Chicago flights at airport bode well for the future

Opinion: July 17, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

I congratulate the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport on the return of flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. It’s a pleasant surprise when something with political backing has a positive outcome.

The Youngstown Airport is an asset to our area, so I hope the Chicago flights will remain and provide access to the Chicago markets and customers.

When I first arrived in the area in 1975, our airport had three United flights daily to O’Hare, and I made good use of them for about 10 years. By taking the early flight and the late flight, I could put in a complete day of business in the Chicago area and return to sleep in my own bed by the end of the day. It was tiring, but it was a great boon to business.

While I was using the Youngstown Airport, I became aware of the many advantages of a small airport with easily availability.

A. My auto travel time was minimal.

B. The parking was easy and accessible to the airport terminal.

C. There were only three gates, so locating the gate was easy.

D. The baggage handling was minimal and easy to negotiate.

Since the advent of the Transportation Security Administration, an additional advantage has been added. You see, airports have two areas: a secure area and an unsecured area. Between those two areas, the area that has all the gates and the airplanes, you will not be hassled anymore. And, the easiest way to get into the secure zone is to enter through the security at a small airport like the Youngstown airport. Going to the Youngstown Airport and going through security means that you are ready for any connecting flights at major airports where security is a real headache.

All in all, Youngstown Airport is a great airport and I hope the flights leaving from and arriving to continue to increase.

Donald Butler, Warren

Americans must again stand united as on 9/11

I am worried over all this hate between Americans; it needs to stop. When the 2001 attack happened on all of us, we became as one nation. Then all the religious groups came together and prayed for each other.

All the brothers and sisters in our African American community need to realize they are under attack when told lies how we hate them.

When Martin Luther King had his dream he saw both black and white working together as one; they were united loving each other.

Now in Chicago and other big cities, they are killing each other! Why? Because more people are bringing hate, breaking the law, showing no respect for each other and trying to blame the cops who keep us safe. We need to protect them from our leaders. They want us to hate and not to show respect for them or each other.

The Ten Commandments kept us safe from destroying ourselves. We are all brothers and sisters. All this crime is destroying our freedom and keeping us from being united as one people.

Lena Fox, New Middletown

National Rifle Association welcomes black members

Here’s my rebuttal to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s ranting against the National Rifle Association as a white man’s organization and that it’s not concerned with African Americans and particularly the shooting death of Philando Castile. He is incorrect and shows his ignorance of facts. The NRA does not prejudge any shooting incident until all the evidence and witnesses’ information have been completed.

Rev. Sharpton should know in the 1950s the NRA stood shoulder to shoulder with black Americans against the KKK, helping them organize, and providing ammunition when needed.

The NRA, of which I am a life member, is open to all people who consider our Second Amendment a sacred trust. We have black members and in the past a black National NRA board member. Historically blacks have been under-represented. That hopefully is changing.

I am devastated to hear Mr. Castile’s traffic stop resulted in his death. By all reports he was an all-around good guy and a fellow CCW permittee.

I am also a concealed-carry permittee. When I am approached by law enforcement, (three times) I do exactly what Mr. Castile did: advise the patrolman that I am carrying, keep my hands in full view on the steering wheel, and wait for instructions.

If wrongdoing by law enforcement is determined they should, and I believe they will, be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Rev. Al Sharpton’s continual ranting and raving against whites and white cops, and now the NRA, only inflames a tense situation. Is this what the president wants? It seems so by his actions the last 71/2 years.

Tom Page, Boardman

Demand accountability in Trumbull Co. government

It seems the ongoing dispute between the Trumbull County Health Department and owners of septic systens continues. I recently saw on a Facebook posting from a couple who sent in via money order their annual fee; then, three months later they received a letter from the Health Department saying they were late with their fee and had been assessed a late fee. This kind of action makes citizens wonder if government employees are doing the jobs that tax money and fees pay for and that the work is being done in a timely fashion.

Since returning to the area I have seen or heard of elected officials and public employees who show little or no accountability to the public. While the economy in the Mahoning Valley has been slow to recover, and wages in the private sector have been stagnant or risen minimally, these same officials and public employees have shown an “entitlement attitude” to increases in wages.

The citizens of Trumbull County should expect greater transparency and accountability from those who are paid by hard earned tax dollars.

James Priester, Hubbard