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Take it easy,

read a book

I am an 18-year-old who misses the Marlo bookstore. Could a bookstore in the Northeast survive? It seems to me that more and more people are getting hooked to the television and computer.
In this fast society, the quiet, peaceful time of reading is almost forgotten. There are so many things to do that many of us push reading aside as boring and think electronic entertainment is more enjoyable.
Creativity and new ideas come from our experiences and what we absorb from our senses. We cannot develop our mind properly without reading. I encourage you to make time in your day to rest and read a book.
Jeremy Borton
Pennypack




Non-smokers

have rights, too

I was born and raised in Philadelphia. I am a bartender at a four-star hotel in the city. I love my job and plan to be there for a long time.
The only downside is that I don’t have a choice in breathing secondhand smoke. I can even feel the difference in my lungs after a busy night. People say, "Well, then you shouldn’t be a bartender."
Don’t I have every right to breathe clean air just as someone sitting behind a desk does? Being a non-smoker should not force me to find another job. Is this fair to anyone who chooses to live a healthier life? What about children? We need to protect their health.
So many cities around the world have already set a good example by initiating a non-smoking ban.
Now it’s our turn. As one of the greatest cities in the country we need to be good leaders. And we need to be healthy to do it! Thank you so much for your time. I hope that this letter helps in some way.
Megan Zega
Wissinoming




Officer’s wife:

Get tough, judges

I am married to a Philadelphia police officer. He leaves our home every night to work in horrible parts of the city. Just knowing that is scary enough, but getting a call that he has been involved in a shooting is the worst feeling you can imagine.
Two years ago, I received this call. To my relief he was not shot. He and his partner were shot at several times but they were not hit. The man that shot at them was hit but not seriously injured.
Time has gone by and my worrying subdued — until last week, when the trial for that shooting changed how I feel about the whole system we call judicial. The man that shot at my husband and missed his head by inches was found not guilty on all accounts.
So when they say we need more cops on the street, I ask what can the cops do if they are risking their lives every day and turning these criminals over to a broken system that will release them back into the streets to do the same crimes over and over again?
The judge in my husband’s case is known for letting criminals go, so who is at fault for the crime in Philadelphia and how can we stop it?
I say get tougher judges that give these criminals what they deserve.
So the next time someone thinks about doing that crime, he will realize that the system will not tolerate it, and the next time my husband risks his life, he can feel comforted in the fact that the judges will do their job and put these bad guys behind bars, where they belong.
Christina Desher
Somerton




Thanks for

helping us, gentlemen

I would just like to say thank you to the police officer who was able to return my mother’s wheelchair after it was stolen from our home on May 13.
There were two wheelchairs — one had been a spare — and it was the spare one that was destroyed beyond repair.
Also, thanks to the unnamed man who gave us an extra wheelchair to replace the damaged one.
Beth Gardner
Frankford




Frankford Boys Club

needs help

In the days following the death of Officer Gary Skerski, there have been numerous television and newspaper accounts of gun violence and drug sales in the lower Northeast, in particular the Frankford/Northwood area.
In the heart of this ever-growing diverse neighborhood there is an organization that needs the financial support of the city of Philadelphia and the community. Frankford Boys Club is well known in Northeast Philadelphia for producing championship football teams and cheerleading squads. It also offers baseball and basketball. Their coaches instill in these children strong values, such as respect, good sportsmanship and self-discipline.
As more and more families are struggling to make ends meet, the Frankford Boys Club is also struggling to keep afloat. This organization is trying very hard to keep these children off the streets and safe in a structured environment. As a parent, I am asking the city of Philadelphia and the community to offer this organization some type of assistance.
Denise Maccari
Proud parent of Frankford Boys Club athletes




Let’s make a deal,

Mr. Speaker

In response to your article and editorial (May 4 edition) about state House Speaker John Perzel and the Glen Foerd mansion, I am in total agreement with the editorial and criticism of the backhanded, sleazy manner in which Rep. Perzel abused his powers in Harrisburg.
I say this to you, Rep. Perzel — is that all it takes? A hefty contribution to your campaign to get legislation passed? If it is, then Rep. Perzel, would you please push through Senate Bill 438 — a bill that would drop the residency requirements for police officers in any municipality that forces them to live where they work (namely, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). How’s $5,000 sound? Would that get you to do something, or maybe $10,000 and a free gym membership?
I just can’t believe the amount of people that still support Perzel! And kudos to Gene Stilp, the Harrisburg area activist who protested outside Perzel’s office recently for not giving back his unvouchered expenses! When are the people who support Perzel going to wake up? You should be up in arms!
Patricia Donofrio
Northeast Philadelphia




Yo Philly, wake up

and watch your politicians!

