Urge commissioners to fund new HES site
The Humane Educational Society (HES) is in dire need of new facilities. The current location is 118 years old and is deteriorating, which makes it unsafe for not just the animals but for staff and volunteers. The job that HES does with what it is given is amazing; it deserves better. I encourage all of you to visit the facility sometime, and you will see how deplorable the conditions are.
One way to judge a city is how well it takes care of its animal population, and Hamilton County should be embarrassed. The citizens can do something about it though. Please reach out to your commissioners at http://www.hamiltontn.gov/commission/EmailForm.aspx and ask them to vote for the funding to help build a new facility. You can also attend the next County Commission meeting on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Room 402 at the Courthouse. If you attend, please wear red to show your support.
The animals and citizens of Hamilton County deserve better, and I don't think Hamilton County wants to get into "dog catching business" since HES is doing such a great job.
Ken Maury
Immigration reform must be a U.S. priority
It was not but a few generations ago that many of our forefathers and ancestors migrated to the United States of America in search of freedom and a better land just like immigrants mentioned in the article "Migrants weigh whether to stay in Mexico, resume trek to U.S."
My own ancestors crossed the seas on the Mayflower and first stepped onto this land as "undocumented" immigrants. But today, we somehow find ourselves feeling entitled to this country. We forget that we were once, like current immigrants, in need of freedom and in search of a better land.
Thousands of undocumented immigrants are currently living in America as contributing members of this society but living in fear that their legal status will cause them to be deported. Recent migrants are being put through a grueling process where children and parents are often separated, detained for lengthy periods of time in inhumane living arrangements, and then often deported back to their country of origin.
Immigration reform is needed. Don't all human beings hold dignity and worth?
Ashley DeWitt
Ooltewah
Gender role in mass shootings is critical
Columnist Taylor Batten's facetious and sad formula for the next mass shooting news story (Wednesday, Chattanooga Times editorial page, B6) neglects a few things, mainly gender. As a social scientist, I have studied spousal and primary partner homicide. When a recurring "factor" in mass shootings is that the shooter has a beef with a person or others among the victims, gender is an issue as significant as other issues, such as PTSD or access to guns and ammunition.
Some of the shooting incidents mention child custody conflicts or infidelity as contributing factors in the shooter's motive to confront his partner, taking out all those near and around her in generalized rage and violence. Similarly, the emergence of "incels," or self-identified involuntary celibates, also highlights the issue of gender in interpersonal conflict, but here the anger and resentment are generalized to (young) women as a whole.
Much more psychological and sociological research can be done to better understand interpersonal factors in eruptions of public violence. Let's get a better picture of what is going on in these tragedies.
M.K. Flood
South Pittsburg, Tenn.