Editor:

A face mask is more than a piece of cloth. It’s a sign of respect. If you can wear a mask, you should do it. It shouldn’t be up for discussion.

If we can save one life, then wearing a mask at the supermarket for an hour or so has got to be entirely worth it.

Think about other people. You might not get sick from the coronavirus, but you might give it to someone else.

So what we need everybody to do is wear that mask. It’s just like wearing a seatbelt. It is important for everyone to realize we all have a role in containing this disease so hospital capacity remains at a manageable level.

There were questions about whether masks were necessary or effective in the early stages of the pandemic, but as knowledge of the virus has grown, the importance of masks has become clear.

Wear a mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Practice safe living. Anything less is selfish.

Successfully navigating this pandemic doesn’t mean getting back to the status quo. It means addressing missed warning signs that defined the pre-covid world, and creating a better world to take its place.

Wearing a mask, ladies and gentleman, is respect.

Lynne Johnson

Lyndonville

Chairman of the Orleans County Legislature

Editor:

We are faced with a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that is disrupting economic activity. Business are closed and employees are out of work. This is negatively impacting their employer-based health plans.

The Republican plan to help people without health insurance is a “phenomenal plan” that has yet, after 10 years, to be determined. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s 2020 budget (which Chris Jacobs supports), calls to cut the Affordable Care Act and cuts to C.D.C.

The American Public Health Association Executive Director, Georges Benjamin, MD stated: “This budget, put simply, is a disinvestment in the health of Americans.” The New York Times reported July 14. “The coronavirus pandemic stripped an estimated 5.4 million American worker of their health insurance between February and May, a stretch in which more adults became uninsured because of job losses that have ever lost coverage in a single year, according to a new analysis.”

Before the ACA, insurance companies routinely denied coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Business Insider (March 4, 2020), reported: “A study conducted by the American Journal of Public Health in 2009 found that 66.5% of the 1.4 million bankruptcies in the US are related to medical issues.”

Approximately 487,000 people signed up for the ACA after the open enrollment period ended in December, according to The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, mostly in April and May of this year which suggest the surge in enrollment was linked to layoffs due to coronavirus pandemic. Yet, the “phenomenal fantastic plan” of the Republicans is yet to be determined. Now, with a healthcare crisis, cutting healthcare as the Republicans (and Congressman Chris Jacobs) are proposing, leaving millions without insurance, is the wrong course of action.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

Recently I have been hearing and reading that Governor Cuomo does not care about upstate or small business.

Personally I think he is a ruthless politician but in truth we should not shoot the firefighter. We need to stop the arsonist.

I run a small business. During the peak of Covid-19 in New York, I was swamped keeping up by myself with the matters considered essential to public safety.

I also know the pain and inconvenience of compliance to reopen – for me virus-rated air filters, plastic seats, matting for a constantly sanitized meeting area, limited access, taking temperatures, etc. etc. Measures like that are part of life for all of us for the foreseeable future.

But, by golly, New York is open and holding C-19 at bay for now. It rages in other places which played politics with it. They ignored, and ignore, that the entire European continent closed more drastically than NY, opened sooner, and has miniscule numbers and deaths in comparison. (And now we are learning about delayed strokes, brain, heart, and kidney damage that may haunt us for years to come. )

I do not like saying it but Cuomo is not the enemy in this case. Trump assumed powers over wages, the right to commander plants, to order production, to close and regulate all aspects of all business all the way back in March when he gave up in telling us the total number of infections would be stopped at 15.

And Cuomo did not take the small business money. Senators’ wives and big business got huge amounts of the PPP money meant for us. In my case I was approved but the SBA ignored the law’s formulas and diverted money so I too ended up without any.

To make matters worse the Federal audit committee meant to protect us was composed of Inspector Generals. But Trump has been firing them one by one – starting the first week with the Chairman, Glenn Fine.

Cuomo is a convenient person to blame by partisans and people suffering because he is at least doing something.

