The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

I hope you will print my letter in your paper. I wanted to reach as many people in and around Narrowsburg as I could. I just wanted everyone to know how much it meant for their kind words and the way everyone worried about our lost dog Chestnut.

The people in and around Narrowsburg have been very kind and have been very concerned about our lost dog. We lost Chestnut, our chocolate lab of over 13 years, on January 4. We had her on an underground fence. Her battery on the collar was weak and she was able to get out of our yard. We put flyers on car windows, in the windows of Pecks Markets, Peters Pharmacy, The Whistlestop and Big Eddy Diner. Father Tom at St. Francis Xavier also announced her missing at the Masses the weekend of January 5. Everyone has been so kind and caring. We did receive a few phone calls and I would also like to thank those people for taking the time out of their busy lives to give us a call and for looking out for her. Chestnut is still missing and maybe it was her time to just go into the woods and pass on. The only thing I knew was that the more people who knew about Chestnut the better chance she had of coming home to us. She was a good and friendly dog. She’s still missed and will always be in our hearts. Narrowsburg is a really great place to live. The people are very kind and caring. I don’t think we can say it enough: Thank you to the wonderful people of Narrowsburg.

On behalf of the Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce, I would like to congratulate the Narrowsburg Volunteer Fire Department on this, their 100th anniversary. I would also like to pledge our cooperation and resources toward making their planned July 6th celebration everything good that are all remember it to be. Let’s once again make this Independence Day weekend “The Thing To Do Since 1902.”

John Grund
President Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce
P.S. If you would like to get involved, help out, volunteer, lend a hand or participate in any way, call me at 845/252-7409 or get in touch with any local fireman.

Thank you for giving our Cub Scout troop a tour of your newsroom. We enjoyed finding out about how articles and ads make it into the paper. We liked Mr. Kane and enjoyed learning about his job and how he gets his information. Someday maybe we will be able to be reporters and write for your paper.

On Jan. 10, a request for funding a countywide Trap/Neuter/Release (T/N/R) program got a chilly reception from the Sullivan County Public Safety Committee. Some committee members said the unchecked breeding of stray cats was not a widespread problem in Sullivan County, and did not justify the commitment of county funds. The unspoken inference was the stray cats would die anyway, eliminating the problem without any monetary expense.

Studies have shown that while some stray cats do succumb to the harsh conditions under which they are forced to live, enough survive to continue breeding, and the feral colonies continue to grow. The key to managing stray cat populations is the humane breaking of their breeding cycle. The only proven effective way to stop the breeding is with a comprehensive and coordinated T/N/R program. Without funding, the program can not work.

The people of Sullivan County can show their support for a T/N/R program by notifying their Legislator of feral/abandoned cat colonies in their respective legislative districts. Reporting these colonies should clearly demonstrate that abandoned breeding cats are not restricted to a few isolated areas, but constitute a countywide concern. Until other funding becomes available, private donations to the existing, small scale T/N/R program in Sullivan County would be gladly and gratefully accepted. Checks may be made out to the Feral Cat Fund, and mailed care of the Animal Welfare Alliance, P. O. Box 112, Ferndale, NY 12734. Together we can improve conditions for both cats and the human residents who live in proximity with them.

There he goes again. Mr. Bruce Schor, who seems to delight in cheap shots and insinuations, is at it again in his most recent letter concerning Rev. Pinto’s earlier letter. If Mr. Schor is really interested in the detailed and unvarnished truth concerning crime and casinos and/or the true economic costs vs. gains of casinos, he can access the most comprehensive and responsible material on the subject at: www.terry.uga.edu/~dmustard/profitability.pdf. To include the footnotes scholarly Mr. Schor requires would demand more room than The River Reporter would likely find reasonable. They depend on the integrity of their correspondents and Rev. Pinto’s is good enough for them and for untold numbers in the area.

For those without access to a computer, these peer-reviewed studies concluded, as I recall, that counties (nationwide) that had casinos had a crime rate about eight percent than non-casino counties—attributable to casinos—and that in terms of economic development that casinos caused a deficit of about two to one nationwide. That’s about two dollars out for each dollar in. And that, they make clear, is a conservative figure. That means that we, the tax payers, subsidize the difference because the gambling industry sure doesn’t. And though I don’t much care how Mr. Schor amuses himself, I sure don’t like the idea of subsidizing it.

The difference between a peer-reviewed study, by the way, and the ones we’ve been seeing, designed and paid for by the gambling industry, is that peer-reviewed studies are examined by some of the best and most critical minds in economics and have not been found wanting.

Relating again to the forceful casino issues. With the advocating red herring skill of Schumer an ever partisan pol for the liberal Dems. And now the adopted mentor for Hillary’s doings.

Who are now obligated to provide anything desired by their supporters in their past elections and to the certain entrenched lobbyists.

And, to the financially affluent mega-developers fantasies of power and wealth, especially, in the polity controlled and garnered Gotham realm of influence.

With the pretentious Pataki who has changed to a full-fledged liberal by preparing and selling himself for the next election for Governor. By dispensing future financial liberal gifts with the people’s moneys to further enhance his most desired political career.

They have the cleverly assumed effrontery to impassively react with shadowed clarifications to anyone questioning the legality and morality of the impacting gambling issues.

The truly professional gamblers and supporters know that money is the essence of gambling ... as are the casinos themselves. They know that if you want to make money, own one. The odds will always be in their favor.

The casino operatives with their “social pandering” will do anything and everything to attract the high rollers to reap the abundant profits for themselves.

It should be remembered: gambling was always a disease “in dens where cards and the slots rule from morning till late at night.”