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Letters to the Editor

Public must be heard on permits

Dear Editor, I am in complete agreement with the editorial in the April 13, 2020, Intelligencer that an actual physical public meeting is essential regarding the injection wells proposed for a site near St. Clairsville. These wells would be handling shale gas extraction wastewater. The editorial is correct: “the public deserves the right to be heard.” Now in the April 16, 2020, issue of The Times Leader we learn that 4K Industrial has applied for a permit to install a barge handling facility to receive the same sort of shale gas extraction wastewater in Martins Ferry for local ...

Cracker plant not good for valley

Dear Editor, It was recently reported that PTT Global Chemical and its partner, Daelim Chemical, would receive a 15-year tax abatement if they build the gas-to-plastics ethane cracker plant in Belmont County that they proposed in 2015. The companies would be exempt from paying property taxes for 15 years and in return, would pay $38 million to Shadyside school district and $9.5 million to Mead Township. This announcement leaves many unanswered questions. It was also published on Friday that there are homes being torn down near the cracker plant site. This letter also addresses ...

Look ahead, not back

Dear Editor, On April 15 Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times said: “If I seem angry, it’s because I’ve seen too many women dying in childbirth in poor countries, too many children dying of diarrhea, too much leprosy. Gutting the W.H.O. will mean more kids dying of malnutrition, more moms dying of cervical cancer, and the coronavirus infecting more people in more countries -- impairing the pandemic response, which may well cost even more American lives. And all because an American president is seeking a scapegoat for his own ineptitude.” It is past time to stop bashing ...

We will get through this

Dear Editor, New York’s death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 2,935 on Friday, up from 2,373 the day before — the “highest single increase in the number of deaths since we started,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. There have now been more than 102,000 confirmed cases statewide and 14,810 people are currently hospitalized in New York, the U.S. epicenter of the global outbreak. More than half of the cases in the state are in New York City. New York has half of all deaths in the United States and growing by the hour. New York hospitals are overwhelmed and can’t keep up. ...

Don’t downplay the severity of Covid-19

Dear Editor, I was surprised during these times when we are being subjected to misinformation downplaying the prevalence of Covid-19 and its harms that the Times Leader would publish a letter like Hugh Nile’s Letter to the Editor “Overreaction will lead to a depression” in the Sunday, April 5 newspaper. The gist of his letter was that government is only asking for social distancing and shut down of many activities and business because the government wants to make people fearful so the government can gain more power over the populace. He tries to point out that the virus is ...

This shall pass

Dear Editor, Every generation has an event which serves as an historical point of demarcation. The passage of time will determine that. Certainly, the events of the past month have done much to counter any positive connotation of “globalism.” The skeptic in me asks: what will be the next exotic obstruction to our spirit and way of life, and from which shore will it emanate? This too shall pass (I hope). Jeff Aland St. Clairsville