TFP should have seen storm coming
Editor Alison Gerber spent last Sunday explaining why Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez was included with the victims of homicide in “The Toll.” I get it now. It just seems to me that the community outrage should have been anticipated and explained when the original article was written.
Jack and Nancy Bishop, Birchwood, Tenn.
Trash, pet waste ignored in Southside
What could possibly be missing from the Southside?
Most people would say there’s nothing missing from the beautiful Southside. It has art, entertainment, housing and designer condos. There are restaurants, bars and nightlife for locals and tourists alike.
What more could visitors to the Southside and local residents want or need? The answer – trash cans and dog waste stations.
Trash cans and dog waste stations seem trivial. Anyone who walks, rides a bike or drives down Main Street from Carter Street all the way to Central Avenue won’t encounter a single trash can or dog waste station. What they most likely will encounter is litter and pet waste along the sidewalks and streets of the otherwise beautiful Southside.
The Southside is without a doubt a wonderful place to visit and live, but it can be better.
The development of the Southside is by no means complete; as more venues spring up and more families move into the apartments, condos and homes along Main Street, there will be an even greater need to provide a means for people to dispose of their trash and responsibly clean up after their pets.
James Ray
Displaced residents still need our help
It has been nearly two months since some 1,500 men, women and children were evicted from the Superior Creek Lodge for health and safety reasons. Relatively few have been placed in the scant supply of affordable housing.
But this remains a stain on our community. The lodge was in East Ridge, but help must transcend geographical boundaries.
Worse, winter is on the way – bad news for displaced persons whose current day-to-day existence is never-ending frustration.
The overriding issue is the scarcity of affordable housing for lower income families. But if lenders, contractors and governments worked together on this matter, they could prevent another such travesty.
Individuals, some churches and the Community and Maclellan foundations here have provided thousands of dollars to enable organizations such as Metropolitan Ministries in their relief efforts. But the property assessor’s office lists nearly 700 tax-exempt entities, mostly houses of worship, that could be a valuable resource. (Some duplications, etc., could be deleted.)
Most of the churches use contributed funds to help persons with rent, utilities and the like. Hundreds of former SCL residents still need help. What could be a clearer opportunity to fulfill the mandate in Matthew 25:34-40?
Michael Loftin