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OPINIONS
Voice of the people
Supreme Court farce continues
Let me see if I understand this : The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the ultimate arbiter of the law in West Virginia, maintains that one of those very laws, the Freedom of Information Act, doesn't apply to it?
Right. Way to go to push your credibility down into the sub-basement, guys. One more thing for the rest of the country to laugh at us about. I wish I had the power to say that laws that might potentially embarrass me for doing something dumb don't apply to me.
But then, the delicious irony of Massey Energy suing the court to get copies of the e-mails in question between Justice Spike Maynard and their chairman, Don Blankenship, is so funny it almost makes the whole farce worth it. But not quite.
Monty Fowler
Huntington
Roadside mowing destroys wildflowers
Save Our Shawnee Forest organization suggests that people who want to see Canada lily flowers in the forest this year go soon. Only about a dozen plants have been observed along forest roads: FR 1, 3, 4 and 14, all north of Ohio 125. First blooms were about July 10.
Sunlight energy is the limiting factor for many forest plants. Mowed road banks reduce tree shade, providing sunlight conditions for plants of forest edges, grasslands, prairies and ditch wetlands. These tend to be late summer and fall-blooming species.
Roadside trees grow every year, increasingly shading the cleared banks. Plants such as Canada lily grow or lean closer to the road each year for sunlight. This puts them in the path of mowing.
The first round of mowing starting July 1 was between the road edge and the road ditch. The second round now underway goes from the ditch to the tree line. FR 4 east of the Horse Camp, unmowed as of July 16, has the most lily plants to look for. Those in bloom are easy to spot with their beautiful bright red flowers. Look fast.
Enjoy the lilies and everything else in the forest, but always leave things undisturbed for others to enjoy. For further information, call (937) 544-7104.
Barbara A. Lund
Lynx, Ohio
Bush has led U.S. into current mess
Does President Bush really thinks that the American people believe what he says about Democrats blocking his agenda? He had a Republican Congress for seven years to work with.
Blocking oil research, the economy, world affairs, war, internal affairs, cost of living, crime, high cost of drugs and medical care, our structure falling apart, housing, global warming, bank failure, inflation highest in 26 years-- we can go on and on with a failed administration -- the worst since the Great Depression.
In news conferences, he seems to distance himself from current events. He answers questions with disdain and ignorance of what is really going on around him.
Is it because he is tired of being president, or he just doesn't care?
For seven and a half years, we have watched our great country being neglected by this administration. We can't afford to let our country go into further decline and go into a depression. People must have jobs and be able to feed their families. To see lives of people in front of banks demanding their money is a very scary vision. It's not safe to keep your money under the mattress, but it might happen again.
If Bush continues to lead our country into further decline, he should resign now, if he is tired.
Robert Garcia
Kenova
Marra didn't have to kill mouse on TV
Recently, Mr. John Marra demonstrated a glue mouse trap on a MyZ television show. He used a live mouse to demonstrate the trap, of which a mouse cannot remove itself. The mouse died.
I'm not an ardent animal rights activist, and I'm not fond of mice at all, but I found this demonstration to be rather cruel and repugnant. Mr. Marra could have a better object to use than a live animal.
Meredith Mulder
Proctorville, Ohio