We are in the midst of a breakdown of law which is why SCOTUS has put Trump down several times. On immigration, for the first time, it came out and said they did not “believe” what a sitting President told them. Conservative judges refused to be made fools of in the name of party.

In the two recent subpoena related cases, SCOTUS laid out a two hundred year history of law and held the President’s premise had no validity. They took the time to carefully explain why he was blowing hot air. Sadly, there are too many violations to ever litigate every one through lengthy court proceedings each and every time.

Focusing only on small business and C-19, Trump has squirted – and keeps squirting –  lighter fluid on the flames rather use the extinguisher our laws gave him – and him alone – to use. Our Covid failure is his failure to respect our laws and get off the golf course.

That’s why I say do not shoot the firefighter. Stop the arsonist and every darn fool who plays with matches.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Attention Town of Yates board members. I am making you aware of this because I have not been paying attention to what you have been up to for the last 3 months since there have been no open town meetings and I’m very mad at myself for that. I have just looked at the minutes and I find things to be very disturbing.

I am sick to my stomach and incensed that you would put forth resolutions, Resolution 67-7/20 one that that would handcuff our already demoralized local law enforcement from doing their job. For money! Your job as town fathers is to make sure the safety and wellbeing of this town and its citizens is first and forefront. Not appeasing to Marxist anti-American communist terrorist groups that wants to end civilization or a maniacal Governor.

Since the passing of the globalist manifesto comprehensive plan this town has been on a grant-crazed high. The citizens of the town of Yates have to suffer the consequences. For money!  Resolution 67-7/20 is also a bag of dung. It is asking you to discriminate against one group and give preferential treatment to another. For money! How much is your self respect and dignity worth? Selling out the police? Discriminating against one group to appease another. Everyone seems to have a price. What is yours? Grant money? I’m just getting started here.

There are people lining up for food every week in our county – 300 and more boxes of food gone in minutes. The givers are running out of things to give. Not everyone there is because it’s a chance to get free food. But it’s happening and you out-of-touch, devoid-of-reality politicians are giving the Highway Superintendent 105,000 dollars to buy a new mower. I can’t believe that during a time of pandemic you would even consider this. I would put that purchase on hold because you look like your uncaring to the taxpayers.

The state is in a self-inflicted billions of dollars deficit. The local taxpayers, many broke to their core, are not going to be able to pay their school and property tax and you all act clueless and allocate this money. There is no bailout coming from the feds or the state. Then you do a resolution to override the tax cap.

You spend and spend then give yourself the right to raise our taxes. Then there is this insane park project that is going to be a bigger burden to the taxpayers. Have you been down there lately? You should go try to have a cook out and let the kids play in the goose droppings covered grass. There is goose droppings wall to wall in the grass by the grills and pavilion as big as dog droppings by the thousands. Not very appealing to bring your family to or even walk around to look at the lake.

It would be very unwise to pass those resolutions FOR MONEY. The police will not forget who has and who does not have their backs. You need to have their back and let them know you do. Pull back that 105,000 that you are going to need it to run the town. Highway can live another year. Stop spending money liberally. There really is no conservative thinking on this board.  This has to be going on in other towns, too. Stop taking grant money.

Paul Lauricella

Yates

Editor:

False, nasty, demeaning, wildly inaccurate political trash used to mark the last few months before an election. In the last couple of decades rabid politics has become a year-round blood sport. The least informed become outspoken experts with the “final” word.

Currently “Defunding” the police is a politically nonsensical term and the attacks on it equally foolish. Calling reorganization “defunding” is as crazy political double speak as the political nonsense which says “tax cuts pay themselves.”

We are in the middle of rethinking police strategy, public services, and community improvement. I write simply to flesh out  some background (and a bit of opinion) for consideration.

With the federal budget cuts of the ’80s costs got pushed down stream and onto states, property taxes went up to cover the federal share while services were cut back.

