— The American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic sends our thoughts out to all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

With the passing of the hurricane, people are well aware of the damage a storm like this can have on their homes and neighborhoods, but it’s also important to understand the harm a hurricane can do to a person’s health.

Damp basements and leaking roofs give mold a good chance to grow. Exposure to mold can trigger allergic reactions and asthma symptoms in people who are allergic to mold. Anyone, with or without allergies, may experience irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs when exposed to airborne mold particles.

If you think that your house has mold you need to take action immediately. Breathing it in is a hazard and could affect you and your family’s lung health.

Call a professional to help clean any mold growth that covers more than 10 square feet.

For more information on your health after the storm, visit www.lung.org or the Hurricane and Flooding Resources page on our website.

Deb Brown

President and CEO, American Lung

Association of the Mid-Atlantic

Camp Hill, Cumberland County



Trick-or-treaters’ manners applauded

On Oct. 31, Daisytown and Conemaugh Township, Cambria County, held their annual trick-or-treat activities. Despite the weather, my husband and I received approximately 140 costumed youths.

While some of these youths were younger children, there were also many middle school- and high school-aged youth participating.

It is always nice to see them having fun, rather than having nothing to do or getting into trouble. We would like to compliment all of these trick-or-treaters on their manners and politeness. They came to the door, smiled and said “trick or treat” or “happy Halloween.”

They weren’t greedy or inconsiderate as they chose their candy, and every one of them said “thank you.”

In this me-first society, it was nice to see politeness, manners and respect.

Congratulations. We applaud you and hope all of you had fun.

Beverly Hogue

Johnstown



Verbal attacks mar youth football game

I have to comment on the letter of Nov. 1, “Football fracas not a one-sided affair”:

Let me say that the Conemaugh Valley coaches started the whole issue when one of our fans yelled at the refs to watch a certain number, that he was doing things he shouldn’t be doing.

Then a coach yelled, “Don’t make me want to come up there and kick your. ...”

This should not be tolerated at a youth sporting event. It then went downhill.

I ended up in a hospital because I am a high-risk pregnancy and was being verbally attacked by a coach, a fan and a cheerleader adviser, which was uncalled for. I didn’t do anything to provoke this situation.

I had a fan tell me he wanted to cut me up in little pieces and dispose of my body.

My husband is a coach and the Shade coaches never told those kids to play dirty; it was all on the CV heads.

A Shade coach went onto the field after the CV coaches; three of them came after him.

So don’t put this all on Shade.

Those kids were there to have fun. Conemaugh Valley ruined it for everyone.

I watched a coach try to attack a mother from their team on a sideline when she confronted him about something.

I saw one coach grab a child by the face mask and yell at him, telling him he doesn’t know how to tackle and he was not playing any more.

I also saw two of their coaches verbally attack our cheerleader adviser when she asked them to watch, that we had children in attendance.

Who would allow such stuff by coaches on a youth football program?

It was a disgrace and I was ready to pull my child off the field because of them being bullies.

Not all fans were like this. It was just a handful.

I would be ashamed to show such poor sportsmanship.

Maybe some people need to get their facts straight before putting the blame on one group.

Diane Musser

Stoystown

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