MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement

Funding Clean Ohio is critical

Funding Clean Ohio is critical

I agree with Steve Madewell, executive director of Metroparks of the Toledo Area, that the Ohio General Assembly should fully fund Clean Ohio this year ("Clean Ohio needs full funding," op-ed, April 22).

Since its inception in 2000, Clean Ohio has funded brownfield revitalization, green-space conservation, creation of trails, and farmland preservation in every Ohio county.

Like the Metroparks and other park districts, including those in Wood and Sandusky counties, Black Swamp Conservancy has used the green-space program to create public nature preserves. Our preserves include several in Ottawa and Paulding counties, which do not have park districts.

Advertisement

Black Swamp Conservancy has been a regular participant in the farmland preservation program. Our land trust has helped farm families bring millions of dollars to our region's economy. The conservancy has helped protect more than 7,000 acres of northwest Ohio farm ground -- prime soil that always will be used for agriculture.

It makes good economic sense to help sustain Ohio's No. 1 industry: agriculture and food, which supports one of every seven jobs in the state. That's especially true in light of the staggering rate at which Ohio is losing its best farmland. While the state's population grows at an annual rate of only 1.6 percent, more than 30,000 acres of agricultural land are developed for residential, industrial, or commercial use every year in Ohio.

All state residents benefit from Clean Ohio.

Kevin Joyce

Advertisement

Executive Director Black Swamp Conservancy Perrysburg


Click here to submit a letter to the editor.

 

Nuns' reform needs to take higher path

The Roman Catholic bishops still don't get it ("Blair to help lead reform of group for U.S. nuns; Vatican cites problems in stance on doctrines," April 19). Now they want to tell the sisters how to reform.

These women teach children and administer schools, hospitals, and parishes. They nurse the sick, and care for the imprisoned, the homeless, the poor, and the physically and sexually abused. They work for social justice, especially for women, in a misogynistic church.

Remember the declining church membership and collections after the sexual abuse scandal broke? Just wait until people in the pews think about this for a few weeks.

If the bishops and the Vatican want to interfere in the lives of the sisters, they can give more money to care for retired sisters and work toward full ministry and leadership for women this year, not in five years.

Jacqueline Koralewski Konwinski

Sylvania

 

It's good to bring nuns back to church

I am pleased to see that Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair is part of a team that will help reform those nuns who have deviated from church teaching.

Nuns represent the church, not their own opinions. They are as responsible for keeping true to the faith as are priests and bishops.

Deviation only causes confusion and harms His children. It cannot be condoned or ignored. It must be corrected.

Steve Cherry

Oregon

 

Blair's role brings sadness, not shock

I am sad, but not shocked, that Bishop Blair has been chosen by the Vatican to begin a modern inquisition on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Bishop Blair called on the Catholic community to pull its financial support from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. So it seems only fitting that he would spearhead an inquiry into what some call the radical feminist themes of equality, acceptance, and social justice to which religious women throughout the United States have dedicated themselves.

If these devoted women are my church's idea of an insurrection, I say: You go, girls.

Kelly Dick

Waterville

 

Blair on nun-hunt team is repulsive

The news that Bishop Blair is on a team of nun-hunters is repulsive.

The authority to investigate America's Catholic nuns comes from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. Did we not learn anything from the Inquisition?

Does Bishop Blair hope that serving on this committee will lead to a higher position in the all-male hierarchy of the Catholic Church?

Just about every Catholic knows that the bulk of the work of the church is done by women, especially nuns. These women, like the women who followed Jesus on His ministry, minister to the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, and the disadvantaged. They model Jesus through their actions, not with pomposity and high privilege.

Maybe the bishop ought to walk in their shoes for one day to experience what a true follower of Jesus is committed to do. Who would Jesus investigate?

Denis Eble

Sylvania Township

 

What a way to thank nuns

I read with regret of the investigation of the Catholic nuns, whose passion for justice helped shape our nation's landscape.

Nuns shaped Catholic culture and American life in ways that cannot be diminished. The remaining U.S. Catholic sisters are carrying on the legacy of sacrifice and service to our world that began more than three centuries ago. Few question their faith.

Sarah McHugh

Ottawa Hills

 

Child's actions deserved restraint

I applaud the actions of school officials and police as reported in your April 18 article "Police cuff kindergartner who threw tantrum at school; Florida chief says action was to protect child, officers." Shame on the mother and the aunt of the child involved in the incident.

The mother will likely seek financial damages against the police department and school system. All who had to witness this bad behavior by the child should seek legal restitution from the mother and aunt for allowing the child to create a dangerous environment.

Patty Schissler

Luddington Drive

 

Obligation needs to fall on families

Your April 22 article "Local families struggle under welfare rules; State, facing $130M federal fine, trims numbers of recipients" was about single mothers and taxpayers' obligation to support them.

Does anyone think it might be an obligation of the sperm donors and the families of those involved?

Joe O'Leary

Monclova Township

 

Responsibility questioned

I have one question for Taschae Carter, the mother of five children by the age of 23: How does your right to breed make it our responsibility to feed?

Jake Schueler

Sandusky

 

Where was respect for a funeral?

Not long ago, I attended a funeral in a small northwest Ohio town. As the funeral procession made its way toward the cemetery, oncoming traffic pulled to the side of the road and waited. Police officers stood by their cars with their hands over their hearts.

Contrast this to something I recently saw in West Toledo. As the flagged cars in the funeral procession turned through an intersection, impatient motorists to their left surged out among them, swerving, honking, and gesturing.

Maybe we need to re-educate ourselves about what is proper and respectful.

Jack Schilb

Swanton Township

First Published April 26, 2012, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS  
Join the Conversation
We value your comments and civil discourse. Click here to review our Commenting Guidelines.
Must Read
Partners
Advertisement
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
Pittsburgh skyline silhouette
TOP
Email a Story