The News Courier encourages letters to the editor. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and include name, address and telephone number for verification. Submissions that do not meet requirements are subject to editing. Writers are limited to one published letter every 30 days. Send letters to P.O. Box 670, Athens AL 35613 or email to adam@athensnews-courier.com. The deadline for letters is Thursday at noon.

Need help with dog issue

Dear Editor:

The dogs that live next door to me and my husband are dangerous. They broke into our fenced back yard about six weeks ago and killed our poodle.

Because of the ongoing barking, additional attempts to get into our yard and the power and size of their build, we have called the police, animal control, an attorney and we attended a City Council meeting to ask for help, all to no avail.

Yesterday, when my husband was walking down the block with our Maltese on a leash, the teen daughter of the dog’s owner opened the front door and allowed one of the dangerous dogs to dart out. The dangerous, threatening dog knocked my husband to the ground and put the Maltese in its mouth.

Adults on a church van nearby saw the incident, helped my husband to his feet and took the Maltese in their arms to save him. Had it not been for that church van, my husband may have been killed and our Maltese would certainly be buried next to the poodle that was recently attacked. Once again, we called the police who were helpless to make things better at that time.

I am now at the point where I am nervous about leaving my home. We should not live this way. What does “Animal Control” do anyway? Controlling animals is not always at the top of their list. No one is seeing to it that these dangerous dogs are always securely confined within acceptable limits.

It seems everyone we ask for help says the same old department store phrase: “Sorry, this is not my department.”

This is my public complaint about dogs which have displayed tendencies to attack and kill. What do I have to do next? Rent some billboards?

Sincerely,

Patty Wilkes

Athens

Celebrating technical education in February

Dear Editor:

Americans are ready to rebuild our neglected infrastructure – schools, highways, bridges, dams, public transit. But we also can’t neglect the big challenge ahead of us: filling a shortage of 500,000 skilled construction workers — a number that could double if the promise of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill from Washington becomes a reality.

February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, and it comes at the perfect time to celebrate the students, teachers and industry partners who are growing the career readiness of America’s construction workforce.

Here in North Alabama, Associated Builders and Contractors and our members are committed to working with our local schools to promote careers in the construction industry, providing opportunities for hands-on learning for students as young as 6th grade. Unfortunately, policymakers, administrators and educators too often subscribe to the “college-for-all” mentality. Policymakers at all levels of government should help bridge the skills gap and build the trades workforce of the future.

According to the Association of Career and Technical Education, the federal government spends over $80 billion to assist students pursuing higher education. At the same time, the federal government only spends $1.1 billion to support CTE programs that lead to high wage careers in industries like construction. CTE availability needs more funding and program support.

CTE works, and we need to invest in providing more young Americans with educational opportunities that align with the careers that build and rebuild our communities.

Visit workforce.abc.org or abcnalabama.org for more information.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Brightwell

President

ABC North Alabama Chapter