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For the love of Mary,
strong as ever
As I write through the tears, there are many emotions I feel — love, sorrow and gratitude.
As Christmas Eve approaches, I’d like to share and also give thanks for a wonderful event.
My beloved wife Mary had battled breast cancer for over 12 years. Our doorbell rang on Christmas Eve 2004 and our friends and neighbors were here to sing Christmas carols.
They asked if Mary could come to the door. As always, she invited you into our home. Little did we know, over 100 friends and neighbors in East Torresdale would come in and would then solemnly sing their hearts out.
I sat on our love seat and held my wife. Her mom and dad and sisters were on the sofa next to her. We were the first home visited. We turned out to be the last. I was told by some later on that the gift was theirs that night and they will never forget.
For my wife and I, it was the greatest gift we ever received. It was not wrapped, it was not bought in a store. It was from the hearts of many to the heart of one.
A special thanks to Mrs. Bernadette Liddell, our true friend and neighbor.
My wife lost the war on Jan. 6, 2005, but I can still see her eyes as bright as I’d ever seen them, last Christmas Eve.
Ron Gabor
East Torresdale
How much is that doggie
duty in the street?
It may not seem like a big deal to most people, but it IS a law to pick up after your pet. Anyone who has a corner home knows all too well that some people fail to obey this law. It is the responsibility of the owner and not anyone else to clean up after your pet.
So why are some people so irresponsible?
Only two months ago, in Lansdale, Pa., a homeowner took a neighbor to court for not picking up after his dog. The owner of the dog was given a $300 fine plus court costs. People outside the city just assume you will pick up after your dog. After all, why wouldn’t you?
I have found over the years that these people don’t walk their dogs on their own street. Maybe it’s because they want their properties to look nice but show little regard for others. Maybe they don’t like picking it up, and think I enjoy doing so. Maybe they know that they won’t be arrested, taken to court or pay a fine.
In any case, I don’t enjoy picking up after others or stepping in it, and haven’t found many people that do. Yet, it seems so simple for the owner to take a plastic bag, bend over and pick it up and take it home, put it in the trash, and NOT leave the bag on the sidewalk, in the street or throw it down the sewer.
Chuck Steer
Holmesburg
Singing the praises
of the unsung hero
On a recent Sunday afternoon, my car broke down on Roosevelt Boulevard right in the left-turn lane near Cottman Avenue.
So many people were annoyed at having to go around me, but then there were many people who offered me the use of their cell phones or to call someone for me. I want to thank all you kind, understanding people. This is also a testimony to cell phones and their emergency use. Mine sure came in handy.
I had already called AAA but the hour-long wait for them was bad, as I envisioned my car getting hit being where it was stuck.
A young man did ask if I could get it to the station across the way, which was really impossible. Another stopped and had me start my car, which I did, and he told me I would be all right. He quickly got his car out of the way and left, but my car stopped again.
A young man who said he saw my Support the troops sticker on the back of my car came and said he was a soldier and wanted to help. He asked me to trust him as he pointed out his car parked across the way, a big white sports car.
He was so calm and nice, telling me what to do as he pushed my car around the corner to a safe spot for me to wait for the tow truck, which came shortly.
I was so unnerved and so relieved to be out of the turn lane to Cottman that I never even asked his name. Whoever you are, I hope you read this, as I truly appreciate what you did and I thank you so very much.
Leonora Hallowell
Holmesburg
Cheer and jeers after
the hit-and-run
I would like to say thank you to the man who reported the hit-and-run accident near Blockbuster on Frankford Avenue on Thanksgiving between 10 and 10:10 p.m.
It was very cold out that night and the man came back into the store and asked if someone owned a white Suzuki wagon and that he saw the car that hit it and gave me the license plate number. Not many people would have done that, and may God bless him.
Now this is to that person with the license plate number: I say you are the lowest scum in history. It is the scum like you that causes insurance rates to go up every year, and the people who do have insurance have to suffer. And to the scum that hit my car, I hope you get what’s coming to you in triple fold.
Harry L. Steffler Jr.
Mayfair
Councilman Mariano:
I’m keeping the faith
During the last several weeks, I’ve been blessed to receive many encouraging notes and phone calls urging me to "keep the faith."
My life has been complicated by an appendectomy, knee surgery and follow-up rehabilitation of that knee. But, I’ll be "100 percent" before long.