As a result we have been looking for 40 years to the police to solve more problems which exceed their training.

Many of the better police concepts go back to the ’60s with formalized  ideas “distributed specialization” and “community policing.” “Stop and frisk” police theory is a military-type theory that is cheaper. That is because the stop in part depends on suspicion and on someone looking “suspicious.” It proved to be ripe for racists and for racist justifications.

Stop and frisk theory came along in the ’80s at the same time as those budget cuts and quickly became popular.  But it reversed gains in race relations and in retrospect made matters worse.

You get what you pay for. The recent failures of departments trained to be rough and ready really demonstrated the difference.

There are increasingly good examples of how well rethinks can work. In New York, Child Protective Services or Probation are often called first. If the police need CPS it’s there 24-7. And you certainly have seen that in other areas where police have crisis management, mental health, emergency housing, domestic violence experts, community health centers in support roles – and all sometimes in lead roles.

Right now police go into schools to help keep kids straight but, frankly, there is a huge national shortage of school psychologists who are better trained to address juvenile problems. I hope you get the point. It’s not a put down. It’s about being the best at what you are trained for.

Frankly it will cost more.

This rethink will be hard fought – particularly by those with the least knowledge or the most to lose. In Camden NJ, for example, the union was so dirty/criminal/ (there will always some in any group) that the department had to dismantle to void the union contracts and start over. In the end it worked extremely well.

As to the merits and types of things to talk about I already mentioned a few but also we know better mental health access correlates with less crime. Almost any increase in income correlates with reduced crime – education, sex education, vocational training, public work projects, and higher police wages and training all make for safer, better, communities. All should be talked through.

Catching up to where we were will not be simple, quick, or cheap. It’s just needed.

The biggest impediment is, I think, that tax increases on multi-millionaires will be needed to reclaim our communities. I could be wrong but with the low mean and medium income here in Orleans County if we go back to the old federal funding model, the income tax effect here may be minimal and our property tax could go down. It does require the federal government to step up and once again to make it work. (That is not to say that Congress must do better at floating the economy as red states Covid drags the economy down. It has to!)

I just heard a great example of a rethink from Korea. During demonstrations – very frequent there like France – the police shoot looters with indelible paint balls. Then they take a week or two picking them up and convict them on the body cam footage. There are a wealth of ideas to talk through.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

A letter writer to the Orleans Hub from Yates, whom I have never met, and have never talked to, wrote: “Mr. Fine’s delusion is like most of the backwards-thinking liberal wokesters. He believes that all and everything wrong with society lays on the evil white man just by the happenstance that they were born that way.”

Perhaps this writer is projecting what he believes onto me, but in any case this statement is a lie, period. This lie throws into doubt other statements made by this writer. This writer also states that “The police force is more than half, in most cases, minority.”

However, The New York Times reported in April 8, 2015, “Minorities make up a quarter of police forces, according to the 2007 survey, the most recent comprehensive data available.”

The writer obviously has opinions, but they are not based on available facts. This letter writer makes gross generalizations without facts or data and throws about irrelevant opinions.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

This is directed to the individual who called to report lack of “social distancing” at 39 Problems in Albion. You have learned well from the Brown Shirts of the Nazi era, as they also obediently called on law enforcement because they, too, thought that by doing so, they were being a good citizen.

You just wiped out another small business in downtown Albion. You put a hard working, community loving couple out of business. I hope that every time you pass that building, you remember that it was you who financially ruined your neighbors. You also made a permanent stain on our community.

As a result of your “patriotic” actions, you will make the rest of our small businesses suspicious of opening again at all. The owners of these businesses will be afraid of the nameless Brown Shirt neighbor, shamelessly patrolling the neighborhood for the slightest infraction by anyone not maintaining “social distancing” or not wearing a mask at all times.

You have single handedly made everyone nervous to bring life back to our town; small businesses out here have suffered the worst economic mess this pandemic. But instead of looking forward to opening their doors again, they will be wary of the snake out on the streets looking to put others out of business, ruining lives of people you don’t know, and possibly destroying any potential we have as a community to breathe life back into a small town.

