Letters to the editor
Let your voice be heard
If you were looking for a home to settle in and raise a family, you would want someplace safe that would give your loved ones the best chance for a healthy and happy life – a place to foster love, share happy memories and milestones, and plan for the future.
You might dream of some green space or desire to be close to a park or a stream. My guess is that if you knew that your choice in a home could lead to serious health risks, you would eliminate it as a choice of a home. You wouldn’t need the additional information that you could be unable to enjoy outdoor space because of persistent noise, vibration, and humming, or that you could be subject to potential contaminants in your air, water, and land.
Nor would you need to know that your water and electricity prices could skyrocket through no overuse of yours accompanied by unreliable utilities, and that your home value could plunge.
Clearly, the list of negatives in this choice of a home would cause anyone to run quickly away from it. But if a data center succeeds in moving into or near your township, you have all of the above.
If you live in South Strabane Township, please plan on attending planning commission and supervisors meetings later this month to show the supervisors that the residents favor the adoption of a strong data center ordinance. Let your voice be heard. If you are not a South Strabane Township resident, please allow your voice to be heard by contacting our Washington County commissioners, Sen. Camera Bartolotta, state Rep. Tim O’Neal, and Gov. Josh Shapiro. Request that a moratorium be put into place to fully investigate data center fallout to life and to the environment.
Let our elected officials know that we care about our health, our homes, and our rights.
Diane Ecker
Washington
An ‘upside-down’ opinion
Quite the curious opinion piece from Star Parker on Feb. 26. I looked her up. My guess is if she thought a wing on her plate was from the left side of a chicken, she’d throw it out. Seriously, she is against more things than she is for.
I think she lives on a different planet than I do. She has tossed some percentages in the air, and they came back down telling her Democrats are against America. That Democrats want a different country.
You know what I want, Ms. Parker?
A country where no one is above the law.
A country where health care doesn’t mean a family is destroyed because they can’t afford medicine.
A country where education is world class for everyone. That means affordable child care where those caring for the children are trained. It means pre-K through high school where the really smart kids get challenged and the really talented kids who want to work with their hands learn the skills needed to start their own business.
A country where a person is measured not by the color of their skin but rather by the content of their character. (Thanks, Dr. King)
A country where the air is clean, the water is safe, the infrastructure is sound.
Most of all, I want a country where the Constitution is for everyone. A country where someone enjoying their First Amendment rights isn’t shot by masked gunmen. A country where just because someone is ultra-rich doesn’t mean they get away with anything and everything.
Perhaps Ms. Parker doesn’t realize this, but the world is not impressed with people being thrown into detention because they happen to be brown or Black or have an accent.
Ms. Parker has it upside down. (That’s what happens when you lean too far one way). Make no mistake, the Founding Fathers would be horrified by how the Constitution is being trampled on.
There is every reason to celebrate the birthday of the emergence of a democratic republic. There is every reason to celebrate that half of this country wants that back.
Kitty Lagorio
Venetia
It takes ‘little to be big’
Thanks to Dave Bates for his Feb. 22 article, “Mentoring should be simple and done frequently”! For those who would like to take it a step further, I have an excellent suggestion: Big Brothers Big Sisters!
Yes, we are in Washington (and Greene) counties and we have a waiting list for young people who are waiting to be matched with caring adults who are willing and able to be caring mentors.
Before you say, “I don’t have the time,” I have discovered those who think that are the ones who make time for who and what is important. We have several options for mentoring that will align with your schedule. Please give us a try!
For more information, call 412-204-1224 or visit bbbspgh.org.
It takes little to be big!
Carla Dunlap
Washington
Stop the insanity
Last September I submitted a letter to the editor, “History Does Repeat,” that was published. Now in March, anyone can see more and more of history repeating in our own country as it follows a pattern set forth in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.
It is obvious to all now that the Republican Congress has abandoned its constitutional role and turned over its legislative powers to the president.
“No new wars” was just another lie like “ending the war between Russia and Ukraine on day one,” as we were told. And where is the gas for $1.80 a gallon? Where is the cost of living going down, as we were promised? Anyone who actually does shop for groceries and does fill their cars’ gas tank knows we are no better off now than we were back in November 2024. And now we go to war with Iran and the Republican-led majority Congress is nowhere to be found.
It is clear there is no more Grand Old Party in existence. How many men and women serving in our armed forces will lose their lives in an unknown time frame for the sake of the president’s goal of retribution? How do all the lies of the past year make America great again?
I can only hope the citizens in our area will call their respective Congress members and urge them to act and put an end to the autocratic actions and insanity of the White House and the present administration.
Rev. Joseph Lewandowski (ret.)
Washington