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OPINIONS
Voice of the people
New nuclear plant in area a bad idea
How can our representatives Strickland, Voinovich and Schmidt just out of the blue mandate another nuclear operation for our area when previous nuclear endeavors here have been so devastating?
How, when these representatives know good and well that area residents and workers from prior nuclear operations here are deathly ill from toxic chemical and radiation exposures? The Feds have designated Scioto County as having one of the highest cancer rates in the nation, and they even have a categorized list of illnesses caused from the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
The DOE and OEPA have admitted to their own advisory board for cleanup that plutonium, toxic chemicals and radiation are still present in our area's environment at dangerous levels.
I'm totally disgusted with the circus our media and representatives performed to promote this new nuke plant. Stacking a last-minute meeting with contractors and union people and calling it a "public/government partnership" was so insulting. Why didn't they go door to door and ask the community what kind of jobs they want for the area?
Where are the clean-up jobs and safe energy solutions that we have been promised?
Vina K. Colley
Portsmouth
Veggie products safe choice for cookouts
What ever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on the 4th of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks? According to the USDA's Meat & Poultry Hot-line, this year's top threat is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and salmonella bugs lurking in hamburgers and hot dogs at millions of backyard barbecues.
The Hotline's advice is to grill them longer and hotter. Of course, it didn't bother to mention that the high-temperature grilling that kills the bugs also forms lots of cancer-causing compounds.
Luckily, a bunch of enterprising food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious and convenient veggie burgers and soy dogs. These new foods don't harbor nasty pathogens or cancer-causing compounds. They don't even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs or pesticides. And they are available in the frozen food section of every supermarket.
This 4th of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.
John Tatta
Huntington
