Support Alzheimer's research

7/24/2006

We applaud The Blade for raising awareness of Capitol Hill's cuts for Alzheimer's research. As your July 10 editorial noted, there are now 4.5 million Americans who have Alzheimer's disease, and the number of cases may reach 16 million by 2050.

Bringing the numbers closer to home, there are currently more than 32,000 people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in the 24 counties served by the Alzheimer's Association, Northwest Ohio Chapter. Factor in family members, friends, coworkers, and others, and a more accurate picture shows there are tens of thousands more people in our local communities who are impacted by the disease, most on a daily basis.

Seventy percent of those with Alzheimer's disease live at home. One in three Americans knows someone who has Alzheimer's.

Families and caregivers need information, support groups, counseling, and a 24-hour Helpline for assistance at any time. Dealing with unparalleled and relentless levels of stress, they also need relief care, or respite, assistance to try to balance personal issues in their own lives.

All of the above services, and many more, are provided free of charge by the Alzheimer's Association, Northwest Ohio Chapter. The chapter has been doing this since 1981, and the demands for our services are now at record levels.

Area residents should urge their elected officials to increase funds for Alzheimer's research. As The Blade noted, "There is no time to waste on finding a cure."

SALLI BOLLIN

Executive Director

Northwest Ohio Chapter

Alzheimer's Association

Two recent Forum letters prompt this letter. Carty Finkbeiner's letter July 15, "Join effort to re-energize Toledo," and Michael Kolinski's letter on July 17, "Toledo's inferiority complex," both hit the nail squarely on the head. We have way more than our share of exceptional community assets, and we continue to let people tell us that we are the armpit of the Midwest.

We have assets any city of a million people would kill for: one of the top five art museums in the country, a great zoo, one of the finest regional symphony orchestras in the country, a fabulous metroparks system, the Toledo Botanical Garden, high quality opera and ballet, the finest minor league ballpark in America, the country's most beautiful medical school campus, a fine local university, one of the top two-year technical schools anywhere, highest quality medical services, the largest river flowing into any of the Great Lakes, the most productive lake (for fishing) in the world, a very reasonable cost of living, and, best of all, you can get to any of them in 20 minutes maximum! If you have to have a big-city "fix," Detroit is an hour away, Cleveland two hours, and Chicago five.

What's not to like? We have a fabulous place to live, lovely suburbs, and a slowly awakening downtown.

Let's start appreciating our great location and environment, and fabulous assets, and tell the rest of the world why we're proud and happy to live here!

CLINT MAUK

Perrysburg

Editor's note: Mr. Mauk is author of a 2005 book, "Historical Tales of Toledo."

Ryan E. Smith's July 16 article on "Toledo's Hollywood Star Power" spotlighted the minor role that Toledo has played in many films, but a related story about Toledo's much bigger roles jllywood remains untold.

While The Blade covers the lives and times of a few famous "Hollywood" people born in Toledo, e.g., Katie Holmes, Jamie Farr, and Andy Fenady, most readers don't know of the many people - at least 157 - born in Toledo who have worked or are working in Hollywood as composers, directors, writers, editors, casting directors, crew members, set decorators, actors, cinematographers, etc.

Visit the Internet movie database at www.imdb.com and search for a Toledo-born person, say, Cliff Arquette. Then, on his page, click on the "Toledo, Ohio" link and you'll be taken to a fascinating roster of at least 157 Hollywood-connected Toledo natives. Of course, you can click on their individual imdb.com pages to learn about their "stardom."

Most people would probably be surprised to learn that Toledo has been and remains such a fecund supplier of famous, not-so-famous, and hope-to-be famous Hollywood talent. And there are many scions of Toledo-born "first generation famous" Hollywood persons, e.g., the Arquettes working in Hollywood.

Toledo's many stars shine brightly at home and in Hollywood!

THOMAS R. SCHOEN

Birdie Drive

Wasn't the Fourth of July weeks ago? Isn't shooting off fireworks in the city against the law? Why does our neighborhood still have to listen to them? The big "booms" rattle our windows, wake our children from a sound sleep, and cause our dogs and cats to pant and hide under the beds!

And yes, all this wonderful action starts late at night during the work week, and lasts sometimes as long as two hours.

Do these people not work? Living in a low-income area, how do they afford all these fireworks? Calling the police has not done much good. By the time they get to the scene, all have gone inside to wait for them to leave so they can start again. Can't something be done to stop this illegal act?

SANDY BIGLER

Licking Street

It's ridiculous that the Corp of Engineers cannot find out why the water will flood certain areas of Toledo. Let's remember that most of the sewers in Toledo are 50 to 100 years old. It appears that Toledo would rather pump out water than fix the sewer problem. This water problem has been shelved for many years. If I were a resident of Toledo, I would send my loss to City Council rather than FEMA. What a great city to have this problem repeat itself three times in three months.

RICHARD SCHIFFERLY

Waterville

I got sick when I read the July 17 article about Ohio sex offenders law being tough to enforce. Hire more people to help Law Director John Madigan. There's money for everything else.

A thousand feet away from schools is still too close. Jail terms, electronic ankle bracelets, and counseling do not help these people. They will commit this awful crime again.

We need to protect children from these monsters, and we need to do it now.

LINDA SHADE

Waterville

While visiting Toledo, I was struck by your editorial lionizing The Andersons' investment in ethanol production facilities. In particular the declaration regarding "the nation's shameful dependence on energy from petroleum in general and foreign oil in particular" seemed misplaced.

It seems strange that we now classify our economic raw materials (and foods, as another editorial explained) as a matter of moral consequence. By what measure does one determine right or wrong in such matters? Does the increased cost of ethanol-blended gasoline acknowledged in your editorial make it similarly shameful?

After all, an artificially increased gasoline price is, in fact, a highly regressive tax which disproportionately impacts lower-income consumers of transportation and widely transported products, such as food.

ROBERT STURGILL

CEO

Enigma Semiconductor, Inc.

Santa Clara, Calif.

This Bush cabal is framing the immigration question entirely backward. It is not illegal employees, but it is illegal employers! Please enforce real penalties against employers of undocumented immigrants.

Then let's document the workers they want and let them go back to work with all the benefits they deserve for working in the good ol' U.S.A!

DAVID LONGACRE

Glenloch Way