In the meantime, my faith in God and the support of my neighborhood will see me through all troubled waters. And, I will "keep the faith."
As a first step in keeping the faith, I have hired a former deputy managing director to be my new chief of staff and a young fellow with a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania to be my director of legislative affairs. These new hires will make my office the most professional of all the City Council offices.
o Community values: My office appears before the zoning board six to eight times per week and always opposes nuisance bars and any other applicant who lacks community support.
o Community support: Recently, I just completed distributing $180,000 in small grants to neighborhood groups that include senior citizens, Scout groups, recreation centers and youth teams. And, remembering our less fortunate neighbors, we just completed our annual turkey donation where we made sure 150 deserving families had a traditional holiday dinner.
o Community resources: I am proud to have been present at the reopening of the Feltonville Recreation Center as a teen center to serve our youth. Since I’ve been on Council, I have successfully fought for more funding for teen centers and Feltonville in particular.
o Scanlon ice rink: As one of only five ice rinks in the city, Scanlon is a vital resource for the city of Philadelphia as well as our own neighborhood. I fought the Recreation Department when Scanlon was on their "hit list." Now, through poor planning and poor maintenance, the Recreation Department has allowed Scanlon to close. This is totally unacceptable!!!
Very recently, I authorized the recreation commissioner to use the remaining funds — $350,000 — in my recreation budget to fix Scanlon. But my commitment to Scanlon goes beyond money. It’s a matter of keeping faith with those who elected me.
To get to the bottom of this screw-up, I introduced a resolution calling for an investigation by City Council’s Committee on Recreation. And, I have directly involved the mayor and managing director so Scanlon can be reopened as soon as possible.
o Council business: Just as you would expect and want, I am attending and voting at Council sessions and chairing my Committee on Licenses and Inspections.
o Keeping the faith: For 10 years, I have been blessed to serve my neighborhood as a member of City Council. Together with community groups, I have brought money, housing development and the demolition of dangerous buildings to our area.
I invite constituents to visit my office in Room 599 in City Hall or telephone us at 215-686-3448. Also, I am one of the few Council people who maintains a district office — located at 4200 L St. — and it’s open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The phone number is 215-683-2840.
Rick Mariano
Councilman, 7th District
Editor’s note: A federal grand jury in October handed Councilman Mariano a 26-count indictment on corruption charges. He is free on bail. A trial is set for March.
Yo, Joan, it’s not
wonderful for all of us
As a representative of the city, Councilwoman Joan Krajewski mingles with all poverty levels. She sees, more than anyone, the sufferings of the less fortunate.
I thought that her ad in the Bridesburg Bulletin was insensitive. Attractively dressed in warm, festive looking sweaters and dresses, her five grandchildren gathered around her at her desk.
The caption read: From my family to yours: It doesn’t matter how many presents are under your tree, or how much food is on your table, what matters is that you, your family and friends have each other during the holiday. She ends it by asking us to remember, "It’s a wonderful life."
My immediate thought was that it does matter. It matters to mothers and fathers who can’t provide the gifts and food for their kids. It matters to little children how much is under the tree, and it matters to each hungry person, how much food is on their table. Some will not get even one gift or a morsel of food.
Also, are there no longer people with no family or friends to share their nothings with? Maybe some food or a gift would fill that void. It is not a "wonderful life" for everyone, so she, as a representative of all of the people, should not insinuate that it is.
We have families living in poverty, men and women in war zones, massive layoffs, and people with no health insurance, just to name a few horrid conditions people are coping with every day. Christmas does not take that away, nor does it take away the pain of hunger.
Christmas is a holiday that should be revered as a celebration of the birth of Christ. Part of the custom of Christmas is sharing gifts and food. Unless it is a person’s choice of not celebrating in the traditional way, it does make a difference.
Joan Krajewski is a name that, when people see it in the newspaper, they will pause a moment and read what she had to say.
She should have taken that opportunity to encourage the fortunate to help the less fortunate. After all, wasn’t she put into office to advocate? This should serve as an example to all political figures with what they say to the general public.
I did notice that it was paid for by the committee to re-elect Joan Krajewski. Lucky her. She didn’t have to take from her own Christmas money to pay for her holiday plug for votes, telling people that is it a "wonderful life."
