Letter-writer: With a Romney/Ryan ticket, the stakes in November couldn't be higher.
Neighborhood input needed on casino site
If Springfield’s citizens decide at the ballot box that they want casino gaming in our city, shouldn’t we also have a voice in which neighborhood the proposed casino should be located?
Springfield’s situation is unique because of the possibility of multiple bidders. I feel that the decision to pick which neighborhood (and subsequent casino bidder) wins over the others is just too important to be decided by the mayor and City Council.
If the citizens get to have a voice, or better yet, a vote on this matter, it legitimizes all aspects of that decision. It protects the citizens legally and removes any questions of improprieties. Related expenses incurred should be reimbursed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission from the fees they received from the bidding casinos.
– DANIEL ANGERS, Springfield
Romney-Ryan ticket troubling for women
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, and his vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., greet supporters during a campaign event at the Long Family Orchard Farm and Cider Mill in Commerce Township, Mich., on Friday. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)Regarding the Aug. 20 article, “Democrats target Paul Ryan on Women’s Issues,” we now have a full picture of this ticket, and it is deeply troubling for any woman who wants to make her own medical decisions and have access to basic health care.
Massachusetts family planning providers like Planned Parenthood have seen firsthand the women who are being hurt by the dangerous and out-of-touch policies that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan support.
Just like Romney, Ryan wants to end safe and legal abortion; would work to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood’s cancer screenings, birth control, and other basic health care; and would repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying access to birth control, well-woman checkups, and other preventive care.
With a Romney/Ryan ticket, the stakes in November couldn’t be higher which is why anyone who cares about women’s health needs to make their voices heard at the polls on Nov. 6.
– DIANNE LUBY, President, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund, Springfield
Museum’s Sara Orr a treasured worker
Sara Orr, director of public relations and marketing at the Springfied Museums, is retiring at the end of the month after a career of more than three decades. She is shown here in the R. E. Phelon African Hall of the Science Museum, where she first started to work at the Quadrangle. Anne-Gerard Flynn’s Aug. 13 story about Sara Orr’s retirement from her 36-year career with the Springfield Museums was superb, and so much more than the usual dry business announcement of a workplace departure.
Like Sara, I also became involved with the Springfield Quadrangle in about 1976 and have known her since then.
When Sara leaves, along with her will go an incredible amount of expertise, wisdom, knowledge and what is often called an “institutional memory,” something that is in short supply these days. Perhaps because she has hands-on experience with volunteerism, multi-media and more than a healthy dose of diplomacy, Sara is unique. Always even-tempered, forthright and blessed with a rare sixth sense that often saved the day, Sara managed to accomplish so much with grace and a smile.
It is hoped that the years ahead will be fruitful and satisfying for Sara in the presence of her family and her favorite things.
– FRANCES GAGNON, Springfield
Passing of Pesky stirs fond memories
Garry Brown’s article, “Sox lose a legend in Johnny Pesky,” brought back some wonderful memories of my youth growing up in West Springfield, during the 1940s.
Since this was the pre-TV era, the radio was our only dependable source of entertainment for both sports as well as weekly serial programs such as “Amos & Andy”, “The Lone Ranger”, “The Green Hornet” and many others which allowed us to imagine all of the exciting drama which was unfolding before us.
On Saturday, my friend and I would either attend the movies at the Broadway (Springfield) for the unbelievable price of only 99 cents or at the Majestic in West Springfield for a special matinee price of 35 cents. When we returned home, we would spend the rest of the afternoon re-enacting the movie which, in most instances, was a Western. Our Western heroes were John “The Duke” Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
On Sunday afternoons, my dad and I would listen to the Red Sox with my childhood heroes of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doer, Dom DiMaggio and Mel Parnell.
My Western heroes have ridden down the Long Trail toward the sunset and my Red Sox heroes are now playing in a beautiful ballpark where only happiness and perfect playing conditions will be theirs for eternity.
Since I had to use my imagination as a youngster, it is not hard to perceive that, standing at the Heavenly Gates, Saint Peter will say to Johnny Pesky “Johnny, welcome home. How about playing a little baseball with your many friends who have been waiting for this special day.”
– JOHN R. VENNARD, Springfield
Penn State penalties tough on the innocent
Submit your letters to The Republican at letters@repub.com. All letters must include the writer's name, address and telephone number or e-mail address, and are subject to editing. Before offering my comments I want to state that I was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest. In his recent column about Penn State, Ron Chimelis claims as inevitable that the innocent must suffer with the guilty and that it is the “only remedy that might deter future transgressions elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, I think the excessive penalties put too much of a burden on the present staff and students. Isn’t a better solution to target those who were immediately responsible for the abuse and impose just penalties? In the case of Wall Street, we taxpayers bailed out the financial institutions while those immediately responsible went off free, even taking home huge bonuses. We, the innocent, need to claim and receive those bonuses. Related to this, on a personal level I chose not to sue the diocese simply because I figured the money would be coming from the collection basket my family members contributed to and at the same time would affect the ministry of the diocese especially directed to those most in need.
In the current news, I read with much gratitude the way Bishop Maguire responded – he took personal responsibility for what happened and offered sincere regret in asking for forgiveness and understanding. His response is much different from the present Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict never responded to the allegations around his role in covering up the pedophile priests when he was Archbishop in Germany. He and Pope John Paul II presided over the silence of the Vatican during years of abuse. In fact Pope John Paul II awarded Cardinal Law with a position in Rome when he was forced to leave Boston because of the “mess” he presided over for many years. And now Pope John Paul II is being called “blessed” on his way to receiving the title of saint. Sounds like the bonuses Wall Street executives received.
The above situations are all related in so many ways and to me add up to the need to penalize those who are responsible and not the innocent.
– MAURICE J. PROULX, Springfield