Letters to Editors

Make the thugs get the message

On Saturday evening (Sept. 17), my wife and I were traveling through downtown Chattanooga southward on Market Street; there were many people out and about town. We stopped for a traffic light at Third Street. When the signal turned green, people continued to stream across Market Street blocking us from proceeding. We tolerated this for a time and then gently tooted the horn to signal it was our turn.

Hostile thugs, waving their arms wildly, with splayed fingers, shouting "Hit one of us," began surrounding our vehicle. Fortunately there was enough room to turn right just prior to being surrounded.

Mr. Mayor, please acknowledge we have a serious problem downtown. If people do not feel safe they will not return. All the effort and money spent to make Chattanooga a better place will have been wasted.

Crime was lowered in New York City by strict enforcement of all laws, including jaywalking. The thugs got the message. Crime will not be tolerated. Let's send them that message. If we tolerate this behavior we will surrender our city to the worst and lowest element.

JIM HOWARD

Democrats seem to be complainers

Why it is so hard for Rep. Jim Cooper to understand that when people go vote, they have to show a photo ID to prove that they are, in fact, who they say they are before they're allowed to vote.

What sort of government-issued identification card do these 26,000 "disenfranchised" voters possess that does not have their photo? Are these 26,000 illegal aliens or 26,000 dead people who are still on the books?

It seems to me that only Democrats have complained about it. I just can't imagine why! If they really are "for the people" as they claim, then I wonder why they would oppose a law that ensures that every voter is, in fact, a legal, living and breathing, law-abiding American citizen, who can prove his or her identity? But then, in some places such as Chicago, where they vote early and vote often, it's said the "rapture" takes place every election day, as thousands rise from the dead to go vote (usually for Democrats). Rumor has it that Al Capone and Jimmy Hoffa were seen voting for JFK, Gore and Obama.

WILLIE SMITH

Manchester, Tenn.

Evacuation route needs an upgrade

TVA board approved completing Bellefonte Nuclear Plant while the evacuation route from Brown's Ferry Nuclear Plant has been neglected for years.

A resident on the road says it's "ill equipped as a route home, much less an evacuation route." This does not bolster my confidence in the TVA nuclear program.

State, county and council entities are paying for an upgrade to Nuclear Plant Road, which has not been paved since the 1970s. If a serious accident occurs at the plant not only will residents need to be evacuated, emergency workers will need to be brought in. Shouldn't an upgrade be the licensee's responsibility?

"Too cheap to meter" is now "So expensive we can't pay for this, let's foist off what expense we can and defer the rest." When our brief use of nuclear power has ended and we are dead and buried, the expense of surveillance, security, and storage of nuclear waste will be left to future generations. That's a good-case scenario, if we haven't left them a radioactive, uninhabitable portion of the country as well.

If we can't handle toxic waste storage now and we can't afford this technology now, it's criminal to leave this legacy to our grandkids.

DIANE BUTLER

Nashville

Keep up good work by printing letters

Everyone has a right to express their opinion.

I read and think about the letters to the editor. Whether I agree with the writer or not is beside the point.

If you stop printing what someone disagrees with, it is called censorship and there will be no newspaper for me to enjoy each day, because someone is not going to like each article and my letter would be useless if you can't print it.

Please keep up the good work and make my day.

SHELBA SMITH

Graysville, Tenn.

Lack of fire reduced casualties

Although the casualties were very high at Reno (in the recent airplane crash), a miracle occurred in that there was no fire.

Fires almost always occur upon hard crashes except for aircraft that have run out of fuel.

News reports told of injured people being soaked with gasoline. The pilot may have cut off the ignition just before he hit the ground.

Secondly, the P-51 went straight down.

These two events probably saved more than a thousand casualties, especially if the plane had gone down at a low angle to the ground toward the bleachers.

BILL LILLY

Angels really do walk among us

"Touched by an angel."

"Saving Mary" (front page, Sept. 18). Wow, what a story.

It just goes to show us that angels walk among us.

Nancy Rus, your persevering determination has won you the Medal of Honor in the hearts of all who read this story. God certainly knew what he was doing when he sent you to save Mary.

If I ever start to feel sorry for myself, I will read this story over again and my troubles will go away.

God bless both of you.

Thanks to Pam Sohn and Angela Lewis.

Well done.

GWEN ROSENBERG

Rossville

Give children safe sidewalks

An open letter to the City Council of Chattanooga.

Over the past 15 years, North Chattanooga has gone through an impressive transformation. During that time, property values have increased and so have taxes. I feel it is now time for the city to return some of that money with increased infrastructure spending.

While I feel there are a number of important issues that fall in this category, one specific issue I would like to address is the safety of children walking to school.

In my neighborhood, you can see a number of children walking both to the Center for Creative Arts and to Normal Park. Most have to walk along sporadic, broken, debris-covered, and sometimes non-existent sidewalks. Often, the only recourse is to walk in the street.

With a moderate investment, the city could add sidewalks in those areas where there are none, repair or replace substandard sidewalks, and take measures to insist property owners keep those sidewalks passable.

Many cities much smaller than Chattanooga do that. Let's give our children decent and safe paths to walk on.

RICH KLUTTERMANN

Palestinians must deal with Israel

Israel must survive, in spite of all the efforts of its enemies to displace and destroy her.

The Palestinian move at the U.N. violates prior negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian regime.

Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and the heart of our Christian and Jewish heritage. She must survive, and she will survive in spite of all the irresponsible leadership aimed at destabilizing Israel and her ancient heritage.

The Palestinian leadership simply must deal first with Israel in order to establish an independent state that recognizes Israel's right to exist, as well as their other interests in the region.

Israel must survive, Israel will survive.

The whole world soon will see unusual things taking place in Israel, unimagined by the secular world. The USA must stand with God's chosen people during these critical times without second thought, before these events happen in real time, in order to be counted worthy of its friendship with the Jewish state.

DR. RONALD L.

DOTSON

Cleveland, Tenn.

Spare us from another Texan

Not again! Spare us from another Republican from Texas running for president.

There is an old saying that some people would vote for the devil if he ran on the Republican ticket.

GRETCHEN

MERCHOFF

Hixson

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