Open letter to the governor
Dear Governor Mike DeWine,
I am a member of the Stow-Munroe Falls Lions Club, which has been providing vision screening in schools for many years. Unfortunately, we have been informed by the Ohio Department of Health that our equipment (Plusoptix vision screening device) is no longer approved and therefore we are forced to discontinue our vision screening in public and private schools in the greater Akron area.
We do not present our service as a formal optical examination, but we have identified many children with vision problems, helped them get free formal vision examinations with reputable doctors, and assisted them in purchasing prescription glasses. With our free service, we can examine a child in seconds and free up school nurses so they can care for their students.
Please speak to your team at the Ohio Department of Health and ask them to lift the boycott of our devices so we can continue to provide this valuable service in the communities we serve.
Our Lions Club is one of many that can be part of the Children’s Vision Strike Force you proposed in your State of the State address!
Greetings,
Nancy LG Henry, Silver Lake
Views on poverty
Over the last few years, I have met many homeless people with criminal records. I met a person who was released from prison and had no money, no work contacts, and no place to stay.
Poverty and inequality are two major problems of our time. Prisons are full and detention centers are full. The war on drugs has failed.
The people who suffer the most from hardship have the least political representation.
One solution to this problem is for both major political parties to implement federal prisoner expungement programs. More states need to have criminal expungement programs. Criminal expungement programs allow low-level offenders to clean their records and obtain better housing and jobs.
In closing, I hope that both political parties will find ways to alleviate the harsh conditions that many Americans endure.
Dajuan Beaty, Akron
Competence level
The sharp difference between Vice President Kamala Harris and convicted felon Donald Trump is most evident in the choice of their running mates.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is a seasoned public servant who has delivered for his state, pushing through policies such as tightening gun control, expanding paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, and providing free meals for all in public schools. He is a veteran and former high school teacher and coach.
While US Senator JD Vance was licking Trump’s boots to be nominated as his running mate, Governor Walz was pushing for better schools and better pay for teachers in his state.
Vice President Harris has shown the nation that she is serious about surrounding herself with smart, capable colleagues. Trump has shown the nation that he is only serious about having another sycophant who kneels before him as his running mate. I will vote for smart and capable people.
Angie Charles, Stow
The real reason
In his speech announcing his withdrawal from the race, President Joe Biden claimed that he did so for the sake of party unity. Nonsense. He dropped out because the Democratic Party machine knew he would lose to Donald Trump. They pushed him out. The fact that Harris is now entering the election campaign is something the Democrats behind the scenes are not happy about, despite the sugar rush.
Even the New York Times recently asked its commentators to rate possible Democratic candidates. Almost all of them agreed that Harris was the least electable candidate. Now the left-leaning media is trying to rewrite Harris’ ultra-liberal story.
Axios, which named her “border czar” in 2021, just published an article claiming she was never given that responsibility. Likewise, Gov. Track declared Harris the “most liberal” U.S. senator in 2019, more liberal than democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, but has now retracted that statement. More disinformation. More spin.
Former President Trump, drop the nicknames. Focus on Harris’ left-wing extremism, your winning record and vision, and America will make the right choice.
Michael Anderson, Barberton
No tolerance for military lies
Military service at any level is an act of true courage. But to lie about your service? That’s disgraceful.
I proudly served our country in the U.S. Marine Corps after 9/11, on multiple combat tours overseas. The men and women I served with gave everything for this nation, risking their lives in the heat of battle because they believed in something bigger than themselves.
When someone whitewashes their military service, they are not just lying – they are dishonoring everyone who has ever worn the uniform. It is a slap in the face to those who have sacrificed so much. There is no excuse for this and it should never be tolerated.
We must demand the highest standards of our leaders – nothing less is acceptable. If someone can’t be honest about their military service, they have no place at the helm of this country. Integrity isn’t just a slogan; it’s the foundation of trust, and without it, leadership crumbles. We should never support, let alone elect, anyone who disrespects the sacrifices of our soldiers by lying about their own. If they can’t be honest about their past, how can we trust them with our future?
Adam Miller, Cuyahoga Falls
A DEI candidate
There seems to be some controversy over Vice President Kamala Harris being a DEI candidate. President Joe Biden promised to choose a Black woman as his vice president and exclude all other candidates.
Regardless of what you think of her or the DEI movement itself, she was definitely a DEI choice for vice presidency.
Robert Umbarger, Munroe Falls
Is MAGA racism?
MAGA has attracted the most vile among us. Racists, misogynists, and all manner of bigots and xenophobes have been drawn to MAGA like flies to something the neighbor’s dog left on your lawn. A modest investigation shows why MAGA is racism and every other kind of bigotry you can imagine.
“Make America great again” means it was great in the past and is no longer great. But who was it great for in the past? Was it great for blacks in the past? Hispanics? Jews? Women? Asians? LGBTQ? Muslims? First Nations? Of course not.
In the past, it’s been bigger for privileged white Christian men raging against an America that has fewer of them than there used to be. So if you’re a Black American, woman, Jew, LGBTQ, Muslim, First Nations, Hispanic, etc., and you thought MAGA was for you, think again.
Mark Ira Kaufman, Silver Lake
