Letters To Editor ; Awe-Struck By Lancaster City Pitts And The Aca Story Behind Quote Reason For Season Fulton Access Unique Hats Off To Gridders…

Letters To Editor ; Awe-Struck By Lancaster City Pitts And The Aca Story Behind Quote Reason For Season Fulton Access Unique Hats Off To Gridders Biased School Report Clean Snow From Cars

I had to stop and take the time to express my admiration and appreciation for the place you call home.

From the architecture to the attitudes, I was gratefully awe- struck by your city. It started with fresh food being dropped at the snug little diner downtown to the small but thorough North Museum with its array of birds and snakes on College Avenue; the duplex houses, the ice-floe slabs of concrete pushed up by the sycamores along West Chestnut Street; the craft shops, fluted pillars, modern sculpture, the sailor/soldier monument, Central Market and Steinman Park.

It all speaks to the notion of a clean, friendly, historic and forward-looking city. Even the panhandlers were polite.

I'm from a beautiful seaside town to the south of grimy Parochial and rude Boston, and I suppose it's all relative. But when I need a shot of city life, I'll head back to Lancaster.

Gus Duffey

Stephen Duffey

Scituate, Mass.

Thank you, Congressman Pitts, for recommending healthCare.gov!

Rep. Joe Pitts has been an outspoken critic of the Affordable Care Act, and so I was wondering what he would advise a constituent who did not have health insurance. So I emailed him through his website and asked this question:

"I do not have health insurance and I want to get it. I do not want Obamacare. What should I do? I am 62."

Let me be honest: I do have health insurance and I am a strong supporter of the ACA. I am 62 and I am a constituent.

I received a phone call from a member of the congressman's staff the next day. After confirming that I was not eligible for Medicare or VA insurance or Medicaid, the staffer hesitantly said that although Congressman Pitts opposes the ACA, it would probably be advisable for me to try to use healthCare.gov.

He explained that I would be subject to a penalty if I did not get insurance. When I said that I "didn't want government insurance," he explained that these are private policies and that the site just provides an opportunity to shop.

He was most helpful and told me to call if I had any problems with the web site. I asked him if other people were having problems and he said, "Not really."

I never thought I would say this, but kudos to Pitts and his staff.

In spite of their strong ideological opposition to Obamacare, they did the right thing by guiding me to healthCare.gov. I just wish he would say it publicly so those of his constituents who really do need coverage will take advantage of this opportunity.

Wayne Braffman

Kennett Square

Columnist Steve Cornell's latest, anti-government rant ("It's time to tame the monster government," Sunday News, Dec. 8) ends with a famous quote by Ronald Reagan warning about government eroding our freedom.

What Cornell doesn't tell his readers is that this quote by Reagan in 1961 was in specific reference to his efforts to prevent Congress from passing Medicare legislation.

Would today's senior citizens in Cornell's congregation think that Medicare somehow erodes their precious freedoms? Would they, with the myriad health problems that come with aging, want to give up their government guaranteed health care under Medicare and throw themselves at the tender mercies of the private insurance companies?

I hardly think so. Before Medicare, 40 percent of seniors could not get health insurance policies on the private market because they were deemed too much of a risk for private, profit-driven health insurers.

This Christmas, I am giving thanks that Reagan and other conservatives failed in their efforts to derail Medicare in the 1960s.

This Christmas I am giving thanks for the liberals who had the vision and moral values to realize that a government program could alleviate human suffering, premature death and impoverishment that often afflicted the elderly with no health coverage.

I only wish that we could have Medicare for everyone.

Terrie Eshleman

Manheim

This is a biblical response to the "Focus on Jesus in Christmas season," Dr. Gilbert Peterson's Christmas column about the birth of the baby Jesus.

The name Christ, church and Christian is often mentioned in the Scripture, but the name Christmas, a Christian holiday, is never mentioned in the Holy Bible.

Be thankful, in America, Christians may respect their freedom of religion.

Children live in a pluralistic culture where another noble name, "Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas," is never mentioned in the Bible. Children adore the X-mas Santa.

As Christian members of a local church, we focus on John 3:17 King James Version, and honor the "blessed Christian holy day" of Christmas on Dec. 25.

John W. Fry

Denver

I would like to make a correction to the Dec. 15 letter to the editor, "Theater for All," by Susan Kennedy. The letter states audio description for "Mary Poppins" was provided by Jennifer Ridgway. Jennifer actually provides closed captioning services for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. I provided the audio description for Mary Poppins.

I would like to provide a little more information on the Fulton's access programs. I worked as an audio describer in a city with a population of half a million for seven years.

The Fulton's Access Programs far exceed what is currently being provided in many large metropolitan cities.

I am impressed by, and proud to be part of the Fulton's outreach to make live theater accessible to and meaningful for all individuals.

The following services are elements of this outreach: American Sign Language interpretation is provided on the second Saturday of each Premier Series production. Open captioned performances are held on the second Saturday and third Tuesday of each Premier Series production.

Audio described performances are held on the second Saturday and third Tuesday of each Premier Series production.

On the third Saturday of Saturday Morning Family Series, Fulton Theatere provides activities to equip young children with sensory issues with the skills necessary to participate in theatre.

Lancaster should be proud of the Fulton for being such a leader in arts access for all.

Rebecca Williams

Fulton Theater

Audio Describer

Lancaster

My entire family went to Hershey Stadium to show our support for the Manheim Central Baron football team as we do every game. This team came into the district title match without several key players including their starting quarterback. They still showed up and played hard until the end.

I find the headline "Manheim Mauling" was uncalled for. You need to remember these are teenage boys who put in a lot of time and effort to reach this point. These are talented players from our own community, not bused-in to form a winning team. You should be praising their hard work, effort and all of their accomplishments as well.

Hold your heads high, boys.Making it to a district title game is a victory in itself. Congratulations to the entire Baron football team, coaching staff and parents on a great season and having 11 players named to First Team All Stars!

To me they are far from being defeated or "mauled."

Pamela Ocker

Manheim Township

The Dec. 13 article on Lancaster County School Performance Profiles was unfair to the School District of Lancaster (SDL).

The front page focused on a numerical rank for the "best and worst" scores in the county and the story emphasized this misreporting with the phrase, "There's no contest."

In fact, these scores are directly correlated with the number of economically disadvantaged students (83 percent of SDL students are below the poverty line), English Language learners (SDL has nearly 1,900) and special education students (SDL has nearly 2,000 IEP students). The phony ranking is a disservice to the suburban teachers and students who performed well on these tests.

A more reasonable comparison would show the favorable performance of the SDL vs other innercity schools in Pennsylvania.

Lancaster County has segregated the students who are the most costly to educate in the part of the county with the lowest tax base.

Even so, I'm constantly impressed at the performance of SDL's teachers, administrators and students. My kids did get and are getting a good education in the SDL.

I find the newspaper's coverage of the SDL consistently biased.

You know the limitations of these scores, yet you ran the "best and worst" box anyway.

Brian Hernon

Lancaster

Yo, people. Please clean the snow and ice off the top of your vehicles before heading out after a snowfall.

How many times do we have to see a sheet of ice or snow fly off the roof of the car in front of us or a few cars ahead and hope there's no damage or accidents to the trailing vehicle swerving to avoid these airborne dangers?

It takes but a few extra minutes. And big rigs are just as dangerous, if not more so. I've seen some giant pieces of ice and snow fly off them. One of the drivers where I work was nearly killed by a flying chunk of ice. If only one person is spared because someone else read this and heeded the words, we'll be grateful.

But if more are spared ... what a blessing.

Steve Kurtz

East Petersburg

LETTER POLICY

Letters to the editor are welcome.

All letters must include an address and telephone number for verification purposes.

Letters should be on topics that affect the public.

Please limit to 200 words.

How to submit letters:

Email: [email protected]

Fax: 399-6507

Mail to:

Letters, c/o Lancaster Newspapers

P.O. Box 1328

Lancaster, PA 17608-1328