Debra Kohlenberg
Morrell Park
Please feed me some
info on the pig issue
In response to his Dec. 1 letter to the editor, if Councilman Brian O’Neill thinks his ordinance does not make pot-bellied pigs illegal, then why is his staff going to pot-bellied pig owners’ court cases and helping with their prosecution?
In Philadelphia on May 28, 1997, a City Council committee passed a bill permitting pot-bellied pigs as pets in the city of Philadelphia.
The keeping of pigs had been prohibited since the 1800s, when the only pigs around were the farm pigs.
With the introduction in 1985 of the non-edible, non-farm animal, Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, the pig as a pet became popular. The legislation’s sponsor was James Kenney. Among those who testified before City Council were pot-bellied pig owners and the Delaware Valley Pot-bellied Pig Association.
The new law did not allow the breeding of pigs within city limits. Then-City Council President John Street was also present at that hearing. So please enlighten me as to what other event aside from the farm animal ordinance has transpired since 1987 to make pot-bellied pigs illegal?
Gov. Ed Rendell has even issued a proclamation for Pennsylvania which is available for view at www.PetPigZone.com on the Internet.
It is a Web site for the promotion of pot-bellied pigs run by the Rev. Rebecca DiNolfi, international zoning consultant and zoning adviser for the North American Pot-bellied Pig Association.
So please, Mr. O’Neill, don’t insult people’s intelligence by claiming to be innocent of causing the current situation faced by the pet owners unless you can demonstrate why it’s not your ordinance that is the legal basis for the city taking people to court.
If Mr. O’Neill is saying in his letter to the Northeast Times that the farm animal ordinance does not make the pigs illegal, then don’t all the cases need to be dismissed because there is no cause of action?
I am no lawyer, so please clarify it for me. Thank you.
Lynda Kennedy-DeSouza
Frankford
Snubbing Mrs. Cohen?
It’s just outrageous!
The powers that be had better get their act together regarding the late David Cohen’s Council seat.
A lot of times when an elected official dies in office, his spouse is offered the position to fill out the existing term.
Even though I rarely agreed with what David Cohen proposed for Philadelphia, many other Philadelphians voted repeatedly to elect him to City Council.
As the time goes on since his death without any offer to Mrs. Cohen to serve his remaining time, I feel it is an outrage and a disgrace to all Philadelphians.
The Cohen family deserves better, because they chose the road most people do not choose — "public service."
Mayer Krain
Modena Park
This is no time to
pull out of Iraq . . .
When I think of what Support our troops means to me, it is not what I see on the news or the Internet. Everyone is saying we shouldn’t be over here and asking what we are fighting for. They want us to pull out of Iraq because soldiers are dying and the American public as a whole doesn’t know why.
Everyone thinks they know what’s best for the troops here, but no one cares about what we think. If you ask almost any member of the military in Iraq if they think we should give up and run, they would say no, for all the 2,124 fellow soldiers that died, not including the 20,000-plus injured.
What about Afghanistan? More then 200 have been killed there. We cannot run. I am stationed at a forward operating base (F.O.B.) in Samara and have seen death. The worst thing you can see is a black body bag, knowing the person in it was someone you were talking to not even 24 hours ago.
I have missed the first year of my daughter’s life, being over here. I am doing this in the hope that she won’t have to. I don’t want her to see the things I have seen.
While I may not agree with why we are here, we have paid too high a price to quit. Yes, we are the police of the world, but with great power comes great responsibility. If we didn’t take care of the world’s problems and minded our own business, do you think it wouldn’t affect us?
Now, 160,000 of us risk our lives every day so SOME DAY Iraqis might know freedom like we do. It doesn’t happen overnight. The United States got its independence in 1776 right here in Philadelphia but had to fight for it. Even to this day, we are still working to get it right, and we have had more than 200 years to do it.
Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in and sometimes die. The men and women on the front lines are risking their lives every day for that reason. If we pull out you think that will help, so in five years it’s 10 times worse and 20,000 are dead?
Supporting the troops is staying with us and letting us do what we have to do and giving us the time to do it. We know the price we may have to pay. I never want my wife to get that knock on the door or that phone call saying I am dead. Service members and their families know what I am talking about.
I’m not saying families that have lost loved ones shouldn’t be mad. All I am saying is, don’t let them have died in vain. I in no way speak for any other service member. This is my own opinion and I may be wrong, but only time will tell.
