Sayso

Tuesday, February 08, 2000     Page: 8A

THE ARTICLES about (the arena security) are filled with half-truths and your
paper should do a little more investigative writing. The arena was built with
millions of federal and state taxes. Now you’re saying the new sheriff is
going to save the arena by paying his deputies less money for their services?
Let’s remember, their uniforms, equipment and insurance are paid for by county
taxpayers. How can any agency compete fairly with a company who has the
taxpayers paying all the overhead? I would also like Chief Kamage to advise
his boss, Sheriff Stankus, of the risk he’s placing this county in with the
deputies working in the Red Zone. I hope when the lawsuits come down, the
right people like Stankus, Blaum and the commissioners are sued, not the
taxpayers. IT LOOKS LIKE WE GOT about 10 inches of Albert Gore’s global
warming on our doorsteps this morning. I AGREE THAT MAYOR MCGROARTY is the
best mayor we ever had. We now know we have a mayor. I don’t understand how
people, including a newspaper, could compare cleaning Kingston streets with
Wilkes-Barre streets during a snowstorm. You have a little town compared to a
city to maintain. SENIOR CITIZENS ARE ON limited incomes. They should not
have to pay school taxes. They paid taxes in their younger days. Their
families have children and pay their own. We shouldn’t be required to pay ’til
the day we die. We contribute to everything else, also, including the lottery.
Our yearly increases are a little over $1 per week. Medical insurance
increases are way over that. YOUR ARTICLE about gay priests in the Catholic
Church, especially on the front page, is disgusting. Why not do the same type
of article on the Protestant ministers or any other religion? It’s never been
done. But Catholic bashing, you people do a beautiful job on it. This is news?
Get a heart. Editor’s note: We’re sorry people were offended by the series.
We would consider running similar reporting on any religion. IN THE NOVEMBER
election, if the two candidates end up being Al Gore and George W. Bush, I
won’t even vote. Why not? Because I would hate to be responsible for either
one of them being president. IT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR. This is the third
snowstorm this year and on our little one-way street, all of our neighbors
have been outside shoveling, clearing their parking spots and sidewalks while
a very few are laying in their house. But the next day, when you go to work,
they take your parking spots. They have no shame, no guilt, you can’t even
embarrass these people. What happened to the good old ethics of Wyoming
Valley? Where do these people come from? How about picking up a shovel
sometime, you guys? I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED your series about the sinking clam
boats off the Atlantic Coast. I thought it was a very interesting
human-interest story. I would like to see you do more series like that. THE
ARTICLE ABOUT nurses pushing the hospital beds and wheelchairs around. They
asked where are the escorts that other hospitals have. I’ll tell you where the
escorts are. Probably the same place the nurses are – gone. Since they closed
the fifth floor, they laid nurses off and some of the escorts. Good old
Geisinger, they’re the best. WHY DON’T WILKES-BARRE CITY Council members put
up those metal Snow Emergency Route signs along the major roadways in
Wilkes-Barre where they want the snow removed? If they kept these metal signs
permanently on the poles year round, when we have snowstorms they could
legally declare snow emergencies in Wilkes-Barre and legally tow the cars away
that don’t move. I’M CALLING in regards to the “Companion Connection”
that’s in the newspaper. I called three different numbers and called the ads –
one was someone from Plymouth, one was someone from Kingston – and this cost
me about $21 for these three calls. And the problem I have is at least you
should have the courtesy to call me back and say you’re not interested. After
I’m spending the money and I go to talk to these people who run these ads and
they could care less as to whether I spent $21 or not. So this is just a
suggestion: Why do you put your names in there if you have no interest in
calling somebody else back? THIS PAST WEEK, I had to go to the Social Security
office in the Stegmaier building and I was disgusted with the situation. First
the parking, a small area for visitors which was filled and the rest of the
parking slots reserved for the postal department. Next, a choice of killer
steps or a dangerous ramp with a bad pitch and sidewalks that are heaving on
the edges, creating a hazard for those of us who have limitations in walking.
Inside the office the personnel were helpful, but only one person at the front
desk made a crowd of waiting people very unhappy and grumbling. This isn’t the
employee’s fault as she has to use the computer and these aren’t instantaneous
and the whole office staff seems to have to use one printer. What a mess.
Doesn’t this office have a manager to address these problems and to make
things flow better? It’s a real pain for the disabled and the elderly to have
to visit this office. I WOULD LIKE to know if anyone recalls the name of the
new business that currently opened in Mountaintop for tailoring. I dropped
something off and can’t come up with the name. Please provide that to me. THIS
IS IN RESPONSE to the call that was published in your paper today on the Faith
section. I don’t think it’s the job of a newspaper or the function of a
newspaper to cover a wide range of issues about faith and spirituality. That’s
between the individual and his or her house of worship and how he or she
believes. A newspaper’s job is to impart news and some entertainment, but not
anything to do with religion. I WOULD LIKE to know how many times in the last
25 years Little Flower Manor has donated any tax dollars to Wilkes-Barre city?
Our mayor seems to be concerned about Mercy Hospital and other facilities
donating money, and I have never seen Little Flower Manor ever donate
anything. HI THERE. I would really like to know what the name of the arena
is. Some people say it’s the First Union Arena, some people say it’s the
Northeast Civic Arena, I even heard it was the Kevin Blaum Arena. Could
somebody tell me? Editor’s note: First Union Arena. I HAVE A MESSAGE for
Mayor McGroarty. I am a taxpayer, I live on Ivy Lane in Wilkes-Barre and I
have a scanner. I called the Public Works Department and asked them to plow
Ivy Lane. I heard him get on the air and tell them “do not plow Ivy Lane.” I
want to know first of all what his problem is? I pay my taxes just like
everybody else does. Tell him to get off the stick and start getting these
streets plowed in this city. It’s atrocious, you can’t even drive on the
streets. It’s ridiculous. Thank God we had Lee Namey. At least we had clean
streets. Editor’s note: Are you sure it was McGroarty? Doesn’t the city have
the right to do larger streets before others? WHO IS TO blame and who should
be held accountable for all the financial problems in Plymouth Township? The
way it appears, there has been a lot of things pulled in the past few years
and all under the chairmanship of one person. Something isn’t right. Residents
should demand answers and find out who is responsible for the mismanagement or
if someone might be held criminally negligent. THIS IS FOR the Bishop Hoban
football mom that doesn’t want junior to lift weights year around for
football, it’s just too much. And for Hazleton School Board that wants to fire
the coach for kicking a little butt. I agree totally. What are we trying to do
here, raise men? No way, we want to raise whining complaining wimps. Hey, Mom,
just put a skirt on junior. Bye-bye. I DON’T APPRECIATE (a TV announcer’s)
smirky expression when she announces that another snowstorm is on its way.
It’s almost as though she’s taking credit for it. She may feel gleeful about
it, but I don’t. And I think that what these weather people ought to do
instead of acting like asses on television, they ought to do their jobs and
warn us about what’s coming and get the information right for a change, and
then just get off the air. There’s other stuff that we would rather watch.
THIS IS FOR the person who called in from Glen Lyon wanting pee-wee sports
programs for their 5-year-old son. They have those available at the YMCA in
Wilkes-Barre and also at the CYC in Wilkes-Barre. Some of them start as young
as 4 years old for their program.