Keep health care pressure on Harwell and more letters to the editors

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor

Keep health care pressure on Harwell

I could hardly believe my ears when I heard House Speaker Beth Harwell had announced a task force to create a health care plan to offer coverage for those in Tennessee currently without health insurance. I am torn between applauding any effort as an improvement and grieving the loss of lives and health in the time since Insure Tennessee was repeatedly turned down after Gov. Haslam had put immense work into developing and getting approval for it.

There are not enough thanks for all the people who for months now have pressed our state legislature to address this problem. But hurdles remain. We hope for a plan resembling reasonable health coverage. Yet our legislators have been consistently resistant to passing health care legislation, choosing to focus attention instead on such pressing matters as officially making the Bible the state book of Tennessee or legislating rules about bathrooms.

I urge you to continue to contact our state representatives and senators and Speaker Harwell to insist on the need for adequate health coverage to be made available for all Tennesseans. Speaker Harwell's number is 615-741-0709. Numbers for representatives and senators are available at TN.gov.

Kate Stulce

Ooltewah

Treasure all unique lives

The Times Free Press's recent photo of 1,100 backpacks at UTC representing the number of college suicides per year was a stark, somber reminder of the hurt left behind affecting families and friends. Having lost both parents to this tragedy, I know first-hand what pain it brings and how we need public awareness.

Seeing the backpacks representing those young people, I thought of another picture. What if we placed 1.3 million baby bottles on that same piece of land, representing the number of babies per year who will never have the chance of donning a backpack because they were aborted? We should treasure life: pre-born, babies and children, teen and college age, adults, including the elderly, and all who were born with disabilities. Each life is a unique and precious gift!

Sandy Harris

Cloudland, Ga.

Space needed for long boarders

I think long boarders should have the same rights as bicyclers and roller skaters because they are allowed to ride in local parks and in the downtown area while long boarders are only allowed to ride on the outskirts of town. I was recently told by a park ranger in Coolidge Park that skateboards and long boards are only allowed on the north side of Frazier Avenue and from 10th street south.

Skateboards and long boards are prohibited in the area in-between. The only skate park in Chattanooga is a small area with ramps made out of plywood and is very dangerous because of the metal bolts sticking out of the wood, and it is not suitable for long boards. As a taxpayer in Chattanooga, I would like to see the city provide more areas for skateboarders and long boarders to use or allow use of streets or parks at designated times.

Mason Satterfield

Ooltewah

Siedlecki for senior tax freeze

Hamilton County taxpayers should be paying attention as the race for assessor of property heats up. Last week, Mark Siedlecki made a promise to freeze property taxes for the elderly property owners of Hamilton County if he were to be elected.

Fifty-one counties in Tennessee have implemented this measure to protect seniors, but our leaders have chosen to uphold the status quo rather than serve the most vulnerable populations. They have failed to prioritize the needs of elderly citizens. Marty Haynes' ongoing silence on this issue makes it clear he is not the leader Hamilton County needs.

We need an assessor who won't sit by while the elderly are forced to choose between paying for food and property taxes with a fixed income. We need Mark.

Terry Burnett

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