Valley News – Forum, August 31: Please support the Claremont area transit program



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Please support the Claremont area transit program

Those of us who do not have transportation, have friends or neighbors available, live alone, or have adult children living in other states find it difficult to get to the hospital, to the pharmacy, the dentist or the doctor.

It was my predicament when I heard that I needed two major surgeries over a four month period, neither of which allowed me to drive. Fortunately and gratefully, I was guided to the South West Community Action Program in Claremont. I was told that Teri Palmer, the director of transportation, would help me. And, she did!

She still has a smile in her voice and a willingness to help. I was in touch with volunteer drivers who donate their precious time and cars to transport the people of Sullivan County to their often vital appointments.

My special thanks to three volunteer drivers who were there for me, Gianna, Sal and most notably Curtis who is so kind and caring as well as a true gentleman. Without them, I don’t know what I would have done.

Consider volunteering your time and car to help your neighbors in need. If you have a day, a month, or a week, whatever time you can offer. Along the way, you meet wonderful people while making a huge difference in their lives.

And as many of you may already know, six of Sullivan County Transportation’s buses were vandalized last month by removing their catalytic converters. de Sullivan ”, July 28). The deductible for repairs covered by insurance is a large sum of money which is not part of the association’s budget. If you can, please donate as much as you can to offset this unexpected and unimaginable expense.

Judith Koester

Claremont

We should get the
Covid-19 vaccine

Referring to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Claremont and Newport, NH, it’s great that one of those interviewed went to get tested after experiencing cold symptoms. (“Delta eruptions in Sullivan County,” August 27).

Hope the process went smoothly and was not too costly. I also hope that his immune system will continue to resist the delta variant.

I hope that many other people’s immune systems will resist as well, such as the road repair crew I just passed on my way to White River Junction working in stifling conditions and wearing a mask. would be very uncomfortable.

Like cashiers, pharmacists, doctors, baristas, waiters, cooks, chefs, artists, teachers, farm workers, delivery men and all the other people who make our lives enjoyable, interesting, safe and tasty .

Coming back to the woman from Claremont, where the increased rate of infection correlates with the low rate of unvaccinated people, I also hope she understands that not quarantining after a negative COVID test does not guarantee that she will not be infected after the results are entered (or while waiting for the results) while she continues to do what she normally does outside of her home.

A COVID test looks back, not forward in time.

In the future, people who are still unvaccinated might consider receiving both doses, so they can give their immune system the boost it needs against this deadly virus.

Science tells us that the vaccine does not prevent infection, especially with the delta variant, but it minimizes symptoms.

If we want to live outside the home, go out and go out, not to mention wanting to minimize stress on hospitals and intensive care in particular, we should get vaccinated.

Annabelle cone

Lebanon

Prison razor wire kills hawk

An American Kestrel got stuck by its leg on the razor wire atop the fence surrounding the former Windsor Grasslands Wildlife Management Area State Prison earlier this month.

Hikers discovered and reported it on the evening of August 20.

The bird stayed there, alive, upside down by the paw until 6 a.m. It was then that the citizens arrived to give him shade until he could be saved.

The bird fell to the ground inside the fence about 30 minutes later as citizens watched, holding umbrellas and feeling useless as this wildlife tragedy unfolded.

Calls were made to wildlife officials on the evening of the 20th, and a wildlife official was eventually able to gain access inside the fence to retrieve the bird and transport it to the rehabilitation center at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. around noon on 21.

VINS felt that the kestrel was too injured to survive. Thanks to everyone who tried to save this bird. Needless to say, it’s a sad story.

If nothing else shows that whatever happens to the old prison property, we need to try to make sure it is compatible with the adjoining 850 acres of the wildlife management area.

We are told that the next meeting of the study committee on the use of the properties of the former prison is set for September 13. Location to be determined. Thank you for getting involved.

Finally, let’s hope that whatever happens to this property over the next few years that the razor wire be removed as soon as possible so that birds raised in the Prairie Wildlife Management Area are not killed next door. .

John MthatGoverns

Windsor

Fishing is torture

Recently the Valley News posted a photograph of the ‘Art of Fishing’ summer camp in Norwich (‘Gone Fishing’, August 2) with apparently zero awareness that animal torture – of which fishing is one form – promotes cruelty, trauma and sociopathology.

Fish are extraordinary animals. Science has shown that they have highly developed capacities for thinking and empathy. Research has shown that fish experience pain. A 2017 study published in Nature explains that fish depend on social and community interaction to cope with stressful situations. These intelligent and creative animals are explored in the fascinating book What a fish knows by biologist Jonathan Balcombe.

Fish weren’t created to be human toys to be terrorized by hooks stuck in their mouths and often in their brains, and then drown in the air in extreme pain.

Also according to global peer-reviewed scientific research in biochemistry and nutritional sciences, humans do not need to eat terrestrial and aquatic animals and their “products” to be healthy, so it is not. no need to fish for food.

The capture and release are extremely cruel. Most fish that are released into the water die long and slowly because of the damage done to them in the process.

There is also a strong correlation between children hurting animals, and as adults they have a greater tendency to hurt others, emotionally and physically. Deborah Kay Steinken, animal welfare journalist, activist and domestic violence counselor, explains: “Children who witness animal cruelty suffer psychological and emotional damage that compromises their development of empathy because they become unresponsive to feelings of kindness, hurt, pain and suffering within themselves. and other living things.

People who intentionally hurt and kill animals for fun are considered sociopaths.

What do we call the parents who encourage their children to do just that, who pay others to teach their children to hurt and kill animals, including fish, for fun?

Margaret D. Hurley

Claremont

Well said on racial justice

I didn’t know how to respond to embarrassing and inflammatory right-wing comments from State Representative Brian Smith, R-Derby (“Vermont State Representative: ‘I’m Proud to be White,’ August 21), but Judy McCarthy, in her subsequent letter to the Forum, did it for me (“Watch out for the word ‘pride’,” August 27).

Thank you. The letter did a great job conveying the sentiments of many allies.

Jim Contois

Claremont



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