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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 24, 2004 Nevada Street decision a 'fiasco' Finally, after two days of headlines, and many, many agonizing hours spent by the dedicated neighbors, the Nevada Street LID fiasco has met with a temporary setback. Our city council, despite overwhelming opposition to the city's plan, has voted to go ahead with the LID. We were not too surprised, since history has indicated to us that the council is generally there to rubber stamp, in large part, whatever the department of public works or planning department presents to them. The questions asked of the Public Works Dept. were of no worth. What we wanted were south-side sidewalks mainly for the kids and pedestrians. We wanted painted ladder crosswalks and stop signs. We wanted an educational and meaningful enforcement program to change driving habits. We did not want bump outs that will narrow the street at these points by 12 feet. We wanted this street to be safe for kids and cyclists, as well. They disregarded the fact that almost 90 percent of the residents did not want bump outs. "Traffic calming" will become traffic disruption when the approximately 140 cars come out of Billings Ranch, and sadly enough, Quiet Village will no longer be quiet. The council was utterly taken in by their plan, offered not one notable point of disagreement, and totally disregarded the majority opinion. We had hoped that the council, purported to represent the majority, us, would respect and honor this. We were told that they know what is good for us. To add insult to injury, we were exposed to an inappropriate and an uncalled-for lecture by Don Laws, spoken as if it was Political Science 101 in his classroom. Might we suggest that he save his election stump speech for another audience. Anne and Al Bodin Ashland Sensitivity has no place with terror In your editorial, you state 9/11 should not be used for political gains, I assume you mean John Kerry's. And how do you think we should defeat the evil, by being sensitive to the baby killers who hide behind the Islam religion. Matt Bolton Senior Territory Representative Southern Oregon-Northern California No surprises with George Bush After four years we do know what to expect from President Bush: He won't give us the truth, as he didn't about WMD or Iraqi connections to al Qaida, he'll continue to estrange the U.S. from the rest of the world, he won't fund his own programs like "No Child Left Behind," he'll allow lobbyists to make government policy, he'll ignore science on global climate change and make energy policy favoring short term profits and environmental degradation over our health and safety, he'll peddle Orwellian euphemisms like "Healthy Forests," and "Clear Skies" while gutting protections to things like mercury in our water, he'll sever treaty obligations produced by all past administrations, he'll take the lid off nuclear weapons development and make "field grade nukes," he'll undermine worker's rights and safety, collective bargaining, and overtime pay, he'll continue lining wealthy pockets while decimating real middle class wages and benefits as living costs skyrocket, he'll "reform" education to make our work force "competitive" with Chinese peasants, he'll continue borrowing from the future, increasing our annual deficits and national debt, and he'll spend more money doing it than any previous administration Republican or Democrat in history. You can count on it! Rob Hirschboeck Ashland Learn from past voices While many of us try to be clever and insightful about the present political situation, some wise men in the past may really have had the last word: "If any question why we died tell them, 'because our fathers lied.'" - Rudyard Kipling, after his son was killed in W.W. I. "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson "If the Republicans stop telling lies about the Democrats, we Democrats will stop telling the truth about the Republicans." - Adlai Stevenson "Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind." - W. Somerset Maugham "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Louis Goldman Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams