Athens News Opinion Letters

  • Letter: Ohioans get one-sided news on smoking ban

    July 21, 2008

    This e-mail is being sent to express a concern a large number of Ohioans have with the media and their one-sided slant of the news.>>

  • Letter: Thanks to everyone who helped with Kerr Run/Walk fundraiser

    July 21, 2008

    Few people had more fun celebrating July 4 than Kenneth “Kenny” Kerr. When Kenny adopted Athens as his new home, he was an 18-year-old freshman at Ohio University, straight from Lancaster High School. After three years in the Army, he married his wife, Nada, brought her to Athens, and began their family adding Kenny III and Calista.>>

  • Letter: Youth Fishing Derby succeeded as a result of many parties

    July 21, 2008

    Athens County Bassmasters would like to congratulate Justice McCune, Cody Hudnall, Cory Hill, Abby Holley and Derrick Welsh. They were all winners Saturday, July 12, at our annual Youth Fishing Derby. Cory Hill was awarded a bicycle for the biggest catch of the event.>>

  • Letter: There are things that cat owners can do to ward off cat leukemia

    July 21, 2008

    It has come to my attention that there is a serious disease running rampant through the cat population, known as Feline Leukemia (FeLV). I thought that I might take a moment to educate my fellow citizens on some of its effects and what can be done to prevent it.>>

  • Letter: Civitan Club grateful for help with Rubber Duck River Race

    July 21, 2008

    The Athens Civitan Club thanks all who sponsored ducks in the annual Rubber Duck River Race on July 4.>>

  • Editor’s Notes: Hooray for flip-flopping, pro and con on McDavis raise, dogs

    July 17, 2008

    “Editor’s Notes” is back this week, and since it’s still Brew Week, I’ll try to come up with a couple more beer stories. But first, some other matters…>>

  • The View from Nick: High-school reunions don’t have to be awful, unfun experiences

    July 17, 2008

    I’m old.>>

  • Letter: Poor code enforcement has actually damaged our city

    July 17, 2008

    I notice two things about the reaction to the firing of Steve Pierson: 1) some landlords are angry people, and 2) it didn’t take much for “anti-development, NIMBY” talk to surface.>>

  • Letter: Mayor was right; city code office badly needed a house-cleaning

    July 17, 2008

    I read with interest the letters to the editor in last Thursday’s Athens NEWS that expressed support for fired Athens Code Director Steve Pierson. Most commented on two points: Pierson’s good personality and his deep knowledge of code. I would agree about the characterization of his personality. In my limited interactions with Pierson, I have seen him conduct himself in a strictly professional and appropriate manner. I don’t understand, however, how a wealth of knowledge in one person’s head is seemingly favorable to a written, transparent code system that anyone – citizen, volunteer or code employee – can readily access.>>

  • Letter: Obama ignores the social roots of absentee black fathers

    July 17, 2008

    Sen. Obama now has an economic plan to help low-income women. Well, isn’t that interesting? Good for Obama.>>

  • Letter: Don’t automatically assume that misleading polls are from Republicans

    July 17, 2008

    I’m writing in response to the letter written by Ann Fugate in the July 10 Athens NEWS. Ms. Fugate complained about a phone call she received from a research company alleging to be surveying community attitudes about candidates in the upcoming election. She explained that while initially the survey inquired about various federal and state candidates, the questions ended up being about the 92nd House District race between Jill Thompson and Debbie Phillips. Ms. Fugate’s conclusion was that because only one candidate was portrayed in a negative manner, the poll was “pure sleaze” and must have been commissioned by Republicans.>>

  • Letter: Letters from landlords make you wonder if they doth protest too much

    July 17, 2008

    Jim Phillips’ article (The NEWS, July 10) on reactions to the new mayor’s firing of the city code director is unexpectedly entertaining. Mr. Phillips interviewed a number of people who are apparently mostly owners of rental properties or have development projects, and their reactions to the firing are quite surprising. Quoted comments include: “...it might be an effort on the mayor’s part to be more arbitrary when it comes to code enforcement”; “...this is almost a witch hunt. We’re going to find out who the ‘bad people’ are, and we’re going to punish them”; “He [the mayor] fired Steve Pierson because Steve isn’t being hard enough on the ‘offenders,’ in their [alleged anti-growth interests] opinion… Everyone who doesn’t share his philosophy of life, he wants to see punished.”>>

  • Letter: Court system too lenient with woman who killed grad student

    July 17, 2008

    April Hankinson’s punishment for killing OU physics grad student Abhishek Singh on June 30, 2007 is ridiculous (The NEWS, July 10). She was originally charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. One count was for being under the influence of alcohol, and another for reckless driving. She was also charged with two counts of obstruction of justice for hiding the identity and whereabouts of the passenger. She is now only being punished for aggravated vehicular homicide for reckless driving. The count for driving under the influence was dismissed because it was unclear if she was above the legal limit.>>

  • Letter: There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer with Good Works

    July 17, 2008

    In response to the July 10 letter to the editor from Jenny Seelig, I want to provide some additional information.>>

  • Letter: UCM also offers free weekly suppers, and soon, Sat. lunches

    July 17, 2008

    For those of you who have been reading the reports of the food-pantry crisis in our region and want to get involved, Thursday Supper offers you an opportunity to directly serve our community. Started at UCM to fill the need for another weekly free-meal program, Thursday Supper celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and serves an average of 40 community members every week.>>

  • The View From Mudsock Heights: Where did the little tomato worms go? Is their cycle a secret?

    July 14, 2008

    Many years ago, I worked with the financial columnist Sylvia Porter, who was an expert on business and economic cycles. She had determined that much in economics is cyclical, following a repeating pattern. If one viewed the whole pattern, she believed, one could have a sense of what might happen next.>>

  • Wearing Thin: Brew Week: A good excuse to remember all those beer tales

    July 14, 2008

    In honor of Ohio Brew Week, which takes place in Athens all this week, here’s a column dedicated to beer.>>

  • Reader's Forum: With American homebrews flourishing, don’t worry about Bud sale

    July 14, 2008

    Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and that staple of OU student life, Natural Light, is fighting off a takeover bid from a foreign company. No, it’s not some sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East. It’s Belgium. Yeah, THAT Belgium.>>

  • Letter: Article on zoning members was unbalanced and wrongheaded

    July 14, 2008

    I am responding to the recent Athens NEWS article by Jim Phillips, in which the mayor is accused of a “witch hunt” against landlords for terminating Steve Pierson as code director (The NEWS, July 9). First of all, this piece presents itself as “news” when its purpose is obviously to serve the interests of local landlords, such as the owner of The Athens NEWS.>>

  • Letter: Power plant protesters could be more productive about issue

    July 14, 2008

    We all hate to hear it, but currently we still need to use coal and oil for energy. New alternatives are being introduced every day, and even with rising gas prices, oil and coal are still apparently the most cost effective... probably because we know they work. I was disheartened to hear that a protest group (the Earth First! folk featured in last Thursday’s Athens NEWS) is so against bringing much-needed jobs to our area through a clean-coal facility. Clean-coal technologies are being set into action at many facilities in the U.S. For more info on how they work, check out http://www.world-nuclear.org.>>

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