Media portrayals
I am appalled by the divergence between our actual way of life in the Charles Village area and the way it is portrayed in the media.
On 25th Street, from one end of Charles Village to the other, I have located no resident who regularly parks his car there whose vehicle has not been damaged by thieves or vandals. If one goes by the reports in the media, this problem does not exist.
It is clear that the perpetrators are not seasoned criminals but hacks, people who are very easy to apprehend. Yet these crimes have continued over a long period.
Now we are presented with a proposal to raise the property taxes in the area to provide additional security.
Can it be that this laxity of enforcement was an attempt by influential entities, especially the largest employer in this city (which, by the way, strongly supports this proposal), to make the residents more conducive to this tax hike? I wonder.
Since there has been no real attempt to apprehend these vandals, what will happen to adjacent neighborhoods which will not have this extra security?
Will the net effect be to chase away these vandals into these adjacent neighborhoods that already bear a disproportionate crime load?
nthony Bennett
Baltimore
That's right
Parris Glendening accuses Ellen Sauerbrey of being "right." In a statement in The Sun Sept. 29, David Seldin of Mr. Glendening's campaign said that Mrs. Sauerbrey is the candidate of the extreme, out of step with Maryland, out of step on the gun ban, and that Mr. Glendening is the mainstream candidate.
As a conservative Democrat, I have to take issue with those accusations about Mrs. Sauerbrey.
For too long, the Democratic leadership has been extremely liberal and out of step and left of the mainstream populace, whether it be Democrat or Republican.
One only has to look around and see the deteriorating conditions of our country and state under the liberal Democrat leadership.
Mrs. Sauerbrey represents what is right and decent. It is right to reduce taxes and to control over-expenditures on non-essential programs. It is right to be pro-family. It is right to be pro-life. It is the right choice, for she does represent the mainstream populace.
As a conservative Democrat, I urge all my fellow Democrats to join with me to restore what is right and decent for our state and families.
I ask that you do not vote along party-lines but vote for the right choice, and that right choice is Ellen Sauerbrey for governor.
On a further note -- we in Maryland do not need the liberal Boston crowd to run our state.
Agnes Muhl
Catonsville
Drinking dog
To condone the actions of Joe Burchette in your Oct. 11 article, "Beer Hound," is grossly negligent.
Writing about such stupidity as giving an animal what is tantamount to poison, then passing it off as "fluff," is as irresponsible as the action itself.
Two-to-four beers to a 60-pound dog is equivalent to seven-to-12 beers to a 200-pound man. Considering the life span of the animal is about 12 years, how well do you think that dog's liver can process that much alcohol?
Also consider that there are many people in this town who are going to see the picture and the caption and say to themselves "Gee, it mus' be OK to give Rover a coupla Natty Bohs."
As innocent as this all seems, it sets a dangerous precedent. I can see some dumb kid now blowing pot smoke in the face of mom's dachshund.
If you are going to own a pet, take some responsibility. You're supposed to know better. They can't.
Ray Allis
Elkridge
Do it right
Frank DeFilippo, in his Oct. 13 Other Voices column, warns apocalyptically that a Gov. Ellen Sauerbrey income tax cut may result in locked schools, trashy streets, closed hospitals and museums -- a Maryland Dark Age descending.
What the tax cut will mean to Maryland is less "do it now" and more "do it right." That annual $562 income tax saving Mr. DeFilippo projects for a family of four is money that can be spent, saved or invested as its earners decide. That's freedom.
After 10 years, the $5,620 saved might help fund a child's education. After 20 years, the $11,240 saved might be used to help a grown child buy a first house. After 30 years, the $16,860 saved might provide a better quality of retirement life for our mythical couple . . .
When I consider the long-range outcomes of both Ms. Sauerbrey's personal income tax reduction and Mr. Glendening's million send-me-to-Annapolis-I'm-a-moderate campaign giveaway, I prefer the Sauerbrey plan.
Brian G. Boettcher
Ellicott City
Flawed tickets
I just wanted to comment on "yellow tickets" in schools.
You can obtain these tickets for being good or bad. For example, if you litter, you would get a yellow ticket.
You can also get a ticket for helping another student out. That is considered good.
I feel that this system has a flaw that should be looked into.
If your bus came just after 8 a.m., teachers do not consider that late.
Some kids must go to the music room before class to put their instruments away. Then they must rush to their lockers to get the books needed for classes before lunch. The late bell rings; you get to class and get a ticket.
I do not think this is fair, and I know that it is a flaw that can be corrected.
Lena Restivo
Baltimore
Change direction
It is becoming more and more apparent that a drug-stained America will linger for many years to come.
The problem is ours. It is time again to quit bickering and complaining and suggest ways to successfully change direction.
Have we ever once thought that the whole drug "thing" just makes too much money?
Who is willing to put an end to such an income? How would we go about doing it? Who wants to risk their life doing it?
We are left guessing while our children are stolen out from under us. I agree, we should change direction.
Michael Michener
Severn
Who's to blame for state police violations?
I read with exasperation the Oct. 9 article about the Maryland State Police.
Last spring, your readers were informed of the excesses and abuses that took place during the Block raid. Several years ago, your readers were informed about how our petulant governor had license-tag numbers taken of those protesting some of his policies.
Can we really now be shocked that the superintendent of the state police, who was the governor's bodyguard and dog-walker, now takes an attitude that he is not responsible for anything that happened before he took office? What has he done to stop his band of uniformed bullies?
I shudder to think what it must have been like for the troopers who had the courage to speak up against injustice and violations of the law.
They should be given a medal. But who will pin it on? Who is responsible for allowing this to go on?
Certainly the police department and the men in charge. Certainly the executive branch of the state government.
And certainly the attorney general's office oh, I forgot, they're defending this conduct.
I hope the voters are responsible and remove those that have enabled these men we trust to protect us.
Catherine Lewis
Baltimore
Serene sounds
As a 23-year resident of downtown Baltimore, I have had to exist with the typical noises of the city: fire engines, boom boxes, car alarms, noisy nocturnal pedestrians -- you name it.
What a pleasure it is to hear the bells of St. Martin's Roman Catholic Church nearby. I also enjoy the carillon at the church I attend: Old St. Paul's, even when it plays "Take me out to the ballpark" every April.
So I am particularly puzzled when another Baltimore citizen complains about the bells of St. John's, Huntingdon.
I have often sat in the waiting room of nearby Vinson's Animal Hospital with a distressed pet and my two little boys.
When the bells do their duty, it is an exercise in serenity. My children calm down so they can hear, and so does the dog.
If Dolores Moran wants to live in a quiet neighborhood, then why did she choose an area so near Memorial Stadium? Certainly, St. John's has been there longer.
I hope that the rest of her neighborhood is in order and free of crime, drugs and noise. If not, her complaint is totally without validity.
April Ingloes Smith
Baltimore