The News-Courier encourages letters to the editor. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and should include a name, address and telephone number for verification. Submissions that do not meet requirements are subject to editing. Send letters by noon on Thursdays to PO Box 670, Athens, Ala., 35613, or e-mail to kelly@athensnews-courier.com.



Mall needed in Athens



Dear Editor:

I just recently had the good fortune to communicate with our Athens Mayor Dan Williams about my desire for the Athens area to have a large discount mall. We how have many good specialty shops in downtown Athens, but many of my co-workers in the Huntsville area and my family in the Florence area, agree that they too would love to see Athens have a large discount mall.

I expressed the idea that a large discount mall would work wonderfully for the area behind Ruby Tuesday and the new restaurants and hotels going in just off Interstate 65. I wanted to express this idea to the public and see if I could get some support in this thought. My husband and I always love to take vacations in areas that have a large discount mall. Travelers along I-65 would enjoy stopping in our city and we would certainly enjoy and benefit from the visits.



Sincerely.

Pamela Poole

Athens



Officers due reward



Dear Editor:

Our state legislators in Montgomery want to claim a budget surplus this year and anticipate surpluses in the next couple of years also. OK, let’s see them do something positive with it.

First, get rid of the Department of Corrections commissioner, Donald Campbell. He has worked hard at destroying a department that was already struggling. Since his appointment in 2002, he has taken the work release centers in this state from contributing over $13 million to the state’s general fund budget annually to contributing about $8.5 million annually. That is a drastic cut!

Second, there is a ratio of about 100-plus inmates to each corrections officer at every prison/work release facility in this state. This is extremely dangerous for these officers, most of whom have families at home that they are trying to support.

The state legislators need to work at building more facilities to alleviate overcrowding, hire more officers to bring the ratio down to a level that is not so dangerous and raise the starting pay (currently about $23,000 per year) to something a bit more fitting to the dangerous job that these people have. These officers risk their lives every day, as do state troopers who start out at about $25,000 per year. And anyone who wants to argue the typical lack of a college education requirement for these positions as a reason to keep the pay down needs to go on a tour of the facilities and watch the training that these officers go through.

The jobs are stressful and dangerous. The training is long and strenuous for both corrections officers and state troopers.

My husband is a corrections officer, so I know first hand what these officers go through and the risks that they take. He works two jobs so that we can try to make ends meet while raising three young children. Most of the officers who are married are either working two jobs or their spouses work full time just to cover the bills. In some cases they do both.

It’s time the state showed them that they are appreciated and start paying them what they deserve. At the very least, hire more officers and build more facilities so that they have a better chance of controlling the prison population in case of a riot or other conflict at the facilities.



Sincerely,

Jennifer Hale

Tanner



Misled by museum



Dear Editor:

A few years ago the Veterans’ Museum began selling memorial bricks to be placed in a display around the flagpole in front of the museum. I purchased one for my uncle, who was KIA in WWII, and my wife and son bought one for me.

I was led to believe that the museum was selling these bricks for two reasons: to raise money for the museum and to honor and memorialize our veteran’s service to our country. A recent article in The News-Courier reported that the bricks were finally in place, and it also stated that bricks were still available for purchase and that a person did not have to be a veteran in order to have a brick placed in the display. I thought that this was an error until I stopped and looked at the display. I have to tell you that I, and my family, are very disappointed. What began as an honor and memorial for our veterans has turned into a mockery. If the museum wants to sell these bricks to businesses and non-veterans, then do so, but they need to be displayed in a separate area.

Bricks bearing only the name of local businesses should not be surrounded by those bearing the names of veterans who served, fought, and, in many cases, died for our country. Nor should there be bricks bearing the names of non-veterans in the same display. I suggest that a separate area be started for supporters and that these bricks be moved to that area.

I would also like to suggest that when the museum receives the finished bricks, that the purchaser be notified so that their accuracy can be verified. The brick that was purchased for me did not have the inscription that was requested, although we were told that it was not too long, and a brick bearing the name of my brother-in-law has his name misspelled. These could have been corrected prior to them being put on display if only the purchasers had been notified of receipt and allowed to verify the information. These are only the mistakes that I know of, but there are probably others. I am confident, however, that the museum staff will see fit to correct these mistakes and make some changes in order to appropriately honor Limestone County’s veterans.



Sincerely,

Timothy E. Clutts

Athens



Son victim of thief



Dear Editor:

On Sunday Jan. 15, my youngest brother was driving to his job at McDonald’s at 5 a.m. when his unreliable Chevy Cavalier broke down on U.S. 31 near the Town and Country hotel. After coasting into the parking lot of the Town and Country, he entered the hotel to use the phone to call for help and was told that he could not use the phone because the desk clerk said that the number was long distance.

Everyone knows that the prefix 232 number is not long distance from that location; the clerk simply did not want to help him. He then walked north on U.S. 31 for about a mile in cold Sunday morning air. By God’s good grace, a helpful citizen let him borrow the phone to call for help.

After arriving at the U.S. 72 McDonald’s location, he gave his employer an honest day’s work for the meager wages provided to an entry level fry cook. While he was at work, someone, and only you know who you are, took the liberty to break into his $500 Chevy and steal the stereo equipment that was recently given to him as a Christmas preset.

This kind of thievery is not uncommon in today’s world. It seems that some people, rather than work like the rest of us, take the easy way by stealing other people’s possessions in order to make their living. The police do their best to recover the stolen merchandise but it is very difficult.

To the thief, I hope that you sell his Christmas present for good price and I’m sure that you are proud of yourself for being so cunning as to break into an abandon car in an empty parking lot while the owner was busy fulfilling his obligations at work trying to make a living like the rest of us. I would just like you to know the person that you stole from.



Sincerely,

Terry Ritterbush

Athens