Spc. Anthony Fusetti
Samara, Iraq (originally from Frankford)
. . . This is time to
pull out of Iraq
Mr. President, the vast majority of the country implores you, end the Iraq war! With all due respect, sir, the purpose of the pre-emptive strike in Iraq has been accomplished by the capture, imprisonment and current trial of Saddam Hussein.
Wave after wave of roadside bombings, blasts, and human laced-up bombers continue to wreak havoc almost daily on our men, 2,124 to date, and conscientious Iraqis, striving for harmony.
The Iraq war is essentially an ongoing religious war for centuries and forever will be an internal one.
We are not, never have been, and never will be liked by the Muslim people all over. Despite our president’s desire to extend democracy to Iraq (and other countries), he surely must realize two-thirds of the world — China, Russia, Cuba, etc. — are Communism or other "isms." The other one-third are democracies or monarchies.
Whenever people, in South America, for example, are fed up with their government, they revolt and a new military group takes over.
We know, and it has been proved, that a democracy is best for us and it does work for us. Our president seems to feel he can correct the ills of the world by extolling the virtues of democracy and handing them a check for $11 million.
Start at home by imposing huge taxes on all foreign-made products and severe tax penalties on American firms that vacate the country and transfer business to a foreign company for cheap labor and greater profits.
Raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour for worthy working people. Revise and install the compulsory draft of men to serve and protect the country. Revise, update and extend better and more inclusive health care and benefits for all, teaching the true value of human beings over money.
Finally, end the war immediately, if not sooner, and bring all the service people home in uniform, not caskets.
Carl P. Fasciocco
Mayfair
Clearing the air about
California clean cars
Guest Opinion
By Ronald W. Kosh
Are you confused about clean cars and clean air? Public officials who make "California cars" sound like the only path to fresh air and sunshine are steering us down the wrong road.
AAA, a motorists’ advocate for more than 100 years with nearly 3 million members in Pennsylvania, opposes efforts to bring the California car to Pennsylvania.
The issue swirling in Harrisburg is whether Pennsylvania should keep the EPA-approved "Tier 2" clean vehicle program or adopt California regulations. Both programs require cars with near-zero emissions, but the California low-emissions vehicle (CA LEV) is far more expensive. AAA strongly encourages state lawmakers to keep the "Tier 2" program in place.
Here is why AAA opposes "California cars" for the commonwealth:
o No diesels: Pennsylvanians could no longer buy new diesel vehicles, including even the advanced "clean diesel" vehicles.
o Higher prices: Pennsylvanians would have to pay more money for a new car. California cars cost substantially more, from $1,000-$3,000 or more per comparable model, because of required manufacturing changes and limited production.
o Special Gas: California cars need special blends of fuel now produced and sold only in California. They cost more. Failure to use that type of fuel degrades vehicle emission systems, eroding any intended benefits.
o Fuel availability: The commonwealth’s current fuel production, distribution and retailing infrastructure would require significant and costly changes. When a Pennsylvania/California car gases up outside the commonwealth, the special blend of fuel will likely not be available.
o Limited choices: Pennsylvania consumers would face fewer choices when buying a new car; they would be limited to CA LEV-certified vehicles. Pennsylvania dealers would not be able to trade or bring into Pennsylvania vehicles from border states that do not participate in the CA LEV program.
o Our hands are tied: If Pennsylvania adopts CA LEV, Pennsylvania becomes inextricably bound to any changes made by the California Air Resources Board — a board in which Pennsylvanians would have no say or representation. Pennsylvania officials will be unable to oppose measures that might suitably address California’s air quality problem, but not be appropriate for Pennsylvania.
It is patently untrue that the federal government would sanction Pennsylvania with a loss of federal highway funds for keeping the "Tier 2" program. In fact, the EPA approved the "Tier 2" program in 1997 and is now concerned that benefits of the California car are overstated. EPA models demonstrate both vehicle programs achieve virtually identical benefits in emissions reductions.
Bipartisan bills in both the Pennsylvania House and Senate wisely direct the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to retain the federal "Tier 2" clean car.
A trip in a "Tier 2" car from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh would produce fewer emissions than mowing your lawn. How about those oranges?
AAA has represented motorists and travelers for more than 100 years. Nearly 27 percent of U.S. drivers are AAA members. For more information, go to www.aaa.com
Mr. Kosh is vice president for public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic.
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