Letters to the editor, March 24 to 30

Radios and libraries

Repair River Road in Damascus

It’s not just Honesdale that has a problem with infrastructure erosion and stormwater flooding woes.

Look no further than River Road in Damascus, PA, between the Callicoon bridge and Conklin Hill Road, where violent storms last November seriously washed away sections of the shoulder and could lead to undermining the guardrails and roadway itself.

In contrast, New York’s River Road in Callicoon sustained heavy damage in the same flood, and repairs were finished within weeks. In PA, not even a hazard cone or hazard tape was placed to warn drivers of the significant holes and drop-offs in the shoulder area of the roadway, on the river side. The road sustained a significant amount of debris from run-off that has never been cleared, and the ditches that are supposed to catch and channel runoff into conduits that flow into the river are not sufficiently deep and overflow onto the roadway.

The situation is extremely hazardous to drivers unfamiliar with the roadway, especially at night since there is no lighting, or when passing a wide vehicle, as the road is narrow.

I’ve sent emails to PennDOT and made calls to Damascus town road maintenance, to no avail.

Will River Road suffer the fate as Jurgensen Road, which was declared structurally unsound and is now closed? Where would that leave residents of Tammany Flats, Hickory Lane and River Road in terms of access to emergency services and the closest town of Callicoon?

River Road needs maintenance now.

Melissa Bell

Damascus, PA

Damage from repeated flooding on River Road in Damascus.

Damascus' River Road is being undermined by flooding.

Mike Parietti for Congress

I am a commonsense, hands-on Democrat who will seek, practical, workable solutions to the most important problems we face at the local and national levels.

I was born and raised in Rockland County, went to Suffern High School, graduated from West Point, served my country in the 10th Mountain Division and had a career in the pharmaceutical industry.

About 20 years ago, however, I was drawn into the emerging political struggle between the Hasidic and secular communities in the Town of Ramapo. One of the original organizers of Preserve Ramapo, I’ve run for office repeatedly, against long odds, simply because we needed a slate of candidates. I’ve fought overdevelopment and numerous high-density applications that were environmentally irresponsible and posed a threat to traffic and fire safety. I’m currently an eight-year member of the Rockland County Planning Board.

The incumbent in this race, Mondaire Jones, refuses to take any meaningful action regarding the clash of cultures between the Hasidic and secular communities for fear of offending Hasidic leaders. If I am not on the primary ballot, there will be no discussion whatsoever of these burning local issues. My immediate challenge is to collect the petition signatures required for a Democrat primary challenge. I need your help to make that happen. All of the Democratic committee members are carrying the incumbent’s petition, which makes sense. He is a progressive on the left, and the committees tend to be more progressive. However, if you want a moderate, centrist Democrat like myself as a choice on the ballot, you must take the matter into your own hands. Go to my website www.mikesinthehouse.com, where you can print out my petitions with instructions for signing and collecting signatures.

Mike Parietti

Rockland County, NY

Drugs take a massive toll in U.S.

March 2022 featured Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week sponsored by NIDA—the National Institute of Drug Addiction.

It is important as we deal with life to keep an eye on what has already been occurring for some time. That is the increased availability of illicit drugs and prescription drugs that have been misdirected to the street drug trade.

There are special words for these practices.

“Drug trafficking, also known as drug distribution, is the crime of selling, transporting, or illegally importing unlawful controlled substances, such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, or other illegal drugs.”

“Drug diversion is a medical and legal concept involving the transfer of any legally prescribed controlled substance from the individual for whom it was prescribed to another person for any illicit use.”

These activities cause the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans every year. Globally over 750,000 people die each year from drug overdoses.

I’m not including the statistics for those who are mentally or physically incapacitated. Please note that’s hardly discussed at all.

Thirteen percent of all overdose deaths in the world take place in the U.S. The U.S. makes up about four percent of the world population.

Teenagers are a vulnerable target. Not only are drugs more readily available in every city, town and hamlet in the U.S.—they are more potent and often purposefully poisoned with fentanyl and other drugs that kill.

The schools have very little material for the children.

Won’t you talk to the children in your life?

Alfred Brock, Director, the Wayne Focus

Wayne, MI

Buy pollinator-friendly, insecticide-free plants

Spring has arrived and you may soon be buying plants at a nursery. Do be on the lookout for those labeled “Pollinator Friendly” or those with images of a bee or butterfly. That tells you pollinators are attracted to those plants. It does not tell you whether those plants are free of insecticides.

Let the nursery manager know you want insecticide-free plants. What customers want matters, and all of this matters a great deal to our ever-decreasing numbers of pollinators. Toxic amounts, especially of neonicotinoids, ensure that plants are pest-free, but they kill pollinators. Neonics (for short) are systemic insecticides; the poison is absorbed throughout the plant and remains in the stem, seeds, nectar and pollen. It’s one of the reasons bees are dying in such great numbers that in 2016 the U.S. placed them on the endangered species list. We could get on that list too, because we can’t live without bees.

They pollinate 70 percent of the world’s main food crops.

So when you shop for plants, think of bees and your food supply and ask for neonic-free plants.

Doris Chorny

Wallkill, NY