Worse, you have created a probable solution to anyone else who is a castout to seek revenge on their neighbor who they don’t like, whose party you and they didn’t get invited to, on a former boss who fired them from their establishment, a weapon for cowards who don’t have the guts to confront the owners themselves, and anonymously ratting out an enemy of yours simply by picking up the phone and alerting our totalitarian NYS government.

You did didn’t just harm 39 Problems, you hurt all of us – small business owners, the customers who keep them in business, your neighbors who rely on employment that small businesses create and have made the atmosphere toxic in the age of the worst pandemic since 1918, and you couldn’t care less about us all.

So you got my attention, too. What a great job you did. You not only ruined the life of the couple who ran a small bar, but any ideas about how to make life better for everyone else, maybe even one of your children or grandchildren.

But I’m guessing you really didn’t think that through, right? Or worse, you did think it through but really didn’t give a damn about anyone, just wanting to wield your own, cowardly power.  Shame on you.

Kim Kennedy

Medina

Editor:

Sadly our National July 4th holiday was used as a political distraction – a campaign event. I hope you personally had a good time. I did at my home.

But hospitals in Houston ran out of ventilators and ECMO machines. Doctors had to choose which young people to try to save. This was no surprise but was studiously ignored and buried during the President’s party.

The July 3rd speech was from Mount Rushmore. The Sioux Nation was trashed by Donald because they opposed him coming there. But, by God, our Supreme Court in the harshest of terms held 8-1 that Mount Rushmore is on Sioux land! And, unlike you or me who are graciously invited to visit whenever, President Trump – no friend of theirs – was told not to come.

The Sioux message was who cares about minority rights. Similarly, every US citizen or group who has dared question Donald’s leadership was demeaned in that speech with slurs. If you paid attention he added a whole litany of things Democrats aren’t to the 2016 lists when Obama, Clinton, and immigrants were the enemy.

Oddly, did you hear white supremacists or the Boogaloo movement – they carry very real AK 47s – which is preparing for a second civil on that list. NO you did not.

On the  4th, as the ventilators ran out, we got a lesson in theater of the absurd. Donald told us 99% of Covid is not serious. (We all wish that true for his Secret Service agents, advance people, daughter-in-law to be, everyone! But factually it is a lie! There are 130,000 dead.) Does anyone think a US President did not know Texas was melting down or no one told him!

The Texas situation was hidden while Donald partied with his fan club but that was not where the very big, huge, bad news stopped!!

Congress also learned from the Health Industry Distributors Association that by the end of July we may not have enough hospital grade masks and PPE for all the red states. Of course the red states cheated while we were locked down! But they are people too and the Presidential order to produce PPE in volume and set up the supply lines direct to hospitals never went out! Never went out!! There were repeat reminders which were ignored.

These national and red states failures are going to slow down New York’s recovery. We copied Europe which proved a total lockdown continent-wide works! How many times do you have to take the exam Donald? You did not read Obama’s pandemic plan. You say you did not read your briefing that there were bounties being paid on US servicemen.

If it were you or me the law is that recklessly endangering people by ignoring a grave risk or death and proceeding nonetheless is Murder 2. What should it be for Donald and the gutless red state wonders (oops, governors)?  Shouldn’t New York business get a bonus for your incompetent management team extending our pain?

As you know with Ebola and Swine Flu it’s the President’s legal responsibility in a National Emergency to have a national response strategy – that includes procurement and production.   This failure to break the beast’s back is Donald’s fault and not any political opponent’s fault.

From the start the July 4th campaign events were a ploy to avoid dealing with COVID and the bounty on our soldiers which the “Fox News Division” confirmed.

What our National weekend demonstrated was that citizens’ lives are secondary and you better not ask intelligent, informed, questions or you will be on the list.

