist. Thank you to those who think I am, but I am really done with that whole thread. You're right, 8:47 PM. Who cares?
As far as a personal vendetta, smear campaigns and conspiracy theories. I disagree. I have been attacked just for posting links, like the City Paper one. I have over 2 GB of documentation on this blog. I have never targeted our mental health services, especially since what has recently been disclosed here. I haven't attacked any teachers. I think there are teachers here who will back me up on that. I am supporting three school board candidates. I voted for Hugh Beal and Sarah Olbrich when they ran. I walked 71 streets in my ward when I ran for commissioner during the 2011 Primary. I will never get everyone on my side, although it was encouraging to see the ones who disagree with everything I say, agree that the trolls went too far.
Look at what I posted on this thread. All I did was post a link to a City Paper article - no commentary or editorial and people attacked me. People will disagree. That's life.
Elaine
8:47, what I think you are missing is that there is an element in this community that has no intention of ever letting this blog be great. Its very existence is a threat.
The same thing happened on the High School renovation project. To appease the very large segment of the community that wanted a renovation project that came in under $100,000,000 the powers agree to form an advisory community of building professionals to analyze the project. They wrote the ground rules for what this advisory group could do, but this group of professionals made their evaluation and even went so far as to develop sketches of some elements that could enhance the project and save time and money.
So had did one Director accept the professionals evaluation? By declaring she had no intention of revisiting the plan.
Same here, someone could offer a good suggestion and they'd launch the attack dogs if it wasn't what they wanted to hear.
They'll never allow Elaine's blog to be great.
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