Tecumseh Herald Editorials

To the Editor,

The Joyce Andrews Memorial Pool was built because a young girl drowned and the community felt it needed to prevent it from happening again. There is a high percentage of voters who were once fortunate enough to have taken swimming lessons at Joyce Andrews Memorial Pool. How can they deny the same opportunity for the young children today? For less than $20 a year, that opportunity can be reinstated.

At one point in time when the present pool was built, there was a quarter mill passed to support the pool. The State did away with that millage when the school taxes were restructured. At the present time no millage for support of the pool is in effect, so it becomes vital to vote YES on Feb. 28 for the pool millage.

We belong to a vibrant and responsible community. Certainly we can expect support and an empathic YES vote on Feb. 28.
What other community facility services citizens from toddler to the elderly? Please consider a YES vote.

Pat Forsyth
Raisin Township

To the Editor,

I would like the Tecumseh pool to stay open because it means the world to me. I remember the first time I jumped in that pool. I felt like I belonged there. The pool is completely important to me because I think of it as a place to relax and to just have fun. I’m on the Tecumseh Tigersharks swim team, and trust me, swimming is the ONLY sport I haven’t complained about. Coach Eubanks and Coach Wolfe made me feel welcome. I am on a team. A team that helps build confidence, discipline, and kindness to people. I can never repay them. I have now joined a USA team (in addition to Tiger-sharks) because my coaches game me the wonderful experience of having fun in the water.

Lizzy Spears, 11, swimmer
Britton

To the Editor,

I am writing to express my support of the millage that is on the ballot for the Feb. 28 election, in an effort to prevent the Tecumseh Pool from closing to all but school activities.
Passage of this millage will allow the pool to remain open to members of the community who use it every week for so many different activities: open swim, water aerobics, Red Cross swim lessons, and the Tecumseh Tigersharks swim club that offers competitive swimming to children from ages 6-18.

My family has personally taken advantage of all of these opportunities, and I cannot imagine our community WITHOUT a public swimming facility.

Since 2004, I have participated in weekly water aerobics classes and have not only improved my health and well-being, but have made some wonderful friends. My husband has enjoyed the early-morning lap swimming, and my son learned to swim through the swim lesson program and is now on the Tecumseh Tigersharks team.

Our community pool is an asset worth preserving.

Tecumseh has so many things going for it: a welcoming library chock-full of resources; a vibrant auditorium venue; a thriving art center; and the well-used and well-loved community pool, just to name a few. It would be a shame to see this facility close for lack of funds.

On election day, please consider what it means to you as you cast your vote.

Pamela C. Patterson
Tecumseh

To the Editor,

A truly amazing thing took place in Washington on Jan. 23. Many of you are not aware of this phenomenon because for some reason the media seems it unimportant.

More than a quarter of a million people, young and old, marched in Washington once again, as they have for the past 39 years. They are always hoping to change the minds and hearts of our elected officials, and the nine members of the Supreme Court. Hoping they will respect human life and bring an end to legalized abortion which has denied the inalienable right to life to an estimated 54 million babies since 1973.

If you are a Christian you have to ask yourself a few questions. Did Jesus die his horrible death on the cross so that we could kill our babies? And how will we answer to our Creator for denying His gift of life to another human person?

Somehow we must right this horrendous wrong.

Anne J. Lark
Tecumseh

To the Editor,

Bullying has recently become a big focus of attention in our country. We all are probably aware of a time when hate speech — hurtful words based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. — has been aimed either at us or at someone we care about.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are no different. Neither are their friends and family. This is our way of giving a voice to an important issue: eliminating the use of hate speech.

We’d like to ask support, and the support of your readers, in the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council’s Shred the Hate campaign to help eliminate hateful speech.

The ‘R-Word’ or ‘retard’ has found a place in common language and seems to be accepted by most, despite the fact that its use, casual or otherwise, is hurtful to millions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their family and friends.

Help us to eliminate the use of the ‘R’ Word and other hateful speech in Michigan by taking pledge to Shred the Hate. The electronic pledge can be taken at www.michigan.gov/mddc or sign our sheet at the Hope Community Center at 431 Baker Street, Adrian, MI 49221; their business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Help drive much needed change that will bring acceptance and inclusion to our community.

For additional information on the Shred the Hate Campaign, please contact Mitzi Allen at 517.334.7240 or email – Scott A. Marvin at smiling_face16@hotmail.com.

Thank you for your support.

Scott A. Marvin
Adrian

To the Editor,

The EPA, Region 5 office plans to issue an injection well permit to West Bay Exploration of Traverse City, Michigan for noncommercial brine disposal. The company has also applied for a permit with the MDEQ.

The location for the deep well waste storage is located between Waterman and Ladd Road, in Jackson County. Feb. 20 is the last day for public written comments on this proposed Class II injection well permit. If there is public interest, a meeting will follow. If not, our community lives with well waste disposal site/sites.

Though the permit is for Jackson County, the same concerns hold true for Lenawee.

Currently, there are no answers to the questions of how many waste disposal sites are projected; where is the waste coming from; what’s the travel distance from the waste source and what are the safety risks in waste transportation to the injection site? What is the capacity of the ‘reservoir’ to accept and confine the waste typically untreated and undiminished in quantity or toxicity; will there be seismic testing; is there an awareness of conclusive evidence citing the vast majority of releases to the environment are the result of human error while the remainder, the result of mechanical failures of loss of well system integrity?

The EPA’s regulatory focus in reviewing deep injection well permits is at the well head, with focus largely limited to protecting groundwater used as a drinking water source. Where is the meaningful notice or participation in overall environmental and human health protection related to deep injection wells— discussing the ultimate fate and transport of liquid waste injected in our community’s geologic formation?

Pamela Bacon
Brooklyn