Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sense of urgency is missing
EDITOR:
Faced with an economic crisis of major proportions, Congress moved quickly to pass legislative solutions, and more recent measures from the administration have followed, as noted in the Tuesday article in The Vindicator entitled “Fed chief calls for another boost.” All involved have urged swift action to stem rising panic and provide relief for Main Street and Wall Street.
But our nation and the world face another crisis, one that rivals the current economic crisis — global warming. It threatens our livelihood and our children’s future just as surely as the looming deficits and the credit freeze we are seeing today. We need leaders who see that swift action to stabilize our climate is just as important as efforts to stabilize the economy and move just as decisively to remedy it.
Solutions exist to solve global warming. We know what must be done. We can use American ingenuity and determination to ramp up renewable energy production to reduce our dependence on dirty fossil fuels. And as we move to fight global warming, we also bolster the economy by restoring good paying jobs right here in America. When Congress and a new administration return to Washington next January, I hope solving the global warming crisis will go hand in hand with efforts to restore our economy.
KATIE YORK
Canfield
Halloween is anti-Christian
EDITOR:
Why do people like to celebrate death, dying, torment and fear? More than half of our population is in counseling or on drugs just trying to overcome these things and once a year we celebrate them. We should be celebrating life, joy and liberty.
Halloween is a tradition started by a satanic cult. They dressed up to conceal their identity like a bank robber wears a ski mask. Then they would go house to house demanding the contents or they would cast an evil spell on them. Why do we celebrate this horrible event? It’s like having Ted Bundy Day.
If you are a Christian who knows this and still participates, wake up.
How do we think we will ever be able to defend the gospel, should our lives ever be at risk, when we can’t even give up candy to defend the gospel now.
The other day I saw a scarecrow with a skull mask, hanging on a cross. It was all lit up in someone’s front yard. If we don’t think that this celebration is anti-Jesus, we don’t want to face the truth.
I hate Halloween. You should too.
Pastor JOY CHICKONOSKI
Real Living Ministries
Boardman
Where are all the candidates?
EDITOR:
Recently I called the reference desk at the public library to find out how many candidates there are for president. I was told there are 14 people running for president (also counting write-in candidates, such as Donald Allen from Youngstown).
How come we don’t hear about all 14 candidates? Shouldn’t all presidential candidates be offered a chance to debate their views? Is it fair to the American people in not inviting all candidates to the debates?
LAWRENCE HIGHFIELD
Youngstown
Reinvesting makes sense
EDITOR:
Improving Cafaro properties by using its own capital serves two purposes not readily apparent in last Sunday’s front page article. The owners are protecting future profitability by retaining tenants whose customers appreciate appealing stores where they shop. Also, employees, both Cafaro employees and the stores employees, can see that improved profits mean jobs become more stable now and in the future.
The article is very insightful of a local business that operates nationwide. However, this business did not rise like phoenix from the ashes, so to speak. William Cafaro owned and operated the Ritz Bar on the corner of Wilson Avenue and Shehy Street on the Youngstown East Side. It was not just a neighborhood bar. Soldiers from Camp Reynolds over the Ohio line in Pennsylvania were frequent patrons. The atmosphere was of a big city night club. Music was a part of the scene, dancers always found room on the dance floor, and banquet facilities were available on the second floor. It was a safe place to bring a date.
Anthony Cafaro remarked that Eastwood Mall was like a downtown in Trumbull County. His grandfather had an inkling about building the mall in downtown Warren, but influential persons in Warren did not take to the idea. The Eastwood Mall could not have expanded as it has in downtown Warren.
Taking a writer’s license, I’ll relate the topic of this article to an incident several years ago. Two granddaughters of James Campbell, one of the founders of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube company visited Youngstown. They wanted to know what happened to the money, the profits from the operations of the company. During its first 50 years, even through the Depression, profits were reinvested in upgrading company equipment and facilities. Starting in 1950 this reinvestment ceased. The owners took the money and ran.
LEONARD J. SAINATO
Warren
Reject the bus levy
EDITOR:
I am writing this letter to urge voters to vote no on issue 8, the sales tax for the WRTA.
A recent letter to The Vindicator stated that the WRTA provides 1.3 million rides per year. What has happen to free enterprise? They should be able to operate on the bus fares they receive, plus they receive money from property taxes from the City of Youngstown.
Vote no. Make the WRTA operate within their income the same as the rest of us have to.
GARY BRANT
Austintown
Support the bus levy
EDITOR:
I enjoyed reading the Oct. 4 article regarding the WRTA bus issue.
Most of us probably have a car, a little money and the good health to go wherever and whenever we choose. Whether it is to work, a football game, church, or to visit friends or relatives.
Unless we pass the WRTA bus levy many elderly and physically challenged people will not have that luxury.
I am not real good in math but I believe a .25 percent levy will mean if we buy a blouse or shirt for $20 we would pay 5 cents to keep the buses running.
Please vote yes for the WRTA levy.
Maybe even park your car and ride a bus. It may be fun.
LEE ELIZABETH McHUGH
Canfield