Fuel costs make buses good choice

4/28/2008

I am just beyond myself in disbelief. Just when you think you have seen it all (very dangerous), news pops up that because of increased fuel costs, TARTA is going to have to cut service to save money.

Let's see, the taxpayers have been funding the ceaseless parade of empty buses around Toledo and the surrounding areas for so many years it has gone unnoticed by most of us. Now that the fuel costs may actually make the bus system a viable form of transportation, saving people money and their jobs, they are going to cut service. I just don't get it. Why wasn't service cut when the buses ran empty? The answer is that the taxpayers paid enough for them to do so. Now that ridership shows signs of increasing, many areas are going to have reduced service.

If this makes any sense to anybody out there, please enlighten me. I just don't get it.

Walt Breier

Perrysburg

Swamp Shop needs Made in U.S.A. logos

Fifth Third Field and the Mud Hens have certainly been a shot in the arm for the City of Toledo and a grand example of the enthusiasm the "Great American Game" can generate in an ailing urban area. I only wish they could take it one step further and start to carry more products made in the United States in the Swamp Shop.

I believe there would still be plenty of profit to be made without raising prices, and wouldn't it be terrific to sport a jacket, cap, or tee shirt that was actually made in the country that invented the game?

William Monaghan

Oregon

City has top-notch refuse collection

In follow-up to the story published in The Blade on April 13 entitled "Toledo trash pickup gets mixed reviews," this is to advise that the Toledo Department of Public Service feels the headline was misleading. The story pointed out that "although litter and filth is obvious in some small pockets of Toledo, it doesn't seem to be a citywide problem." Additionally, "refuse trucks moved quickly through many parts of Central, South, and West Toledo over the past two weeks, leaving nothing but clean streets and empty trash cans in their wake." The photo showing litter and garbage strewn about the curb area at Potter Street and Greenwood Avenue was actually as a result of an eviction, not a regular garbage set out. A resident of that East Toledo neighborhood said, "he has seen trash collectors clean up everything that falls out of a bag or the truck."

Our refuse collectors work with more than 1 million pounds of garbage each day in all types of weather and currently provide unlimited pickup for city residents. If a trash bag is already torn open, collectors do not have to clean up the mess, but many do and we provide a broom and shovel on each truck for their use. Also, complaints are dealt with the same day, if possible. The City typically receives less than five garbage spillage complaints per day. With over 91,000 households collected weekly, that calculates out that 99.99 percent of our residents do not "complain about litter left behind." That hardly qualifies as "mixed reviews."

The City of Toledo offers its residents top-notch refuse collection service and, beginning next month, we will be implementing changes that will improve efficiency and further reduce litter in our city.

William H. Franklin

Director of Public Service

City of Toledo

Make allowances for God's creatures

Recently, Flower Hospital invited nearby residents to a meeting in order to explain their plans for expansion. I did not attend but from my neighbor I learned that the hospital representative said people don't like the Canada geese on the hospital grounds and they plan to get rid of them.

This makes me very sad. I feel we are lucky to have some wildlife nearby. I enjoy seeing the wild geese fly overhead and hearing them honk. I know they do make a bit of a mess on the sidewalk, but this seems to be a small price to pay.

Forty years ago, I watched out my window as a mother quail walked by with her chicks following. I haven't seen one since. I would like to see us make some accommodation for some of God's creatures.

Judy Koles

Harroun Road

Color is not an issue in makeup of Hens

No African-Americans on the Toledo Mud Hens team? What was the point of this April 5 story other than to stir up trouble? Was anything mentioned about Japanese-Americans being on the team? What about native Americans? Italian-Americans? Middle Easterners? Why was it only mentioned that there were no African-Americans on the team? Has sports writer Joe Vardon written a story on the black/white ratio of local basketball teams? A different sport but quite a different story.

I seriously doubt that there is a "Whites Only" sign on the Mud Hens' locker room door and anyone black, white, pink, or purple can try out for the team if they want to.

Thank goodness Coach Leon Durham, who sounds like a man to be respected, doesn't look at his team as black or white but just as his team. We all need to celebrate our Toledo Mud Hens and not make color an issue.

Mr. Vardon needs to close up this can of worms before it starts to smell. Go Hens.

Cheri Kaintz

Provincetown Drive

Store cameras are good for everyone

Just a few thoughts on the question of whether or not small-store owners should be required to have surveillance systems on their store premises. First, who would want them? How about the customers? Just knowing that real camera systems are in place does reduces the probability of criminal incidents.

The insurance companies that cover the risks of harm to property and people find cameras most helpful when defending store owners in civil cases. (Was that slip and fall for real or staged?) Quality recordings of who is on the property and what they were doing can save store owners and their insurance companies a lot of money when defending civil actions against them.

And yes, the criminal-justice system would want them. While state-of-the-art camera systems, even the ones with sound recording ability, will not stop criminals who are desperate, not only do cameras make possible good identifications in short order, but they do not fib. Unless the systems used are low quality, most lawyers will advise their clients to plead guilty and to beg for mercy.

As to those stores owners who don't want cameras, is it because of illegal alcohol/tobacco sales, underage labor violations, or the like? Enough said.

David Axilrod

Manchester Boulevard

Seniors also deserve affordable housing

It is my understanding that the neighbors in southwest Toledo, near Dorr Street, are concerned about the building of a low income, 94-unit senior village. The neighbors are concerned about the race and class of the people who could move there. I use the word "neighbors" loosely.

Let me tell you about senior buildings. I am a social worker in a low-income senior building with over 100 residents. Many of my residents are retired nurses, teachers, sales clerks, hair dressers, ministers, and health-care workers. About 25 percent of our population are seniors from Russia and the Ukraine. They are retired physicians, engineers, and pharmacists. They came to America for the freedom of choice.

These people contributed to society and to our community. They deserve to have affordable housing wherever they choose.

Joyce Moran

Pelham Manor Inc.

Pelham Road

Sen. Barack Obama seemingly spoke with certainty and assurance when he described the attitude of small-town residents. I have not heard or read, however, on what basis he founded his remarks. Has he lived in a small town or done research on what people who do are like?

Perhaps it would help him, and those interested in him, if he would say how he formed his opinion on the above-mentioned matter.

Marilyn M. Willey

River Road