To be very blunt here these emergency powers of his are so vast I actually wonder if Donald is more apt to use them to interfere with one or more stages of the election between now and when the electoral college votes to throw the election. I wonder if that why he assumed them only to not use them and let things get worse. It a terrible thought. But it fits.

Some Fourth of July. Get real Donald. Our nation’s leader is following all his whims but he is not saving lives or doing anything that makes life better in poor rural America. It’s all pandering to make everyone think he has really helped life for those making under tens of millions a year.

Nothing about the man is plausible and he spent the national holiday gaslighting us as another state’s hospital system crumbled and people died without a word of sorrow.

He knew.

Conrad F.  Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Mr. Fine’s delusion is like most of the backwards-thinking liberal wokesters. He believes that all and everything wrong with society lays on the evil white man just by the happenstance that they were born that way.

What about the children of rich black people? Do they have black privilege? We are all born equal but there is no guarantee of equal outcome. Society gives no person more of an advantage over another. One can choose to work hard or not work to obtain the level that suits them. There’s no color barrier. White privilege is an invented term to cover for the 50-year failures of Democrat politicians to fix any problems while they continue to impoverish and control minorities in the inner cities. They are aided and abetted by the liberal media and the educational institutions, corporations and Hollywood.

Where is the systemic racism? The big cities are controlled by Democrats, many for half a century or more are run by minorities, have minority progressive mayors and city councils. The police force is more than half, in most cases, minority. The police chiefs in a majority of the big cities are black. These cities are being left to die and the people, many of whom are minorities, are left defenseless with nowhere to shop.

If history was properly taught you would know that minorities have contributed to this country since its inception. All the wars they fought in, inventions, contributing to our economy, medical and life-saving drugs. You white leftists seem to think they are helpless and can’t fend for themselves. Congress is full of minorities, a Black Caucus. We have had a black president of the USA, the corporate board rooms are full of black CEOs and board members. Black families are a large part of the middle class.

Your financial history is nonsense. It used to be you had to have skin in the game to get a loan for everyone. 20% down. That meant working hard and saving money. Owning a home is not a right. It’s a business transaction.

Then weak politicians and the banks caved into the mob ACORN and race hustlers like Al Sharpton. They didn’t want to be called that weaponized word “racist” and forced the banks to give loans to everyone regardless of if they had the finances and wherewithal to make the payments. That was Democrats who did that and it caused the financial meltdown of 2008.

Lastly the drum beating and perpetuating of this phony white privilege, systemic racism and police brutality only makes it worse for the people you white delusional wokesters think you are helping. Burned out cities, no where to shop, more crime and deaths. People of color laugh at you and wish you would go away. It’s creating mob rule justice. If it isn’t stopped it will end up at your door step and no amount of I’m on your side will stop the mob.

The wokester will be eaten alive because no amount of anything but the complete destruction of America will satisfy this monster.

Paul Lauricella

Yates

Editor:

Let me reiterate for those people who do not understand: you wear masks to protect others. Pretend for one minute that you actually care whether you make someone sick and then they die.

The “stay home if you feel sick” mantra doesn’t work for this virus because some people who have it don’t feel sick but they can still make other people sick. And those other people can get sick, suffer and die.

Why are the simple instructions to wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands so difficult? This is the same instructions as during the 1919 pandemic which should tell you something, viruses are complex and apparently smarter than us.

Be safe. Stay well.

Tami Martin

Albion

Editor:

In 1776, brave American patriots formed a new government and declared their freedom and independence  from the oppressive rule of a tyrannical ruler and despot, the King of England.

Now in 2020, New York residents again find themselves under the oppressive tyrannical rule of a man who has declared himself king, Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The issues are the same: denial of personal rights, arbitrary rules made and changed at the drop of a hat, altering or deleting laws enacted by a duly elected legislature, usurping the rule of law to suit his own personal socialist agenda, elimination of liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. and  New York State Constitutions, denying citizens’ rights to gainful employment to support our families, suppressing free speech and due process of law, shutting down schools and churches while keeping open abortion clinics and liquor stores, and requiring lock-step obedience to draconian Executive Orders which are unconstitutional, illegal and  arbitrary.

