When traveling on Cooper Avenue in Johnstown, please keep in mind there is a 25 mph speed limit. Children live along both sides of the highway and most attend the church along Cooper Avenue for the youth program it has on Wednesdays.

On Sept. 5, a speeding car hit a 7-year-old girl in front of the church, devastating our neighborhood and making many parents’ nightmares a reality.

As I sit on my porch and watch drivers speed up and down the roadway, my heart is heavy for a small girl’s life – or any child’s life – that is not as important as the  drivers’ time.

“Slow Down and Save A Life” is not a slogan – it is a message that driving is a privilege and drivers can kill someone with their cars.

Is getting where you are going more precious than a life? Maybe if you had heard that child scream in agony Wednesday you would slow down.

Blair Warner

Johnstown



For whom was General Motors saved?

President Obama’s economic credibility: He saved the auto industry and jobs at GM and Chrysler. But what about the jobs lost at Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Chrysler Delphi, etc.?

GM closed 14 plants and 60 percent of its dealerships, resulting in the loss of about 20,000 jobs and many Delphi workers’ pensions. This saving of GM was our commitment of $50 billion in new investments which apparently has become $80 billion. What followed is stunning.

In a February 2011 speech, Dan Ackerson, CEO of GM, announced that 70 percent of GM vehicles are now made outside the United States. Also, GM is engaging in 11 joint ventures with Shanghai Motors (owned by the Chinese government) and transferring some GM research and development from the U.S. to China, along with the resulting technology transfer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvl5Gan69Wo)

At the same time, Obama committed $8.8 billion to Chrysler, then promptly turned it over to Fiat which now owns

61.8 percent as of July.

Eight of Chrysler’s factories along with at least 4,800 employees and 789 dealerships were not part of the deal. Bondholders, including teacher and state police retirement funds, were stiffed as part of the deal. Fiat is now in joint ventures with Russia and North Korea.

So the American taxpayer has provided approximately $88.8 billion (40 percent borrowed) so Obama could save the auto industry. The only thing saved is the auto workers’ union.

Make no mistake, there were many investors waiting to buy Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. And Obama accuses Romney of sending jobs to China?

We can do better.

Tom O’Toole

Indian Lake



Spruce Road worse after township repair

I’ve been anticipating the repaving of Spruce Road in Susquehanna Township. I knew the day was coming because I read it in the paper.

I drive on Spruce Road every day. The road, which is near the golf course at Cambrian Hills, was closed in mid-August and I was breathless with anticipation for the new, smooth surface. Spruce Road has been crumbling for quite some time – big holes and lots of bumps – sort of like driv-ing on a washboard that’s in disrepair. Not very good for a car’s suspension or tires.

The days of road construction came and went, and I found that some things don’t warrant breathless anticipation.

After filling potholes with asphalt, the township put oil and shale over the less-than-stellar patch job. It’s like throwing a blanket over a mangy dog – you can cover it up but the dog is still mangy.

The road is bumpy as ever and, in a new development, has gained additional potholes in the scant number of days since it was paved. The road is still crumbling, still bumpy and quite possibly in worse condition than it was last spring.

Thank you, supervisors, for nothing.

Gerry Stanek

Hastings



Urge legislators to pass conception act

It may not be generally know, but there is a Life at Conception Act languishing in committees in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The act would declare the unborn to be “persons” under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and therefore entitled to the right of life guaranteed therein.

In its abortion ruling regarding Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court never declared abortion to be an absolute constitutional right, citing it did not resolve the question of when life begins. The act, by establishing personhood for the unborn, would effectively reverse the court’s ruling.

The House bill for the Right of Conception Act is HR-374 and the Senate bill is

S-91; the problem is getting them out of committee and onto the floor for votes, a good indication of who really are the pro-life members of Congress.

To get action on the bill, it is essential to recruit a large number of co-sponsors beginning with our own locally elected representatives and senators. A simple phone call would be sufficient.

To become law, a Life at Conception Act requires a simple majority in both chambers and the president’s signature for passage. Should that happen, we can sing “God Bless America” with expectations that he might.

Owen L. Hines

Johnstown

 

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