It is surprising that Shari Jackson Small would allow skin color to so greatly influence her choice for president when she herself was discriminated against on the same basis as a child (Voice Mail, “From Alabama to Obama,” April, 2008). Hopefully, there are better reasons to vote for Mr. Obama. To write that “citizens of good conscience prefer Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton” is an insult to thoughtful people.
—Sam Pancake
Takoma Park, Md.
Kate Elizabeth Queram’s report in the March issue of the Voice (“Wind power meets resistance in Maryland”) on a proposal by a private company to build a wind energy project on public lands in Garrett County, MD, neglected to mention one very salient point—that the “public lands” involved in the prospective deal are two State Parks!
This past Valentine’s Day, the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Maryland Senate heard testimony on a bill that would set a uniform voter registration age of 16-years-old, offering young people more opportunities to register to vote before reaching voting age. At the hearing, Senators were greeted with valentines from students from Montgomery Blair High School that read, “Don’t break my heart!; Vote for S.B. 92.”
Continue reading "Voice Mail: If you register them, they will vote" »
As we stroll through the aisles of a grocery store or sit down to eat at a favorite restaurant, few of us question the safety of the food we’re purchasing. But a recent investigation inside a southern California slaughter plant may forever change the way we think about where our food comes from.
Clearly the man was outraged. His face was red and he spat when he spoke. His hand, holding the cigar shook spasmodically. “Who do you think you are, walking right alongside a little white girl like that in this town?” he roared. “N_____, you better learn your place!” He jabbed his burning cigar into the chest of the brown-skinned six-year old where it sizzled for a few seconds through cloth and against flesh.
The year was 1965. The place was Ft. McClellan, Alabama. The burned child was me. The “little white girl” was my light-skinned sister.
Recently I received a proposal from the City of Takoma Park for “traffic calming” in my neighborhood. One option called for building “bump-outs” in two paces on Glenside Drive and two places on Wildwood. These bump-outs would block one lane of traffic in order to divert traffic from Wildwood to Glenside and back again (west-bound) and from Glenside to Wildwood and back (east-bound). The purpose of this proposal would be to improve traffic on the affected streets by discouraging “cross-through” traffic, i.e., traffic traveling from one side of the neighborhood to the other without stopping.
Continue reading "Voice Mail: Is Takoma Park becoming a gated community?" »
At our recent General Meeting, the Park Hills Civic Association discussed and voted on key Purple Line issues affecting this east Silver Spring community. With this vote, we learned several things that should be of interest to the Montgomery County and State of Maryland officials who are planning this important East-West transportation link.
First, we learned that these issues are of continuing great interest to our neighbors. The enormous community concern about adverse impacts has not diminished since our September 2007 General Meeting where the PHCA membership overwhelmingly adopted a Resolution requesting that the Maryland Transit Administration prepare detailed studies of “underground” options as well as traffic and congestion studies, so we can better understand the costs and benefits of the Purple Line for our neighborhood.
Continue reading "Voice Mail: Our Purple Line vote: What we learned" »
I want to thank the Voice and Allison Baker for the coverage of the closing of the Takoma Women's Health Center and the impending closure of the freestanding birth center portion of the Maternity Center in Bethesda. This is truly a tragedy for women in our community.
Why does the ice rink need a cover?
Look at Rockefeller Center in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, and the ice rink on the Smithsonian Mall. They are not covered and serve as beautiful gathering places. With an emphasis on green instead of pavement, Silver Spring's ice skating rink could be really lovely.
The Silver Spring Town Center Inc. Board of Directors strongly supports the timely construction of a new Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza. We view this important public project as our community’s principal amenity of the downtown Silver Spring development, and we have worked diligently with the community, and private and public stakeholders to move this project forward. We believe that the Civic Building, along with a Pavilion and multi-purpose skating rink element, will be the exciting and dynamic centerpiece of our Silver Spring community.
by Jane Hurst
The Gallaudet Protest of 2006 has been hard on my identity as a protester. I am a veteran of protests about civil rights and the Vietnam War and the women’s movement and gay rights, to mention just a few of the causes that get me out on the streets. I remember when my neighbors on Spruce Avenue and I decided to take our kids to their “first protest” and we all went down to the “Million Mom March.” We felt that we were initiating them into a sacred ceremony of challenging the power structure and making our voices heard for a more just world. Since that time, my daughters and I have attended many protests together including, sadly, many anti-war protests in recent years. But I could not support the protest at Gallaudet.
Continue reading "Guest blog: Why I did not support the Gallaudet protest" »
I intend to vote for Robin Ficker for county executive, because he will make a heartfelt attempt to reduce the burdensome double taxation imposed upon Takoma Park property owners by the county council. I personally know of five homeowners who wished to remain in Takoma Park but who were forced to sell by high taxes. Through the grapevine I have heard of other families who also departed the city for the same reason.
Once again, people were turned away (balked after being told that they had no idea how long they would have to stand in line) from voting at Piney Branch school because Election Headquarters neglected to send the "voter access cards" to the poll.
Continue reading "Letter: Is there a pattern in voter machine malfunctions?" »
I have been reading Mike Tabor’s column for some time now and was particularly struck by the letter written in response to a column in which Mike discussed the record of Gareth Murray, District 20 House of Delegates [Voice Mail, September 2006].
Continue reading "Letter: Concern about Hucker and Progressive Maryland" »