The governor’s mandate to wear masks/face coverings is simply designed to be a symbol of total control over the populace. It is a trial run for imposing absolute socialist control over a society as a means of advancing a “progressive” agenda which will have the result of ending our constitutional form of democracy (remember soviet Russia?).

It is time for New York State residents to say “enough is enough!” Duly elected local school boards have passed budgets and have the support of their residents – Open the schools and stop wasting time waiting for the governor’s instructions, which do not seem forthcoming anyway since the plan appears to be keeping students home and utilizing tele-learning. Let the kids back outside to play and go back to work! Open your churches completely without interference from the government. Whatever happened to “separation of church and state?” People have the ability to use common sense – if you are sick, stay home, just as we always have in other situations. The only way to stop this madness and end the power and control trip of a dictator is to stand up and say “No more!”

What is it going to be? We are free Americans, let’s take our freedoms back!

Read the Constitution, “We the People” are still in charge. To let this go is to open the door to a communist dictatorship.

Wayne Lemcke

Waterport

Editor:

When I come into Medina and drive down South Main Street, I get sick to my stomach. I used to live in a nice 2-bedroom apartment 30 years ago. Today it is run down, like many of the apartment houses on that street.

When our beautiful village has visitors what do they think? When the Brent House is complete I believe it will be spectacular. What will our visitors think coming into our town?

Trash is on the porch and around the property. Paper bags over the windows, damaged blinds, duct tape and sheets covering the windows! Go to the MAAC store on Orient and buy some, heck they will probably give you some! Why is this allowed?

If you are a landlord are you able to rent a home and not live in NY? That should not be allowed! How do you manage your property and tenants so far away? That spells disaster.

You enjoy the money, but the upkeep is obviously not a concern to yours or our village government. Our village is beautiful – our stores are truly the best! The owners take pride in their businesses and the storefronts alone are worth the walk around town.

I live next to a house that has two apartments and I open my kitchen window and look at a dilapidated, derelict ramshackle mess! The landlord started to side it a year ago and it’s still not finished, plus one of the tenants has three unlicensed cars siting in the yard! The owner of this house is a business owner in Medina. Someone is looking the other way!

I read not long ago that residents were receiving letters if their lawns were not mowed, but drive down South Avenue, Gwinn, North Avenue, East Avenue, I can go on and on. It’s gross. It’s not fair to the residents to have their property assessments so high.

Maybe we need landlords to teach social skills because some of these young kids I see have no clue how to pick up after themselves, let alone property! Or the landlords need to be taught how to manage an apartment. This could be a new committee for our village government. I will be happy to teach classes to landlords and tenants.

It’s time the village of Medina’s government to take the blinders off and take a walk up and down the streets of this village. If you are going to live here there must be guidelines to follow.

Medina needs to be stern and stand up for the residents that take pride in where they live, and if you are a clean tenants and your landlord is a slumlord there needs to be a course of action that is strictly enforced.

Sarah Y. Gonzalez

Medina

Editor,

I peruse your Op-Ed section baffled about the letters to you regarding politics and social warrior justice. I think it’s time for us to come together on something we can all agree on: The pandemic has destroyed the lives of our little ones, and we need to put them first.

Our children have suffered the worst of this pandemic and the fallout, the absence of “normal” for them which has involved school (and friends) cancelled. Then summer camp, cancelled, Then the fair… cancelled.  Now, no fireworks. Is anyone concerned about the mental health of our kids anymore?

Imagine when we were kids …  in early spring, we were nearing the Easter break, looking forward to egg hunts and candy, and afterward, back with our friends at school. By the end of June, we were excited for summer and activities. Camp, baseball and other sports, dance class, swimming and camping, and get-togethers with our friends. A summer of playing outside until the sun came down and Mom would yell out the window “DINNER!” And after waking up the next day, we looked forward to doing it all over again. This went on for decades, until 2020.

