Letters - March 19

ISSUE | PARK AID

Lovely for library

The Friends of Mount Airy's Lovett Memorial Library were pleased to see the report of funding for city parks ("Nonprofits to fund high-line park plan," March 16). We appreciate Charlotte Lovett Bostwick, who erected and endowed Lovett in the 1880s, for providing more than an acre for library expansion and interim park use.

Also, thanks to The Inquirer for the image of Lovett's proposed addition. And although the Lovett community is not privy to the full details of the plans by the designers and funders, we do know significant adjustments remain to be made to enlarge the proposed addition so as to provide increased meeting space and to reorganize the spatial uses we have heard proposed.

Exciting times.

|David T. Moore, president, Friends of Lovett Memorial Library, Philadelphia, lovettfriends@gmail.com

ISSUE | MILESTONES

Belated wishes

Now that their birthdays have passed virtually unnoticed, as a fan of jazz singer Peggy King, 85 (of the Philly-based All-Star Jazz Trio), and big-band vocalist Harry Prime, 95, I would like to send them belated good wishes. They're still active and playing in local venues, for which I greatly admire them - even if there was little notice of their recent milestones.

|Herb Stark, Mooresville, N.C., frankdean@mi-connection.com

ISSUE | HALL OF FAMERS

Let Charlie Hustle in

Sports halls of fame are monuments to feats of athleticism and those who performed them ("Rose asks for reinstatement," March 17). They honor and set in stone extraordinary performances played by the rules.

Even a person with less than exemplary character cannot be denied his or her recognition. Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes to intimidate fielders, and Babe Ruth's off-field deportment was hardly that of a Boy Scout, but both excelled in their sport and have been honored.

Not so Pete Rose, who has been denied Hall of Fame consideration because he bet not against his team, but on his team. True, gambling is not to be condoned, but Rose' requests for reinstatement were totally ignored by the former baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, who appeared to have a vendetta against him. Now Rose is appealing to a new commissioner.

Rose has more base hits than anyone who has ever played the game. No one ever played harder or gave more of himself than Charlie Hustle, and he deserves to be recognized for his actions on the field. Rose has done penance for 15 years, and that is enough.

|Ralph D. Bloch, Warrington, ralphdbloch@yahoo.com

ISSUE | CABLE GUYS

No public interest

While Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey support the Comcast and Time Warner merger, the public will not benefit from it ("Comcast plan draws quiet in D.C.," March 16). The cost of Internet, cable, and phone in Europe is about $34 per month because of competition, in controst our outrageous, monopolistic fees.

|Edgars Nilenders, Huntingdon Valley, e.nilenders@comcast.net

ISSUE | BIG CITY, RIGHT LIGHTS?

Flashing billboards won't dress up city views

I am appalled to think that those horrendous signs Inga Saffron described may soon appear on Broad Street, our Avenue of the Arts ("Bright lights, big city billboards," March 13). I am a longtime resident who lives a few steps away, and Broad Street was always one of the first sites I would show our visitors. Have our city representatives no shame, no sense of pride, no understanding of what makes a city beautiful?

Philadelphia is known as a city with a long architectural history and a leader in public art, with a world-class museum and art schools. How dare we cheapen the main thoroughfare of Center City with ugly, out-of-scale, glaring intrusions? Commercial billboards posing as art - really? - do not belong in my neighborhood.

|Diane Burko, Philadelphia, burko@verizon.net

Clock ticking on Philadelphia's 15 minutes

I'm strongly opposed to a City Council bill that would open the floodgates for large, digital advertising atop buildings on the Avenue of the Arts, as well as around the Reading Terminal Market and Convention Center ("Bright lights, big city billboards," March 13). What message would that send to tourists, residents, and visiting dignitaries? It says that our city would sell its soul for crass and in-your-face ads that overshadow its true value.

To think Philadelphia was listed third on the New York Times' "52 Places to Go in 2015" list for its public art installations, mini-parks, and waterfront paths. By all means, get to Philly in 2015 - because by 2016, it will be gaudy as all get-out.

|Michelle Sahl, Philadelphia

ISSUE | BOOK DROP

Community can help sort out this mess

There is no need to hire an outside company to audit and catalog the unused books languishing in the School District headquarters' basement and the hallways and classrooms of the old Bok High School in South Philadelphia ("A trove of school books," March 18).

The solution is to ask for volunteers to sort the books into general piles: textbooks, early readers, young-adult literature, and the like. There are plenty of community groups (Scouts, church groups, parent groups) with members who would gladly pitch in to do this.

Then school administrators should invite teachers to come and take whatever they want. Those teachers who really care will be the first ones in line.

Once the supplies dwindle, the district can ask volunteers to come in again and catalog what is left. Then it will be more clear what can the donated, what can be sold, and what needs to be recycled. Keep it simple.

|Mary Coakley, North Wales