Anchorage Daily News

Missing Halloween history

Geneva Walter's Oct. 25 Compass lacked some history behind Halloween. It is unfortunate she fell victim to pulpit talk against participating in Halloween activities, but I'm glad she wisely recovered.

Ironically, Halloween morphed from one of the many Christian church year celebrations. Like Christmas becoming a merchant holiday for secularists, Halloween is basically the pagan's version of "All Saints Sunday," a memorial day of great Christian Saints who have died before us. This also includes St. Nicholas, better known as Santa Claus.

Human creativity has taken this church day celebration to an extreme and coupled it with harvest themes. Accordingly, merchants capitalize by selling creepy grave scenes, crazy costumes, pumpkins and way too much candy for treats.

Supporting all that Halloween represents for those just wanting to have a little fun should prove no threat, except for all the hazards of sugar. What is more threatening is when people forget the noble ones of our Christian history.

-- Rhonda A. Hubbard

Seward

Be responsible: Pay for safety

Let's stop blaming Sen. Begich for Anchorage's financial situation. If Begich didn't share all the information he had, then he should be held accountable for a lack of transparency. However, I am glad Begich tried to give our police and firefighters a raise, and I am tired of Mayor Sullivan's unwillingness to even consider raising enough taxes to support them.

I want experienced people on the job in public safety. Police and fire departments should be able to retain their employees. Spending a little more on salaries can save money on recruitment, training, overtime and costs associated with fires and crime. Let's keep Anchorage safe.

Mayor Sullivan is proposing we borrow unpaid bond money and cut city services to avoid more taxes. I just received my dividend check from the state. I am not overtaxed. I would rather be a tax-and-spend liberal than a borrow-and-spend conservative. Please leave taxes in the budget discussion. Let's be responsible and pay for safety now, because we will benefit from it now.

-- Gary Snyder

Anchorage

Teacher's award unheralded

Bobbie Jo Erb, a math teacher at Mirror Lake Middle School, was recently awarded the prestigious Milken Educator Award. This is a national award to outstanding teachers; the Milken Family Foundation makes the final selection based on educational talent, accomplishments beyond the classroom, leadership, and engaging and inspiring presence. I am dismayed, therefore, that no mention of Bobbie Jo's accomplishment has appeared in the Anchorage Daily News. There are so many stories in the paper which highlight some of the negative and depressing aspects of the schools today; why not a story that is positive, uplifting and inspiring?

-- Lydia H. Wirkus

Chugiak

Cops need to shape up

Earlier today I saw three uniformed members of APD enjoying their morning coffees. One thing occurred to me: There was no way any of them would catch me in a foot race.

Now I am no uber-athlete by any stretch of the imagination. I do play sports and bike/run/ski for fun. My claim was based on observation: One of the officers was very, very overweight, while the other two simply looked out of shape. The bulky flak jackets, belt gear and leg attachments would only serve to slow them down further.

I have also seen other examples of Anchorage law enforcement officers who do not take fitness seriously. In their lines of work I would think that being in good shape would be absolutely critical to officers' safety and therefore a mandatory requirement for the job. Would the city hire and retain squeamish paramedics? Snowplow operators with poor driving records? Accountants who can't add?

-- Erik Wegscheider

Anchorage

Cut streetlights, not libraries

A free society is dependent on the free flow of information. Our public libraries are absolutely essential to that free flow. They make democracy work at every level. The mayor's proposed budget cuts to our libraries are simply unacceptable. They effectively censor our mindful attention to community and government, science, and the arts. Our libraries are repositories of our history and our culture. We say not just "No" but "Hell No" to these proposed cuts.

Why does the city spend thousands of dollars on highway streetlights which only a small portion of the population uses? Between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. we have hundreds of overhead streetlights burning megawatts of energy while 98 percent of us are asleep. Why do cars have headlights, anyway? Let's turn off all these wasteful streetlights on the Glenn and Seward highways and Minnesota Drive and steer the savings into our libraries.

We're angry, and we're ready to organize sit-ins, if necessary, to keep the doors open.

-- Craig and Barbara Mishler

Anchorage

ADVERTISEMENT