Imagine instead, we were suddenly yanked from school, but not in a “good” way. But then, looking forward to summer after this crazy three months, we were told that summer isn’t happening, either. That summer was cancelled, too. How do you think you or I would have handled that, only add in some fear and a mask and a lot of uncertainty. As children, we would have been horrified at the thought; but that is exactly what is happening to our own children today.

Imagine you’re that kid again under these Covid-19 insecurities. How do you think they feel? Suddenly, our children have lost their childhood and no one seems to notice or care. Instead of adults removing ourselves from conflict with one another, we looked away from what is most important. Working together as a community to help our children,  fighting for THEM, instead of our own self interest?

My heart breaks every time my 12-year-old says, after another last minute disappointment in a summer event now cancelled, “Mom, when is coronavirus over?” And I hang my head in shame because I don’t know what to say.

After all, for 12 years I have been in control of this child’s future. I am supposed to know the answer. But I don’t. It’s not only he who feels helpless looking to me to answer this question.  But after searching online everyday for some good news for him, anything to raise his spirits, I come up with nothing. No fireworks, no fair. No nothing. Nothing to do for summer for the first time in our country since our nation was founded. Our kids are suffering, and no one has any good news, at least not here in WNY.

Right now, our kids need warriors who will fight on their behalf. Instead of just cancelling outright whatever the county had planned as per usual, we could have had restrictions on events, had a local lawyer draw up a disclosure agreement so organizers wouldn’t be worried about getting sued after their events if someone gets Covid. We need people in charge of this county (Representatives and Senators, Mayors and Councilmen) to come up with a plan “B” instead of worrying about the upcoming election, a plan for our children to have somewhat of a normal summer to distract them from the insecurity of the nationwide lockdown.

Even outside of our government, we need individuals with resources, ideas, and courage to do what is best for our kids without a selfish agenda. We need to come together to salvage what is left of summer for them. We need volunteers (sign me up) to get the word out, think of options and listen to others, compromise and plan, plan, plan until we fill up the void left (after being shut out of the decision-making process with regard to events such as the county fair and yearly fireworks celebrations).

Yesterday, when my son said, “I love Independence Day! We get to watch the fireworks and wave the American flag!!” I didn’t have the courage to tell him they were cancelled. I couldn’t bear the disappointment any longer. I urged his dad to tell him, instead.

I’m not the only parent feeling this way. There is a silent majority out there thinking the same thing, but we can’t stay silent anymore. We have to get together and do soemthing for all of our children.

I’m all ears:  If anyone out there is just as desperate as me to “Save Summer”, please reach out to me. My email address is kennedy99kimberly@gmail.com. I can’t wait to hear from you all – all of you warriors who have children, and even those who don’t, but remember the old days of care-free summer vacation and who long to do something for the children of the community.

C’mon Orleans, I’m counting on you… And so are the children who live (and play) here!

God bless you all,

Kimberly Kennedy

Medina

Editor:

“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

That quote comes from a letter written by one of America’s founding fathers, John Adams, to his wife, Abigail. It’s a powerful comment, and filled with a good amount of foresight (a skill that President Adams developed throughout his life), but it is just slightly off from the reality today.

Back in 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence on July 2, thus beginning the domino effect by legally separating the 13 original colonies from Great Britain. But Americans have always clung to July 4 as our Independence Day; not because President Adams is incorrect in the facts as they were, but because the Fourth was when the Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson, was signed and approved by that same congressional body.

Why is this trip through time important, you may ask? For one thing, I find it kind of amusing that even back then, holidays were so revered by government officials. Maybe it was a statement from Adams on how a good politician is one that is distracted and not so involved in the lives of the people. But it’s more likely that President Adams recognized the profound impact such a unified act of revolution would have on not only the lives of its citizens, but also the world around it. Considering how forward-thinking the man was, I’m inclined to believe in the latter.

