Our Readers Speak - June 29, 2009

Remember sidewalks in the next election

Previously, I wrote an article about the bad conditions of Fayetteville’s sidewalks and storm drains.

The sidewalks I have spoken of begin at the opposite side of the street at Pies and Pints uptown and go all the way to Fayetteville High School.

To my amazement, a new sign states that new sidewalks are being put in place from in front of Fayetteville High School, continuing out Nickelville Road.

The project is going to cost taxpayers approximately $250,000; $50,000 is from the city treasury.

They defend it as grant money; it still is from our pockets.

I wondered about this project’s need.

There have never been sidewalks in that area.

One reason could be that a town council member has just built a new home in this area.

The people of Fayetteville were promised that we would have new or repaired sidewalks, storm drains and repaired roads when we saw the revenues from the Fayetteville Town Center along with the sale of Fayetteville’s water utility.

But two years later, we still have to use the crumbling, shifting, overgrown and water-covered sidewalks.

When it rains, it floods the sidewalks in many areas. It is very treacherous in the winter when ice gathers over these same areas.

The sidewalks pose a real hazard; regardless of age, disability or physical capabilities, it is especially hard when you don’t have accessibility that is needed. We need to consider our council members’ promises when elections return.

James Rinehart

Fayetteville

Socialism has long, good history in U.S. and W.Va.

A gentleman wrote to Readers Speak saying he feared our country is slowly embracing Godless socialism. I think that’s called “creeping socialism.”

Why, shucks, we’ve been creeping into socialism ever since Benjamin Franklin set up the U.S. Postal Service in 1775. We need to return completely to the free enterprise system.

Let’s start with the armed services. They reek of socialism. Maybe we could ask General Motors to take over the Army, let Chrysler run the Navy and give the Air Force to American Insurance Group (AIG). The shareholders of Lehman Brothers might like to have the Coast Guard.

Here in West Virginia we could ask Don Blankenship and his Massey coal company if they would like to buy our public school system. They’ve already had experience running our courts.

But I don’t know. I signed up for Medicare (pure socialism) 19 years ago and it’s kept me out of bankruptcy. In fact, I’ve been in and out of Raleigh General Hospital so much that I hear that when I eventually die they’re going to name an entire wing in my memory.

Jim Wood

Beckley