Editor:
These are the kinds of times that cripple your favorite locally owned small businesses. Please support them with your holiday shopping.
Remember all the local small businesses that you’ve asked for years and years to donate and sponsor your sports clubs, school events, organizations, etc.? They’re calling in a favor. Answer the call.
Lynne Johnson
Chairman
Orleans County Legislature
Editor:
Several letter writers have stated that Trump’s opponents blame him for the coronavirus. Let me be clear: no one is blaming Trump for the virus, just his response to the virus.
President Trump, his administration and Republican sycophants have politicized the pandemic making sound health policies, such as wearing a mask, much more difficult. The administration has abandoned its responsibility leaving it up to the states to fend for themselves.
Hospitals and nursing homes are still struggling, after 10 months, to have enough PPE, staff members are exhausted and there is no help from the federal government.
However, this administration could not achieve this level of malfeasance without the support of Republicans like Congressman Chris Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs thinks that the administration, with 250,000 deaths and counting, is doing a good job.
Today, we see cars lined up for miles in modern bread lines, and refrigerated trucks lining up outside of morgues. Main Street is a ghost town and even Thanksgiving is threatened. These are the results of policies that Mr. Jacobs supports and praises.
We need leadership. It is time for Mr. Jacobs to put aside partisan politics, study the problems and find solutions that work for Western New York.
William Fine
Brockport
Editor:
On January 20th, the 46th President of the United States will be inaugurated. The future of the Republic may depend on how the 45th behaves between now and then.
Continuing to “con” millions of good people by claiming the November election was rigged threatens to drag the United States down. Putin loves anything that diminishes our faith in our nation’s democratic institutions and processes.
When he won 306 electoral votes in 2016 despite losing the popular vote by 2.8 million votes, number 45 termed his victory an “historic landslide”. When the President-elect gets 306 electoral votes this year while getting 5.5 million more popular votes, number 45 calls the election a “fraud”.
Several of my Republican friends are not buying it. Former Missouri Republican congressman Tom Coleman agrees. There are numerous others, but the party collectively is no profile in courage.
H.R. McMaster told journalist Fareed Zakaria last Sunday that Biden is saying, “exactly what you need to hear from a President-elect”, and that “Allegations of a rigged election are dangerous.” When Zakaria said, “Putin’s central goal is to sow doubt about our democratic institutions”, McMaster added, “Russia wants to . . . reduce confidence in our institutions.” He then said, “Our duty is to oppose a President trying to undermine the Constitution.”
John Bolton pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security has called the election the most secure in American history. Bolton continued, “The Russians couldn’t ask for anything more (than wrecking the Republic).” Calling Number 45 “a failed President”, Bolton opined, “We need Republicans to tell the truth too.”
Michael Chertoff lamented that Number 45 was, “. . . playing Russian Roulette with the safety and security of the American people”, adding that “our adversaries around the world are looking to make hay from (a rocky transition).”
Zakaria’s final guest, Peggy Noonan, told him there will “always be an audience for this ‘stabbed in the back’ mentality and Number 45 is cynically abusing and taking advantage of good and patriotic people by insisting that he won an election that he clearly lost.
The authors of our Constitution and founders of our republican form of government did a brilliant job, but separation of powers and genius design cannot save us from ourselves.
Sincerely yours,
Gary F. Kent
Albion
Editor:
As a nurse in a Covid-only ICU these last 8 months, I am thankful that I’ve had adequate PPE to keep myself and my family safe from the virus that is ravaging America.
I’m thankful for those who have supported healthcare workers on the frontline. We haven’t had a choice about being faced with the things we’ve had to go through, and there’s still no end in sight.
I’m thankful for those who have heeded the mask mandates and social distancing so that we can try to get a handle on it. I’ve seen a lot of death – including fellow nurses and doctors, and I’m thankful for every day I’m given.
Kandace Pierce, RN
Albion
Editor:
To the Town of Murray residents, I would like to thank everyone who supported me and got out to cast their vote on election day this year.
The kindness that I’ve received during this campaign has been amazing. Thank you all. Some of you have gone above and beyond helping to place signs, make phone calls, write letters on my behalf or graciously welcomed my campaign signs in your yard. There are no words to express my heart felt appreciation.
Running a political campaign has certainly been a roller coaster ride. With the passing of my father in August, his various words of wisdom often resounded in my head. I’d prepared myself for either outcome.
Now that I have been elected as Town of Murray highway superintendent, I understand the confidence you’ve shown. I will always remember that as an elected official I am charged with the protection of my neighbor’s best interests. Thank you again. I am eager to begin.
Yours truly,
Dirk Lammes
Murray
Editor:
Every year the Holley Elementary School has held a Veterans Day assembly to honor veterans associated in some way with Holley or the school.
Several years ago, my granddaughter asked me to participate. Who can refuse a 6-year-old? The assembly greatly exceeded my expectations. To see all the children, teachers, staff, and other veterans joined by song and verse, is heart humbling.
For the past several years I have looked forward to this assembly. Covid-19 put a hold on any assembly for this year.
Holley Elementary School has more than made up for this limitation. There is a veterans’ tribute on their web site. It too humbles.
