Ottawa Hills deer-hunt plans savage

9/14/2009

The Ottawa Hills deer-kill plan is both sad and laughable.

The residents of the Village of Ottawa Hills chose to live in a community which is a beautiful, natural wildlife area, full of hills, alleys, streams, brooks, and deer. And now they want to spend taxpayer money to kill off these creatures that have lived in Ottawa Hills long before the people moved in?

Sad, because, as has been documented in Akron and elsewhere where White Buffalo has been hired, their "humane" methods include rocket nets, helicopters, bolt guns, beating, stabbing, and plastic bag smothering, and carcasses left to rot for days.

Observers report seeing steel bolts repeatedly missing brains, instead plunging into eyes and ears as the deer scream, struggle, and thrash. No proud hunter or NRA member would think of engaging in the torture and slaughter this gang employs.

Yet it is laughable because Ottawa Hills is not fenced in, nor is it surrounded by natural boundaries, and the communities surrounding the village are also populated with deer.

So the Anthony DiNicola - president of White Buffalo - gang are going to "bait" Ottawa Hills to lure the deer to their death?

Where do they think all the deer in surrounding communities are going to go? Do they think that the deer will read of the killings in The Blade article and therefore stay away from Ottawa Hills?

Obviously not. Therefore the taxpayers of Ottawa Hills either will be paying to eradicate deer from the entire counties of Lucas and Wood at $300 or more a head; or, because nature abhors a vacuum, as soon as their crew has finished its butchery and left, the deer from surrounding areas will enter the lush forestry of Ottawa Hills, leaving the village right back where it was before the kill.

Nate Silverman

Ottawa Hills

Most candidates run for office because they want to improve their community and not because the pay is great or that the job is easy. The time is here to try to discredit candidates through the media. Why can't campaigns be run with positive input and leave the innuendos, insinuations, and nonrelated issues to the gossip mongers?

During the presidential campaign last year, we heard about Cindy McCain's prescription drug problem, former Gov. Sarah Palin's support of her unwed daughter, and the questionable ethics of President Obama's former pastor.

Who cares? I was not voting for those people, only deciding which candidate would do the best job.

Now headlines are sensationalizing Mayor Marge Brown of Oregon for the indiscretions, bad judgment, and dismissed accusations of an Oregon police officer, who happens to be her son, hired by her predecessor. The headline in a recent Blade stated, "Mayor's son loses 20 days' pay after inquiry into misconduct." Mayor Brown stood back while her chief of police handled the situation, which is considered closed.

Mayor Brown is a full-time mayor who has supported the Oregon community and citizens since she was elected. Her door is always open and she returns phone calls and communications promptly. Before she was mayor, she was a dedicated educator in our school system.

Has Mayor Brown made mistakes? I am sure she has, but just ask her and she will readily admit to them. There is no perfect person serving any of our communities, but most try their hardest. Mayor Brown has served Oregon citizens with integrity, diligence, respect, and love of her community.

Whether or not she is our candidate of choice, she doesn't deserve to be headlined on the front page of The Blade with such slanted reporting.

Joy Vail

Oregon

I need your help. A large number of good-paying blue collar jobs have been lost. Our economy is suffering from the loss of those jobs and the jobs they supported. We are losing population. Housing prices are crumbling. There are people who are ready to work and buildings ready to be put to use. This is a huge opportunity for anybody to do business in our town.

The question is, do you have a department dedicated to the attraction of outside businesses to our area? And if such a department exists, how much additional emphasis/funding has been added to it in light of our economic downturn?

We are lacking buyers in this city. I need buyers for my businesses, you need customers with credit. The bonus is that an emphasis on this subject will strengthen our housing market and help to restore housing values, which you might agree would help solve many of your existing customers' problems.

If I had your resources, I would have a whole department dedicated to finding these opportunities and making them known with one goal in mind: attracting jobs. Specifically, one or more of these people would be focused on creating an alliance of other banks/businesses with the same interest to amplify the effect.

Additionally, you should be in touch with the city's economic development department and all levels of government to locate additional incentives for interested parties so that they see a package of efforts designed to make this the new hot spot to build a business. The Internet has made it possible for a business to exist here and find buyers in other countries. We are centrally located between four major cities, we have Lake Erie, and we are among the leaders in the country for affordable housing. Who will take the lead on this issue?

Norm Maran

Oak Grove Place

"Take responsibility for your actions, stay in school, learn from your mistakes, set realistic goals, dare to dream." Please tell me how these words could possibly be misconstrued to be some hidden political agenda. They're things that parents and teachers alike should be telling their children, in order for them to succeed. Unfortunately, even though President Obama's entire speech was made available for review prior to its being broadcast, the people who criticized him the most probably didn't bother to read it. Apparently, students from Cardinal Stritch High School were challenged and motivated by his speech, while many of the other parents and school administrators preferred to let a golden opportunity to help their kids, pass them by.

Ron Thompson

Chardon, Ohio

I'm interested in how Opal Covey plans on paying for this "Paradise Amusement Park."

She's expressed concern about tax dollars and where they are going.

So if we, or God, elect her to office, will our tax dollars be paying for her amusement park?

Does she even know how this all works or is she simply doing this for attention? I believe it's the latter. Let's stop giving her the attention she craves.

Tamra St. John

Oregon

Power boaters do not own Lake Erie. I'm so tired of taking out my kayak and almost getting run over or flipped over by someone speeding by. I have the right of way. Go to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Web site and read your boating rules. The lake is big enough for both of us. There is room to drive around small watercrafts at a respectable distance to keep both boats safe. ODNR Division of Watercraft: A power vessel under way shall keep out of the way of a vessel restricted in its ability to maneuver.

MICHELLE GILFORD

321st Street