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.

Highlights from the commission meeting

I didn't go to the commission meeting last night, so I am relying on Matt Santoni's Twitter feed and callers who attended part of the meeting.

1. Matthew Santoni ‏@msantoni  12h12 hours ago

   #MtLebo sets June 9 hearing for shorter public notice for debt, removing 4-vote supermajority for borrowing. Would get Nov. referendum.

   12 hours ago
2. 
   
3. Matthew Santoni ‏@msantoni  12h12 hours ago
   .@MtLebanonPolice Deputy Chief Aaron Lauth is promoted to McDonough's position, unanimously confirmed by commission.

I hope the super vote issue is a dead issue. I will be watching out for that one when the video is posted this afternoon.

Congrats to Aaron Lauth, who will be our new chief of police! Dan Miller and Matt Smith honored Coleman McDonough, retiring police chief.

PAYT is being recycled again. All the comments were about PAYT. Only one spoke against it. The pro PAYT folks will be counting on Chief Lauth and his force for becoming the trash patrol, moving up from corn police.

The one anti PAYT resident had concerns about all the apartment buildings in the area. Many have seen that TV sitting on Kenmont for weeks. Kelly Fraasch, the remaining commissioner who is for PAYT, assured everyone that she lives near apartment buildings where leaving furniture and other large items has never been a problem.

As one pro PAYT resident assured the anti PAYT resident, the police don't have anything else to do. Definitely. There are no drug issues or speeders to deal with in Mt. Lebanon. 

Where were all the PAYT people when the commission approved toxic turf at Middle and Wildcat Fields?

“We see no value to Mt. Lebanon residents of releasing daily reports,”

said municipal spokeswoman [Public Misinformation Officer] Susan Morgans. She said officials worry about inflaming those opposed to the culling and don't want them to “put themselves in harm's way” to protest or disrupt the program.

In Matt Santoni's Mt. Lebanon to avoid daily reports on deer culling because of contention, is Susan denying us of our First Amendment Right? Now Benner is blaming protestors. Please explain, Mr. Benner and Mrs. Stroyd Morgans, how is protesting in front of the Municipal Building or along Connor Road interfering with or disrupting the program?

Cori Vipperman, who supports a deer management program, said she understood why municipal staff are cautious about releasing information.
“If they came out with too much information, there are some — I'm not saying all in the opposition, but some — who might use that information to sabotage the program,” Vipperman said.

Seriously, Ms. Vipperman? The three police officers who approached residents on Sunday walking by Bird Park were told there was $1500 of damage to the deer corral in Bird Park.

"Lauth said police logged no incidents or accidents, although a contractor suspected people of trying to disrupt or damage corrals. Police found no suspicious or illegal activity, Lauth said." 

Who is lying? ACLU, are you getting all this?

Update March 17, 2015 2:23 PM 

160' from corral to Connor Road

Photo hint as to location of accident

Turkeys stop traffic, cause crash in Mt. Lebanon

KDKA-TV on Facebook Could turkeys be the next animal to be rounded up in the Mt. Lebanon area? Love this comment: Run Turkey run! You will be the next victim of the Mt. Lebo Kill Force!

Boy, is Mt. Lebanon getting a bad reputation! Thanks, John Bendel, Dave Brumfield, Kristen Linfante, and Steve Silverman.

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Santoni: Hunting the Deer Hunters

Santoni: Hunting the Deer Hunters | Backstory
blog.triblive.com/sbts/2015/03/02/santoni-mt-lebanon-hunting-the-deer-hunters

That is exactly what many residents have been doing in recent days, "Hunting the Deer Hunters."

Mt. Lebanon hasn't made it easy for us. Allegedly, Mt. Lebanon was to notify neighbors and haven't done a very good job. I have asked repeatedly for neighbors bordering these killing fields to share their letters, and not one of them have been able to say that they received anything from the municipality.

How many received this LeoALERT and checked the agenda to see if anything was mentioned about killing in the parks?

From: LeboALERT
To: EGillen476
Subject: LeboALERT: The Mt. Lebanon Park...
Date: Mon, Mar 2, 2015 3:37 pm

This is an important notice from LeboALERT.

The Mt. Lebanon Parks Advisory Board meeting agenda for March 3, 2015 has been posted to the website. View agendas http://mtlebanon.org/Agendas

Well, I checked and there was nothing mentioned. Here is the agenda:  http://mtlebanon.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2295

This is the Environmental Sustainability Board, Kristen Linfante, and artificial turf ALL OVER AGAIN! Why isn't Commissioner Steve Silverman addressing this issue with the Parks Advisory Board?

At the last commission meeting, a very emotional resident brought up a video of what happens during a corral and kill and had the commissioners confirm that they watched the video. They all said that they saw it. Here is the video. I won't watch it, but it is a daily journal of corralling wild boar using this method. http://jagerpro.com/hog-control/trapping-equipment.aspx What the hell!!!!

Benner has never used corrals

Merlin Benner, paid deer consultant and hired deer killer, is a newbie when it comes to using corrals. That is what Matt Santoni uncovered in his investigative report, Mt. Lebanon awaits Pennsylvania Game Commission approval to corral, kill deer

Benner said this would be the first time the company has used corrals, though he said they're used in southern states to capture wild boars.

According to Santoni, the baiting starts tonight. Please read Matt's excellent article as he exposes the lunacy in our local government.