The obviously grieving mother wrote a letter to the editor complaining about the actions of the coroners of Washington and Greene counties. Her complaint was based upon misinformation and what would appear to be an obvious failure of responsibility, hidden from the mother, by the funeral home that attended to the final disposition of the infant.
The letter states that the child's cremated remains could not be delivered to the mother because the coroners of Washington and Greene counties failed to sign the necessary paperwork for the cremation to proceed.
As stated in the letter, the child died in Greene County but was taken by the family to Washington Hospital. Since the remains were in Washington County, but the death occurred in Greene County, there was a discussion between the coroners on May 22, the date that the coroner of Washington County was notified of the request for cremation authorization. When it was determined that Washington County should execute the cremation authorization, it was done immediately by Coroner Tim Warco. The authorization was to be faxed to the funeral home. Upon attempting to fax the information on May 22, the coroner's office was informed by the funeral that there was a general power outage in the area, and that the funeral personnel would be away until May 26. On May 26, the cremation authorization was forwarded to the funeral home. What happened after that is between the funeral home and the family.
While deeply sympathizing with the pain of the family, the misrepresentation of the facts presented in your newspaper cannot be permitted to stand without accurate rebuttal.
S. Timothy Warco
Washington County coroner
Gregory P. Rohanna
Greene County coroner
Don't ruin care
for the insured
Uniform health-care coverage for all is being left to Congress. This supposedly will be paid for by cutting $313 billion from current health-care costs in 10 years and a $635 billion down payment covered by tax increases. The plan will be shaped by the glorious epitome of cost savings and thrift, our Congress, the same group that shaped the trillion-dollar bailouts that did not prevent bankruptcies. How can anyone believe the same group will design any health-care system that is cost-efficient?
Obama suggests trimming payments to hospitals by $200 billion over the next 10 years. With the government printing press running overtime, this cut is a gross underestimate, because of future inflation. This is not reducing costs; it is cutting service. It is easy to place chosen arbitrary numbers on a plan to justify a proposal. Forced cost cuts and price controls do not work. President Carter tried and failed miserably to use price controls during his term. Price controls resulted in the rationing of items and services with many of these being taken off the market. Congress is entering a political mine field if implementing a plan that will reduce health-care service to those currently insured.
Health care for the uninsured is an admirable goal. It should not be achieved through rationing or reducing services to those already covered. Let the political experts tinker with health care for the uninsured without damaging the current system. Don't hold your breath!
John Holt
North Franklin Township
Two great races,
no great choice
With the recent announcement that Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby, is planning to be entered in the West Virginia Derby on Aug. 1 as a prep race for the Travers Stake at Saratoga later this summer, we fans have a decision to make.
There is another local attraction for horse race fans in our area in that the 43rd Adios Pace for the Orchids is also to be held on Aug. 1. We live in close proximity to each track, and it is possible to attend both race cards if both tracks would be willing to talk about scheduling their races so that there is a gap between cards long enough for us to travel between tracks.
Well, that was only in theory as they are going with a post time of 12:15 p.m. for the Adios Day card at The Meadows and a 2 p.m. post time for Mountaineer's Derby. These businesses desire our attendance but fail to work out a plan in which they both can meet the needs of their fan base.
If both racing entities wanted to serve their fans, they would have staggered their post times so that the local fans could attend both events. Many of us attend both thoroughbred and harness racing. The fans of harness and thoroughbreds are not mutually exclusive.
My suggestion is that because they overlapped their post times, we should all can go to the dog races in Wheeling and bet both horse venues from their simulcast areas. In addition, I bet Wheeling Downs will not be overcrowded or understaffed. See you at the puppies!
Robert Zanakis
Canonsburg