Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor: November 2, 2017

Stop slinging mud at president

It's been nine months since President Trump took office and the economy is up, the stock market is up, employment is up, illegals crossing our borders is down, and the ADN still wastes paper and ink on diatribes such as that of Scott Hayden ("Don't stand for Trump's antics," Oct. 29 letter) whose message is that the president is a liar whose bad behavior will sink our democracy. Nightly, David Muir of ABC starts each broadcast with three to five personal attacks on the president. Not news and not criticisms of his policies or accomplishments but personal, name-calling attacks.

During World War II, a group of English speaking Japanese women known collectively as Tokyo Rose broadcast propaganda to our troops in the South Pacific intended to demoralize our service members and us at home. At the end of the war, one of the women, a United States citizen, tried to return to the U.S. and was tried and convicted of treason.

These continuous name-calling attacks on the duly elected president of the United States intended to demoralize the citizens of this country are treasonous.
Print whatever you want about policies or accomplishments or lack of accomplishments, but it's time to stop the mud-slinging and get on with working together for the betterment of our country.

— Arlene Carle
Anchorage

APD, what are you doing?

I'm not going to say that 911 is a joke in my town but I will say that 786-8900 (non emergency) is a joke in my town.

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When are you going to start policing? I police my home when I'm there, but I can't when I'm gone. Thanks for zero.

The miniature hatchback at 3rd and Eagle still has the driver's front tire on a block with the driver's side window smashed in, the door is unlocked and people go through it. It's been there 6-8 weeks. Also, the three MOA no camping or littering signs along the ridge, above the RV trailer park, is a collection of camping and littering where there are signs to not camp or litter.

APD, what are you doing? Not protecting and serving.

P.S. My neighbor had her car stolen, when it was returned the stolen jackhammer had been taken as evidence but all of the fast-food to go garbage was left in the vehicle. If you would have left her the jackhammer she probably could have pawned it to cover the cost of detailing the vehicle and getting the locks changed.

— Grant Hedman
Anchorage

Trump stacks the deck for the rich

As we are being told, the president is trying to make deals every day in the areas of health care reform, tax cuts, immigration and border security, etc.

To be the master of the "art of the deal," one must be working with a full deck. The deck should never be stacked to favor of the rich over the poor, corporations over the workers nor the whites over the rest of the population.

— Mary Navitsky
Anchorage

Prisoners don't have to be handcuffed together

Regarding your article of Oct. 31 about prisoners being handcuffed together: This may be outdated, but here was method used by the Palm Beach Sheriff's office, where I worked. The jail had what they called a daisy chain. It was any length of chain, depending on what prisoners were going to court that day. The prisoners were cuffed to the chain at different intervals and not to each other. This worked well.

— Bob Barton
Wasilla

Alaskans struggling to make ends meet

The article from the Oct. 30 paper on food stamps and Medicaid pointed out the significant increase in the use of SNAP to access food for individuals and families across Alaska, and noted that Alaska showed the biggest increase in the number of households participating in SNAP of any state.

As the operator of Alaska 211, we have also seen a steady number of Alaskans calling to find the help they need. During the month of September 2017, we received 378 calls looking for assistance to find a food pantry, home delivered meals, congregate meals/nutrition sites and more. In a recent two-week period, 118 Alaskans called for housing. Often, the request for food assistance or housing results in referrals for other needs like dental care expense assistance, extreme cold weather shelters, family counseling, and health care to name a few. Our neighbors are in need of food and housing, but that is just the beginning.

Alaskans are struggling making ends meet and take care of their basic needs. As we head into winter, Alaska 211 and our community partners are working double time to help Alaskans find the supports they need to stay housed, put food on the table, reduce the cost of medications, get to safety in a shelter, and so much more.

— Sue Brogan
chief operations officer,
United Way of Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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