MIDSTATE LETTERS

Letters to the Editor with The Patriot-News

A huge thank you goes out from the family of Loudon Bricker to the hundreds of people who worked to find him on Oct. 30 in the darkness and through the early morning hours on Oct. 31. Volunteers, firefighters and state police, including people from the Harrisburg area, braved the rugged, muddy terrain of the family farm and the nearby... Full story »

Suspended Susquenita High School senior Zachery Marriott has returned to school, but he had to undergo “mental examination” before returning to classes. Here we have a student with a clear record aspiring to become a police officer, who loves hunting and with no evidence in his locker of anything suspicious. Could we have given the mental exam to the wrong... Full story »

I am writing in regard to the article about flu shots that appeared in The Patriot-News (Nov. 2). It was stated that seasonal flu season is until March, so keep trying to obtain the seasonal flu shot. I have been trying to get the seasonal flu shot for my 88-year-old father for more than three weeks. Everyone I call, including... Full story »

What does it say about the state of our country when Fox Sports cannot sacrifice two minutes of commercials to allow us to see and hear the singing of a patriotic song during the seventh-inning stretch of World Series games? I have always thought of this tradition as a tribute to all of the brave men and women who strive,... Full story »

I am not a resident of Harrisburg. I, like many others from surrounding communities, have watched quietly as Mayor Reed improved Harrisburg during the last 28 years. As we all know, Harrisburg, like any other city, has its problems with crime, drugs, homelessness, etc. These are problems that must be dealt with. Mayor-elect Thompson will find, when she sits in... Full story »

In 2000, I had cancer of the palate. As you might imagine, it was a horrendous experience. I first went to my regular doctor, and he referred me to a specialist and it was determined I had cancer of the palate, which is a rare cancer. The reason I got it, in my opinion, is that I grew up in... Full story »

This is about President Obama’s pay czar capping the compensation of CEOs whose companies took federal bailout money. Is it constitutional? They took the money so it’s justified, right? Besides, Obama already owns banks and auto companies so, the Constitution be damned. Then you’re likely unconcerned to have this federal government bail out financially troubled newspapers. Logically, Obama can and... Full story »

In The Patriot-News (“Electricity doesn’t have to zap wallets,” Oct. 10), we are urged to conserve electricity, which is a good thing, however, no matter how much we conserve, PPL will still zap our wallets. Pennsylvania capped electricity rates several years ago and PPL has been profitable all those years. PPL intends to increase rates by 30 percent on Jan.... Full story »

How can we get a street sign? Every day on the way home I go through Penbrook. When going south on Larry Drive and hitting Market Street Road there needs to be a sign stating “left turn has inner lane” because when you turn left there is a solid white line dividing the lanes. Most people wait and hold up... Full story »

The price of gasoline at the pump has little to do with supply constraints or demand fluctuations. Supply is never in doubt and demand is assured. Some 99 percent of the automobiles in the world are powered by archaic, inefficient and poisonous internal-combustion engines. More than a century ago, the internal-combustion engine, the automobile and gasoline, then an unwanted byproduct... Full story »

Congress is recklessly spending money we don’t have to ease the pain of many, but in so doing it is creating a catastrophic disaster waiting to happen. Then we will all suffer big time. Now is the time to bite the bullet and use restraint. A wise man once said: “When in a hole, stop digging.” The hole we are... Full story »

The FBI finds a young man, 19, with terrorist sympathies, convinces him to drive a van he believes to be loaded with explosives to a basement parking area of a building and activates an explosion that is timed for escape. The explosives were harmless and subsequently, the FBI arrests the lad for making a terrorist attack. The case appears pretty... Full story »

The role of caregivers in the lives of people affected by muscle-weakening diseases cannot be underestimated. Beyond basic care, caregivers are the hands, arms, legs and sometimes even the voice of loved ones who cannot move on their own, but who still have much to give to the world. Throughout National Family Caregivers Month in November — and always —... Full story »

It is chilling to note that our troops are fighting and dying to protect Afghan farmers and their opium crops. According to sources, our military are forbidden to set foot in a poppy field. To make matters worse, Taliban insurgents force the Afghans to fork over untold millions from opium farmers according to the United Nations office on drugs and... Full story »

It is deceptive to state that when a public option is finally introduced in a health care plan, the majority of citizens won’t take advantage of it. And it’s deceptive to promote a plan that has employers stuck in the middle, where they don’t belong. Why should citizens pay an insurance company for its outrageous expenses along with a profit... Full story »