The men who laid the foundation for our way of life today absolutely deserve celebration and reverence, if not every day, then today especially. But, with every passing year, and with the progress and growth our nation goes through, those same men making those same decisions come into question and under scrutiny. This year more than any other, I find myself reflecting on what 244 years of fighting for independence, for liberty and for freedom does for us as a people, as a nation and as a world. And during this time, I wanted to share my thoughts with you on what I feel like these 244 years have done for us all.

It’ll be no surprise to my friends and family that I revere and love my country, and all it has given me and every other citizen. The ability for a people to self-govern and organize based on each community’s wants and needs, while still upholding the standards of democracy and liberty for their neighbors is a worthwhile quality any nation worth its salt should be striving toward. As a matter of fact, whenever I’ve approached policy being debated or voted on, I’ve always kept the Founding Fathers and their unifying principles of liberty as my guiding star when making decisions. I trust it’s what every American wants.

But in today’s climate, one can’t really look back as fondly as one might have not even ten years ago. Through the work of historians, activists and my fellow representatives, we are reminded day after day that despite the good work done by those who have come before, there is always more work to do. Bodies of government need to act more diligently in the best interest of their citizens, representatives and peacekeepers need to work alongside their communities more harmoniously, and the written law still has some ways to go before providing true tranquility and equality for all peoples. Yes, America has come very far and laid the groundwork for a whirlwind of progress across the world, but progress never stops.

I’m proud of the progress this country has made. I’m proud of the progress this country continues to make. I’m proud to serve as a representative for the 139th District, to follow in the footsteps of the great men who came before us and to continue to fight for the freedoms and liberties of the citizens of this great country.

This Independence Day, I encourage you to reflect on what it took to get us here, and thank those who fought for every freedom and liberty that you have today. And on a closing note, take a moment to think about what still needs to be fought for today. There may be a person 200 years down the road thanking you for the same thing you’re thanking the Founding Fathers for today.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Batavia

(Hawley represents the 139^thAssembly District which includes most of Orleans, all of Genesee and part of western Monroe counties.)

Editor:

While wholly accurate, I don’t feel Mr. Fine’s recent letter addresses the subject directly. I’m a white male, neatly dressed and of a certain age. As a result, white society infers on me white privilege. As I’m living proof of it – to deny its existence is to be either blind or foolish – or both.

White privilege means I can pass through any airport in the country and never get so much as a raised eyebrow from TSA agents. I don’t fit their profile. Likewise, if I am pulled over for a traffic violation I am not perceived in any way as being guilty of anything more than traveling a few miles over the posted speed limit. Again, I don’t fit the profile. No retail store clerk has ever followed me nor have I been observed by security personnel out of fear I’m there to shoplift.

I can walk onto any college campus in the country and not be assumed to be there as a result of some affirmative action program. I can also steal $65-billon from nearly 5,000 people (a-la Bernie Madoff) and not end up with four police officers sitting on top of me – one with a knee on my neck.

Indeed, if I am on the street and talking to a person of color a patrol officer will much more readily assume I’m the one being accosted in some way and offer assistance only to me. This actually happened to me. Incidentally, the black gentleman I was talking to was a federal circuit court judge. My privilege also means I don’t have to work twice as hard for two-thirds the pay – a reality that includes not only people of color, but half the population (women).

If I were non-white, none of this applies. If I were not white, I would spend my days knowing full well I am being viewed with some degree of suspicion – about my lifestyle, my employment, my motives, everything. It’s just not right.

Society gave me my white privilege – so society has to take it back. I can’t relinquish it on my own or by denying it exists. I do believe all men are created equal – or we’re all God’s children, if you will. I know for a fact we’re long overdue to either act like we believe that or just admit we’ve been lying to ourselves all along.

Darren D. Wilson

Lyndonville