Attack on Mt. Calvary appalling

Attack on Mt. Calvary appalling

I almost always appreciate the editorials and all the items printed by your paper.

However, I am appalled at the attack on Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church. May it interest you to know that hardly any church can withstand such an inflammatory expose into any church’s affairs: Protestant, Catholic or any other religious affiliate.

Why have you allowed yourselves to be swayed by some community leaders who want to pursue activity or inactivity of the Idora Park? Our city fathers decided that this area was not important until one neighborhood group recently became overly concerned about the park.

You could better spend your newsprint discussing just how many residents in my 6th Ward are working to attempt to maintain properties that do not even belong to them. I have given a list of those I personally know who are attempting with their own funds and sweat equity to better our precinct. However, you find that that is not even newsworthy. We do not have a church in my precinct. There is no discussion of the businesses in my precinct that are good citizens. No one is aware of what all the citizens in this precinct are doing to correct deficiencies in our area.

We have houses that need to be demolished that are right next door to residents who maintain their properties. Yet because we are not located on the same block as St. Dominic or St. Patrick, so we get no attention. Try to remember what you are about: focusing on items that are newsworthy.

DELORES T. WOMACK, Youngstown

Church should have moved faster

The Mount Calvary Pente- costal Church has had 26 years to develop the Idora property. During that time they have amassed a debt of almost $260,000 in unpaid taxes, and have loans totaling $2.5 million. They have shown little motivation to develop the land in a way that enhances the area. They have repeatedly failed to communicate with those in the surrounding neighborhoods (those living in the Idora neighborhoods should definitely have a stake in the future of the property).

I am the granddaughter of a Youngstown steel worker, and the mills are long gone. I am a proud graduate of Chaney High School, and the Cowboys are soon-to-be gone. I have many memories of Idora Park, and I am saddened at not being able to share the park with my own children. We all know Youngstown can never be what it once was, but there are many good people working to clean the city up and create areas where all residents can feel safe, proud and connected with each other. I applaud the efforts of James London’s Idora Neighborhood Association and Percy Gillespie’s Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Their vision of what the Idora property could become truly reflects the spirit of Youngstown. A recreational area with part of the land going to the Mill Creek MetroParks would serve more people from all backgrounds than Mount Calvary’s “City of God for Christian Leaders.”

Janet Misel, Warren

Maybe they paid for their lunches

For a newspaper that is spend- ing so much of its resources questioning the moral and legal standing of members of this community, I think you should pause and consider cleaning your own house. You are not following the most basic tenets of journalism, and I am beginning to question your moral compass, and frankly, the legality of your reporting.

Last Sunday’s article, “A free lunch,” and Bertram de Souza’s column are wildly incongruous with good reporting. What is the actual news you are reporting in “A free lunch:” that a group of government officials and a private individual ate lunch together over a decade ago? You did not even report that Mr. Cafaro provided a free lunch to those diners named, though your libelous headline suggests such action.

This article reminds me of a cheap tabloid magazine where untimely quotes and inaccurate headlines mislead the reader. Is the news that the Cafaros contributed to political campaigns? Like it or not, our entire electoral system is based on political contributions from private individuals. I know you are familiar with freedom of speech.

Permitting Mr. de Souza to write that we should automatically remove a person from office or stop a candidacy because one might be indicted or is a “person of interest” is basically suggesting that the person is guilty upon accusation.

It seems that The Vindicator is willing to disregard our laws and infringe upon one’s rights if it helps it meet its own subversive and inappropriate goals. This is the worst form of corruption.

Kristen Rock, Esq., Youngstown

Going overboard with storm alerts

I would like to ask the manag- ers of local television stations to please review their weather reporting during the evening of Monday, May 23, and ask themselves whether their program interruptions were serving the people or just annoying?

The never-ending scrolls and radar maps were bad enough. (Wouldn’t an occasional scroll have been sufficient?) But the repetitive, lengthy interruptions by the stations’ personnel were surely out of place. For instance, one station had a local highway patrolman repeat his on-the-scene observation that he’d seen nothing but a typical spring storm. Hearing it once was unnecessary; hearing it twice was lunacy.

Interruptions continued long after the tornado watch had expired, with one station interrupting every five to seven minutes to repeat the same non-urgent information — we’ve had a storm and we might have another — over and over.

Please, people, let’s use some common sense and restraint in the future.

Carol McCoy, Poland

Singing a song of peace

The Rev. Edward Noga shows there is hope in the heart of the city of Youngstown.

Tuesday evening over 500 people were privileged to attend the 100 year anniversary celebration of the St. Patrick’s church in Youngstown with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. Halfway through this spectacular event, the entire congregation stood up and sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” I imagined with the enthusiasm of the crowd, that we could have been heard from miles away.

What better song to present Rev. Noga’s passion to promote peace in our city. His continuous support of Youngstown emphasizes faith in God and community wide cooperation to make this city of Youngstown a proud place to live.

Gina L. Lariccia, Poland

We’re all still here; no surprise

The lie that the world was going to end was proved to be false. I wonder why? There have been many religions over the years that predicted the end of the world but here we are. The latest was just another of the uninformed.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:35-36, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (KJV).

So, the day that the “heaven and earth shall pass away” no man on this earth knows when. Here’s a secret: It doesn’t matter when that event happens because it will happen to all — either when they die or when the real end comes. So quit worrying.

Rea Buttermore, Boardman