Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Flooding problems in Poland Township must be addressed
EDITOR:
Poland Township is known as a “bedroom community” but it should be known as a wet basement community. Poland Township had widespread flooding and flooded basements occurred all over the township last Wednesday evening, with as much as 5 feet of water in basements and many residents had sanitary sewer backup as well. None of the storm sewers held the water on North Lima Road and many residents had flooded basements. I walked around and stopped at about 25 homes the next day and only one home was spared because they had their basement professionally waterproofed with two sump pumps installed. All of the streets down to Yellow Creek were flooded on Wednesday evening and Spitler Road flooded and many, many more streets, roads and basements all over the township were flooded with water. I am only one voice but I want to have my voice heard because my heart aches for all the people that had an awful mess to clean up and in many cases, a very costly one also.
I would like to spearhead a Poland Township town meeting and invite the Mahoning County engineer, sanitary engineer, and county commissioners to attend. If anyone in the township is as tired as I am of the flooding problems, please help me make this town meeting a reality. I could use all the help I can get. There are thousands of elderly residents who were mopping up and cleaning up the mess until the wee hours of the morning and I, for one, want this antiquated storm sewer system and sanitary system to be upgraded.
DIANE MATUZ
Poland
The problem with Leviticus
EDITOR:
I was deeply disturbed to read the June 14 letter from a Boardman resident who claimed that “the Bible ... clearly defines [the gay] lifestyle as deviant.” I have news for this woman: being a Christian does not mean you can’t support equal rights for others.
If you think that being gay is Biblically wrong, then you better not wear cotton-poly blend: after all, Leviticus says that wearing a garment made from two different fabrics is a sin. So is eating shellfish, sacrificing the wrong kind of pigeon, and working on Sunday. Are you willing to follow these Biblical commands? No? Then hush up, and remember that even St. Paul said that “love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom. 13:10)
My husband is currently attending seminary to become an Episcopal priest, and as a lifelong Christian, I am annoyed that this woman would take it upon herself to try and speak for Christianity as a whole. Jesus said, “Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 2:37-40) If Jesus really cared about the gender of the people you love, don’t you think he would have mentioned it?
The letter writer spoke of a “vast majority” who believe that being gay is wrong. Really? Perhaps she didn’t know that 46 percent of American adults feel that gay people should be permitted to marry; 54 percent believe that civil unions should occur. Seven out of 10 adults believe that gays should be permitted to serve in the military. Instead of worrying about other people’s sex lives, maybe we Christians ought to educate ourselves about the issues.
PHILOSOPHY WALKER
Youngstown