The residents of Windber’s Mine 35 neighborhood are tired of the dirt and filth from the coal trucks and have suggested that the trucks travel Hoffman Farm Road to Route 160, as the article states in “Safe Streets” in the May 18 issue of The Tribune-Democrat. (Shouldn’t they have realized the impact prior to Windber giving permission for the truck route?)

I built my retirement house at Meadowcrest Estates just off Hoffman Farm Road, and I don’t want the dirt, either. Although Hoffman Farm Road is insufficient to carry the weight of the trucks now, what if the road is upgraded to permit trucks at a later time?

I would never have built so close to Windber had I known about this.

My dad was a coal miner and died as a result of black lung disease, and I sure do not want to live my golden years breathing this filth and cleaning coal dust from the inside and outside of my home.

This is 2008, not the 1930s, and I don’t have to live here.

David Gall

Richland Township



Bishop’s defender needs better facts

On May 2, the Rev. Robert Roche wrote a letter to the Readers’ Forum (“Catholics should trust, not criticize, bishop”) defending Bishop Joseph Adamec. This was his prerogative. I can only assume this letter was in response to my letter of April 25 (“Bishop should practice what he preaches”) concerning the sale of Adamec’s $323,000 Seven Springs condominium and the diocese’s response printed below my letter.

Unfortunately, several of Roche’s statements would appear to be addressing items in my letter. I never made any mention of the following:

Roche said the condo “was a gift.” The diocese said he “was able to purchase” the condo “from monies he had from real estate holdings in his native Michigan.”

Roche said, “The money he got for the sale ... is not set into a retirement plan.”

The diocese said, “He sold the property ... to provide a retirement home for himself.”

Sounds like a plan to me.

Roche also said, “Please get all of the facts before mouthing off.” Every item concerning the condo in my letter is public record and can be verified at the Somerset County tax office. If Roche and Bob Egan, diocese’s secretary for communication, can’t get their stories straight, that’s not my problem. Roche should practice what he preaches when it comes to getting facts straight. There were two letters; mine had straight facts about the condo sale.

Bill Gallus

Richland Township



Fossil fuels made America what it is

I believe that Democratic liberals and Sen. John McCain, who believe that fossil fuels are causing global warming, are way off base. If these politicians had been living in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, and demanded the stern restrictions on coal mines, steel mills, railroads, etc., they would have been tarred and feathered by our grandparents and loved ones, who made their livelihoods in these industries.

It was the coal, oil and steel that produced the ships, tanks, etc., to defeat Adolf Hitler and Hideki Tojo.

In a perfect world, it would be great to have clean air and pollution at the same time, but we don’t live in a perfect world.

In the 1800s, when grandpa had a heart attack, it would have been nice to have a vehicle that could have rushed him to the hospital, but the ambulance hadn’t been invented. You adapt to what you have until something better comes along.

We have to adjust to pollution until science and technology comes up with new inventions to eliminate fossil fuels.

If we ever get into a major war with China or Russia and we are in desperate need of oil but we don’t have enough because of our refusal to drill in America, we are finished.

Two factors that made America a great nation were our freedom and use of our natural resources. In schools today, students are taught that fossil fuels are evil, when in fact those fuels made America great.

Roy Layton

Stoystown