Hey, Philadelphia voters, did you take notice how the rest of Pennsylvania treats politicians who don’t do their jobs?
Many incumbents lost in the May 16 primary mainly because of the ill-advised pay raise they voted themselves last year. The voters outside Philadelphia make their representatives responsible for their actions, and this was just the primary, when historically few voters care, much less even bother to vote.
Here in Philadelphia, the beat goes on. Same old, same old. Our representatives also voted for the pay raise, but who cares? Certainly not the voters in Philadelphia. The old party machine keeps rolling along. Whatever the voters are told to do by committee people, they do.
In Philadelphia, the people seemingly are like sheep, easily led with no resistance. Isn’t it way past time for Philadelphians to stand up for their rights and make those elected, both locally and statewide, do the "proper" job they were elected to do? It seems in Philadelphia it is party first and the constituents are merely an afterthought.
Just because a committee person says that our representatives are doing a good job and should be re-elected doesn’t mean they are. We should be reading newspapers and paying attention to news reports to determine who is or is not worthy of being elected.
Wake up, voters, and take all elections seriously, like the rest of Pennsylvania. In November, we have a chance to take a step in the right direction. Make those who choose to run for public office be responsible to their constituents and not to their party. The old way of looking the other way and allowing their representatives to do as they please should be over. We should expect these reps to honor their oaths of office. They should not be allowed absentee votes or ghost votes. They are elected to serve the people to the best of their ability.
In November, we have a chance to do what voters in other counties in Pennsylvania have been doing for years — that is, sincerely take an interest in who you vote for and tell those who are elected that we will be watching.
Jack Miller
Rhawnhurst




Winning candidate

is grateful for the support

Thank you very much to the people of the 152nd Legislative District for your support in the primary election. I am very grateful for the confidence shown in my candidacy, and I pledge to wage another clean and issues-oriented campaign in the general election.
Thomas P. Murt
Republican candidate
Editor’s note: Mr. Murt captured 55 percent of the vote in the Republican primary, defeating incumbent Rep. Sue Cornell.




No ducking

these extra details

I wanted to thank the Northeast Times and reporter Diane Villano for interviewing me for the article titled Save the Ducks in last week’s edition, and for helping to spread the word about how to rescue ducklings that fall into swimming pools and will drown because they can’t get out. I wanted to follow up to clarify some points and give some more important information.
Duckling season is spring, approximately April through June. The key to getting the ducklings out of the pool (or any water where the level is too low for them to climb out of) is to either raise the water level, or more practically, with a ramp. Anyone creative or handy can come up with a cheap and effective ramp.
The article mentioned using a Styrofoam cooler lid, but in most cases, this will be too small. The ramp needs to be long enough to extend from the pool edge into the water at not too steep an angle, and needs to have some traction (like a textured rubber mat) so the ducklings don’t slide back in. Probably 3 to 6 feet in length would be the best, and it needs to be around a foot wide.
Styrofoam is good because it is lightweight; likewise, plywood. Wire mesh (like on your screen windows/doors) is also good. It needs to be weighted down at the pool edge with a sandbag or rock so it will not blow away, and should be placed at the edge of the pool. Leave it in overnight. A Styrofoam base as a platform in the water to the ramp isn’t a bad idea, either. Even a lawn chair will work in an emergency!
The other key information I want to pass on is, we have a wonderful resource for help with wildlife in Bucks County. This is the Aark Wildlife and Rehabilitation Center at 107 Twining Bridge Road in Newtown, just up the road from Bucks County Community College. Their phone number is 215-968-4963 and their Web site is www.aark.org
They are licensed wildlife rehabilitators and can advise you on emergency care and how to help all sorts of wildlife. If you bring injured or orphaned wild animals to them (and they are open 24/7), they will save them if at all possible and release them.
We are lucky to have them so nearby, and I urge any animal lover to check out their Web site (which also lists similar places in other Philadelphia/NJ areas).
Thank you, everyone, for caring about animals and our wildlife, which need all the help they can get.
Arlene B. Steinberg
Bustleton




That duck

is somebody’s mother

Yesterday at the corner of Townsend and McNulty roads, nine ducklings were following their mother who walked across a sewer grate. She made it across fine, but her ducklings all fell in.
A woman name Aileen Harvey was driving by on her lunch hour and noticed the mother duck walking back and forth in front of the grate. She was concerned that the duck would get hit by a car, so she pulled over to see what she could do. She then realized that the ducklings had fallen in the sewer. She spent her lunchtime and then some trying to get the police department, the fire department and the SPCA to assist her and getting them out. No one came.
Even though the police said they would be right there, they never came. Finally some other people came out from their buildings and they fished the ducklings out with a wicker basket. All nine were saved. We found out that the family lives on the nearby treasury building grounds. I just think it is awesome that the woman took her time and did what she did. We need a few more of those.
Jill Singleton
Sharon Hill




Cohen’s widow: