Local casino could bring the Valley back to life

Local casino could bring the Valley back to life
EDITOR:
Why, oh why, do we have so many stupid people in this Valley? I'm referring to the lack of anything being done to bring this area back to life.
It can be done.
I was up at the Soaring Eagle Casino recently, and it made my heart heavy to know that we in this area could experience the same kind of enjoyment here.
If only our so-called leaders would get off their high horses and do it now. Believe me there isn't one of these big "wheels" who would ever work for me. They don't know what "now" means.
I was dreaming that I would hit the big lotto, and, yes, I would have gotten something started like right now. This is the best area in the country, but please wake up before it's too late. Do it, do it, do it. Now, now, now.
BOB STURGEON
Austintown
Game commission makes hunting harder not easier
EDITOR:
From what I have seen in Northwestern Pennsylvania, I wonder if the Pennsylvania Game Commission isn't operating at cross purposes with both itself and the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Allegheny National Forest.
I have noticed extensive timbering operations in both Game Lands 29, which lies within the Allegheny National Forest, and in Game Lands 86, located just across the Allegheny River from the forest.
The result of this timbering negates the purpose of the game lands -- to promote hunting. Land which has been timbered can't be traversed by hunters because of downed tree limbs and other debris and because the land becomes covered with dense scrub growth. This land remains impassable to foot travel for decades.
The timbering also removes the mature oaks, beech and black cherry trees which provide food for various animals, including deer, turkeys and bear.
I know the game commission contends that deer thrive on timbered land because of the resulting profusion of scrub growth on which they feed. Although I have serious doubts about the validity of this argument, it does seem as though promoting a large deer herd so close to the Allegheny National Forest works against efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to reduce the deer population in the forest because deer feed on young hardwood trees. There are, of course, places where the game commission provides grassy swaths through timbered land for access by hunters. But I have doubts about the safety of hunting along such swaths, given the distance a deer rifle will carry.
I suggest that if the game commission's policy is so focused on timbering in other game lands besides Nos. 86 and 29 that it change its name to the "Pennsylvania Timbering Commission."
Meanwhile, as the game commission logs nearby lands, the state Fish Commission's Allegheny River access site in Tionesta is a mess. Fisherman can't reach the river with their boats because of the condition of the launch road.
ROBERT R. STANGER
Youngstown
Leonardi's music will live on in his students
EDITOR:
Your recent article on the death of YSU's Tony Leonardi, founder and director of the jazz program for the Dana School of Music, was flawed in its initial statement. The phrase was "for Tony Leonardi the music has stopped."
Those of us who knew Tony (and we are thousands across the planet) feel you completely missed the mark on this one. His funeral service was a tribute to his teaching and philosophies. The music that accompanied him while we said our good-byes was actually inspiring. The music has not stopped for Tony Leonardi because it has not stopped for us.
What is past is prologue.
RONALD A. DITULLIO
Poland