Please do two things: 1) go to the Holley Central School District web site (holleycsd.org) and click the Elementary School Veterans Day Celebration under latest news and watch their work. 2) please honor those at Holley Elementary School for this unbelievable work. It is wonderful.
Thank you and God bless all.
Kevin Foley
Holley
Editor:
As another year passes, with just as many challenges (or certainly more so) as in years previous, we arrive at yet another Veterans Day.
Like many federal holidays or days of remembrance, it may sometimes be easy for us to forget why we have days like this dedicated in the first place. Between the large-scale issues that face us today and the minutia of our lives, we can easily forget why we celebrate as we do. Veterans Day is here to remind us why.
To serve one’s country on the battlefield is one of the most selfless things a person can do. Our nation has a proud history of innumerable servicemen and women giving themselves to the country, to ensure our safety and security, and to protect the prosperity in our country today. That sacrifice cannot be understated.
As veterans, our soldiers, sailors and airmen and women alike all face unique challenges when leaving service or retiring. What these folks see and do would shock even the most accomplished individuals.
There’s truly nothing like the work our veterans do; that’s why we dedicate this day to honoring and remembering them. It’s not just a day for department stores to get rid of some over-stocked goods or a day to throw a fun parade for the town.
The true essence of Veterans Day is about showing reverence and thanks to those who have given it all so we can have it all. Remember their sacrifices today, and remember to thank a veteran when you see one. God bless America.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley
Hawley represents the 139th District, which consists of Genesee, most of Orleans and part of western Monroe County.
Editor:
What makes this country strong, great is the web of relationships, beliefs, trusts, decency and identity that make a society work.
Many Republicans, like Congressman Chris Jacobs, replace accepted facts with lies, baseless accusations, support for QAnon and conspiracy theories. This has cost us trust and dissolves our connectivity our sense of community.
When Trump tweeted that he protected the “Suburban lifestyle” because he rescinded rules to reduce racial segregation, minorities felt that their American rights, as citizens, were challenged by an elected official. Your rights, as an American citizen, were challenged by elected officials and the silence of Republicans like Mr. Jacobs is the silence of consent.
The Buffalo News Editorial (11/07/20) wrote that at a news conference (11/05/20), Mr. Trump stated lies that were “aimed at the heart of American democracy. If they are not countered by responsible Republicans they will gain currency. Silence is consent.”
The Editorial states that Chris Jacobs is silent. Just like Mr. Jacobs said nothing about Mr. Trump’s tweet suggesting a 75-year-old protestor injured by Buffalo police officers wanted to be hurt in a setup against the police. Trump said the protestor could be an “ANTIFA provocateur.” Silence is consent.
To unite this community, to heal the country, Mr. Jacobs needs to end his silence. Denounce the hatred, lies, conspiracy theories and racist comments by the current administration. The time to heal is now, silence is consent.
William Fine
Brockport
Editor:
With so much that can been taken as negativity, or at the very least, stressful. I hope this attempt at spreading some positive makes the cut.
I would like to say Happy Birthday (Nov. 6, 934) to my dad, Charles H. Hunt Jr. He would have been 86. He worked for the NYSDOT for 34 years as a welder, working on Canal Barges and I’m sure other things.
He was also President of the local chapter of the CSEA for a period of time. During which he was very vocal about the risks of lead poisoning. A thing he was all too familiar with, being diagnosed with it himself. He wrote and spoke directly to Congressmen, helping raise the awareness of lead poisoning to where it is today. (The “acceptable” lead levels, as it relates to lead poisoning, in the 1980s are shocking!!)
He passed away March 7, 2009. And on that deeper note, it’s strange. I somehow can’t imagine him in today’s world. I learned so much from him. Often, I find, it’s things I didn’t even realize I learned until much later.
In this age of global pandemic, political uncertainty and just general uneasiness on a scale never seen before, I would love to sit and talk to him. Even for just a few minutes.
If you have a decent parent in your life, talk to them. If nothing else, they offer a different perspective. It’s being open, able and willing to see things differently that leads to not only realizing things about yourself, but also growing and evolving as a person. And, when you think about it, isn’t that the basic meaning of life?
Charlie Hunt
Syracuse, NY (Albion native)
Editor:
I am drafting this letter to thank each and every person that voted for me. This tenure as your State Assemblyman for the 139th district has been a wonderful experience, and I am proud to continue to serve as your assemblyman.
And while there is certainly celebrating to do and thanks to go around, I want to assure you that as the new session starts up in January, I am just as committed as ever to making the voice of Western New York heard.
I will continue to fight for local and small businesses that need support from the state following the Covid-19 lockdowns, for their economic success means a strong economy for New York. I will continue to hold the majority party accountable when they try to play fast-and-loose with the laws and the God-given rights of citizens. I will push even further my two-state New York bill, which will ensure that the needs of Western New York are not drowned by the urban demands downstate thrusts upon the rest of us. I will continue to ensure our law enforcement is defended and uplifted in state government. All of this, and more, I will continue to do.
And I will continue to give my time to you all, to ensure you have the support you need from your state government. Because of you, I am continuing to fight for you.
Thank you.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley
Batavia
