Rediscovering Downtown

Rediscovering Downtown

EDITOR:

I am a 74-year-old woman who used to work for many years in downtown Youngstown. After having not been downtown for many years due to the conditions I had observed, I was asked to go to the Dana Concert Series on Feb. 27. It was suggested that we meet at the Rosetta Stone Cafe for drinks and dinner. Quite frankly I was hesitant but decided to accept the invitation. To my astonishment and delight, I was shocked to find a beautiful Federal Street, a magnificent restaurant with excellent food and a wine list I could not believe, plus a great evening of entertainment.

The Dana at DeYor was absolutely one of the best I have seen or heard. The Austintown Fitch Band was very good. The Lakota West Symphonic Winds Orchestra was so outstanding that I could barely believe these were high school musicians. They played a Mozart Concerto conducted by Dr. Lee Brooks who had it arranged to accommodate solos by sisters Mackenzie Hammel on harp, a senior at Lakota, and Cameron Hammel on flute, a junior at Lakota. It was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes, and I will not soon forget it. The Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble was also extraordinary and well presented by its conductor, Dr. Stephen Gage. I would be remiss if I did not give credit to the Austintown conductor, Wesley O’Connor, and Lakota’s conductor, Gregory Snyder, as all of their programs were fantastic and well received by the audience.

I will certainly be wanting to entertain my family and friends to many delightful evenings in beautiful Downtown Youngstown. It’s alive and exciting.

BEVERLY A. PACK

Poland

Youngstown airport Catch 22

EDITOR:

I note with great interest the outline of the process used to evaluate proposals for the Youngstown airport by Steve Bowser, director of aviation. He has made the unfortunate decision of excluding all start-up air services from consideration. It is a mistake that many airports with grants are making and the result most of the time ends up being the same: no service.

Why does this occur? Just as airports with grants often show prejudice against start-up carriers, airlines often show prejudice against “start-up” airports. YNG has very little business traffic that actually flies out of the airport. Even in times of plenty, an airline does not want to go into an airport to have to reattract all of that traffic that it has lost without having core passengers to start. YNG simply cannot show an airline conclusively that they will get the traffic. There are numerous communities that were all turboprop at some point in the past that have maintained their service and successful hub and spoke systems necessitate flying to the nearest hub city whenever possible.

The concern regarding start up viability seems to be financial in nature. The fact that start ups have high initial costs is true. Anyone who has started a business knows that investors want to get in when you are not on the ground floor. If YNG is a viable market, a start up can easily get money to continue it. To go further, the motivation of airlines to stay away from start-up airports is the same. In many cases, airlines have lost money on deals like this because they have to operate service beyond the resources covered by the revenue guarantee offered.

For YNG to get service from a major, it needs to be given a chance. However, the same chance that Mr. Bowser wants from the airlines is the same chance he refuses to give to the start ups. Therefore, YNG is suffering from a variant of its own policy, and until it decides to reconsider, business travelers will have to keep driving to other airports.

JOEL AZUMAH, TAZ Airways

Brooklyn, N.Y.

WRTA is transportation without representation

EDITOR:

I just read the March 3 article titled “WRTA board covers broad area.” What a laugh. Please tell me who on this board is going to represent western Mahoning County.

Let’s take a look at where the board members reside: Youngstown, four; North Jackson, one; Springfield Township, one, and Boardman, one. The western portion of the county is being asked to financially support a organization from which we will get no benefit whatsoever.

Why does the mayor of Youngstown have three appointments? I see that the commissioners have four appointments, and based on their appointees they must not know that Western Mahoning county exists. Who on this appointed board really cares about western Mahoning County?

I have voiced my opinions before, and I will continue to declare WRTA is a Youngstown transit system that has no desires or plans for Western Mahoning County.

JOHN W. SMITH, mayor

Sebring

Delphi’s retired employees shortchanged by court

EDITOR:

While GM, Chrysler, and Delphi are still offering buy outs to hourly employees including benefits, being a retired salaried employee, I just lost insurance and health care coverage for myself and my wife. Over the past few years, these buy outs have been worth anywhere from $35,000 to $135,000, plus health coverage. Just to retire early.

In bankruptcy court, the decision was made in Delphi’s favor because someone felt that Delphi needed a $70 million plus bailout. They’ll be back to the million dollar bonuses for their incompetent upper management before we know it. At that time, will our benefits be reinstated when Delphi emerges from bankruptcy?

We’ve been bailing out the Japanese companies for over 30 years with free or cheap real estate on which to build their factories, this, along with little tax or tax abatements, and absolutely no import tax. This equals billions of dollars over a 30-year period.

I’m not asking for a buy out or a bailout. I just want to hang on to something that took me 36 years to earn.

RONALD R. DOBOS

Hubbard

Let’s be good neighbors

EDITOR:

Accidents do happen. If you’re responsible, be courageous and own up to it. Recently, while I was running errands, someone “doored” my new Pontiac Vibe. The door was struck hard enough to hit bare metal, not to mention the dent. And the striker didn’t notice what they’d done?

Has this ever happened to you? How did you feel? Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If no one is around, write a note with your contact information on it and slip the note under the driver-side windshield wiper. It’s the right thing to do. You too can be part of the change for the better in this world.

Better yet, be more careful as you enter or exit your vehicle. Spare your neighbor a several hundred dollar repair bill. None of us can afford the cost of careless mistakes in these difficult times. Be kind to your neighbor.

DERI EBERHARD

Salem

Old fashioned learning

EDITOR:

The “Read Across America” program at the Poland school demonstrates that learning isn’t all computers. It is introducing children to actual reading for enjoyment.

What fun they must be having learning parts of speech, etc. without realizing it’s learning the old fashioned way, through hands on, social interaction.

ANNE PACHOS

Cortland