Lighted Crosses Put Neighbors At Odds In Baldwin

BALDWIN (KDKA) -- A woman in Baldwin is upset over a 25-foot lighted cross her neighbor put up on Robbins Street.

Carl Behr has two lighted crosses on his property, one on the roof of his house, and a larger one facing his neighbor's property.

"I put this one up on Super Bowl Sunday. It's a measurement of my faith," said Behr.

"The way the world's coming with all these atheists, it makes me sick to my stomach," Behr said. "If I can turn one soul towards the Lord with my sign, it was well worth all my efforts."

But his neighbor Lisa Fera says, "This is not a religion thing. It's not about me being against the cross, or religion, or God, because I have a lot of faith in God. It's more about trying to keep community – the value of your community up."

KDKA's David Highfield reports:

She says the light streams in her windows at night. She claims Behr is running a contracting business out of his home and she thinks the cross is a way of getting back at her for complaining about it.

"I shouldn't have to come home and see a dump truck and bobcats and see heavy equipment," said Fera. "Every cross that went up came as a direct result of conflict that we had."

Behr says that's not true, and that it is about his faith.

Police have asked Baldwin's code enforcement officer to look into this situation.

Police actually showed up the other night at 12:30 a.m. to ask Behr to turn the lights off, which he did. He says he now turns them off at a more reasonable hour. The lights were off Thursday morning.

KDKA's Lynne Hayes-Freeland reports: