Lack of respect is blot on city

Lack of respect is blot on city

The city of Youngstown has its good and bad areas, as we all know. I grew up in a beautiful area surrounded by well-maintained yards, neighbors who have lived on their block for years and the ice cream truck was always heard. My grandparents still live in this area, however times have drastically changed. Instead of a once lovely neighborhood, vandals have moved in, houses are being burned down and the only sound heard is that of blaring sirens.

I went to visit my elderly grandparents recently and was stopped just before their driveway. Their newspaper box had been vandalized, mangled and was blocking the entrance. I don’t understand what thrill was gained by destroying something that belonged to such compassionate and loving elderly people.

I am appalled and disgusted by the disrespectful punks who decided to vandalize and disrupt the peace once more. What if I was going over there for an emergency? What if the medical emergency supply truck needed to get in the driveway and was blocked? Whatever the scenario, this incident is ridiculous and uncalled for. Show respect toward the elderly and your community before the entire city becomes a slum.

Alexis Perry, Struthers

Job boom from shale gas is real

A recent article in USA Today touted the great high-paying jobs in the energy field thanks to the exploration and drilling taking place near oil and natural gas rich shale deposits.

Due to the rapid expansion of energy development along the eastern side of the state in the Utica shale, additional jobs are being created in Mahoning County to serve the needs of oil and gas workers including the hospitality industry.

More people with higher-paying jobs and industry professionals traveling to our community have led to an increase in spending on food, lodging and entertainment. Mahoning County is collecting additional taxes to support local infrastructure.

It’s time for everyone to realize that the oil and natural gas shale boom brings benefits to all Ohioans through increased tax revenue at the state and local levels, the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs and energy independence.

Randy Budd, Canton

The writer is a vice president of Radius Hospitality, which represents Holiday Inn Boardman, Holiday Inn Canton and Atwood Lake Resort in Carroll County.

Was there equal outrage before?

In last Sunday’s letter, “Beng- hazi response was a disgrace,” the writer claimed that President Obama deliberately lied to the American public about the terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. “There was never any indication that the attack was associated with a demonstration, or in response to a video clip on YouTube.”

Contrary to that assertion, four days after the attacks, a CIA document stated, “The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. Consulate and subsequently its annex.”

The CIA document adds, “This assessment may change as additional information is collected and analyzed and as currently available information continues to be evaluated.” It took time before U.S. intelligence uncovered new evidence to refute their initial assessment. Once the Obama administration received information that the attacks were not related to the demonstrations in Cairo or the YouTube clip, they refrained from saying that. President Obama did not lie.

After blaming President Obama for the four American deaths at the consulate in Benghazi, the letter stated: “People with a sense of honor resign their office in such circumstances.”

In President Bush’s State of the Union Address in 2003, he lied to the American public about how Saddam Hussein was attempting to seek uranium from Africa to build a nuclear bomb. Bush’s war in Iraq took the lives of 4,488 U.S. service members, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

Did last Sunday’s writer believe President Bush should have resigned?

In 1983, President Reagan had Marines stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, during a civil war. This was against the advice of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. “They had no mission but to sit at the airport, which is just like sitting in a bull’s-eye,” Weinberger said. “I begged the president at least to pull them back and put them back on their transports as a more defensible position.”

Despite such warnings, President Reagan kept the Marines in a vulnerable position. When the truck bombers drove into the barracks, there was no defense. The terrorist attack killed 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers.

Does the writer believe President Reagan should have resigned?

Michael Dukes, Youngstown