Fallen police officers should get the honor they've earned
Fallen police officers should get the honor they've earned
EDITOR:
In 1962, President Kennedy designated May 15 National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week. Every year, the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C., and state memorials across our great nation, add the names of "Fallen Heroes" to their memorials. This year, 466 names will be added to the 17,071 names on the national memorial wall.
The last time our community lost an officer in the line of duty was that dreadful day, April 29, 2003, when Youngstown Police Officer Michael T. Hartzell was murdered in downtown Youngstown. His death opened the eyes of our community to the unforeseen hazards of the men and women in blue. Many communities in Ohio (Youngstown, Cleveland and Columbus, to name a few) will have memorial services to remember these fallen heroes this May.
I am researching two Warren police officers who died in the line of duty and am asking your readers, friends and surviving family members for help. The two officers are Chief Frank H. Flowers, who was killed in a car crash on Niles Avenue April 3, 1919, and Patrolman Irving L. Baker, who died on Jan. 3, 1933. My goal is to add their names to the National Wall in Washington D.C. and the State of Ohio wall at the OPOTA training center in London. The national memorial asks for certain information on their deaths such as initial/incident police reports, newspaper articles, family members that may verify my research or add to my research, a photograph of the officer or any other information on them. If anyone has any of this information that would help me complete this very important research, contact me at the Warren Police Department, 141 South St., Warren, Ohio, 44483 (330-841-2505) and we can honor these men by adding them to the memorial wall.
BRIAN E. CRITES
President-Warren F.O.P. Lodge 34
Warren
Move Poland recycling center
EDITOR:
In exchange for a grant of $5,000 from the Green Team, the Poland Community Baseball Association has installed a large, neon yellow recycle station surrounded by a dark blue fence in the parking lot of North Elementary School. The president of P.C.B.A., Bob Richards, had agreed with Dr. Zorn, superintendent of Poland schools, to install the station upon two conditions: the residents of the street were to be canvassed to determine if we were amenable to having the recycle station in our neighborhood and the station was to be placed on a concrete slab where grass had previously grown on land leased by P.C.B.A. Neither condition was met.
No one on our street was asked our wishes and the station was placed in the parking lot of the school and holes drilled in the asphalt for posts for the fence.
We have several concerns about the recycle station being at this location:
1) Safety: There is bound to be additional traffic in and out of the school parking lot. There is also a strong possibility of children playing in and around the bin, especially during baseball games when siblings are playing baseball/softball.
2) Placement: It is not where Poland Community Baseball Association had promised to put it and not on land leased by P.C.B.A.
3) The possibility of pests (bees, ants, rats, etc.) which may be attracted by the station, especially in an area where children play and where many people attend the baseball and softball games, presents a health hazard.
4) The whole thing is unsightly.
5) Even if the station is regularly maintained, it is likely to become littered and, in any case, is already quite odiferous.
6) Parking spaces, already at a premium at North, have been further reduced.
After several discussions with the involved parties April 11, Dr. Zorn proposed a plan that seemed to be acceptable to all the affected parties: The village would allow the recycle station to be placed on its property on Meadow Lane, where the village maintenance garage is located, the P.C.B.A. could keep their grant money, and the Green Team would move the station to the new site. When Dr. Zorn called P.C.B.A. President Bob Richards, however, he flatly refused and referred the school superintendent to the P.C.B.A. lawyer for all future communications. As taxpayers, we're concerned because the Board of Education will have to pay a lawyer to respond.
We are dismayed and confused. Most of us have either been managers, coaches, trustees, officers, volunteers for, parents or relatives of children involved in P.C.B.A. We love having the ball fields across the street and keep an eye on them when they are not in use. We are all proud supporters of our schools. Several of us have worked for the school system, most have now or have had children there, and we are proud of the fact that our precinct has one of the highest percentages of "yes" votes for school levies.
We see the proposed site on Meadow Lane as satisfying all concerned. Mr. Richards should explain why moving it is a problem.
LESLIE VICZAY and 14 neighbors on Johnston Place, Poland
Hill appeals mock justice
EDITOR:
I find it criminal that a convicted killer like Danny Lee Hill has been allowed to abuse and make a mockery of the justice system for so many years.
How many more years do the loved ones of Raymond Fife have to wait before justice is finally given them for the loss of their precious son.
For years Danny Lee Hill has been thumbing his nose at the justice system and at the taxpayers whose dollars are spent for his keep and attorneys.
In all that time he has never shown a bit of remorse for the horrible crime he committed against Raymond Fife.
With all the cunning, and survival smarts that Danny Lee Hill has proven to possess, he might need to be reminded that "those who spill the blood of another, build their own pathway to hell." I personally wish him bon voyage.
MARY LOU JURINA
Youngstown