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October 12. 2014 12:01AM Letters to the Editor, Oct. 12 Protect Railroad Park I was furious when I read that the City Council wants to use the Railroad Park to feed the homeless. Have any of them been to the park to see what a great thing it is for children and the community? Their decision, whtout notifying anyone connected to the park, displays very poor judgment. Our son, John, always loved trains and railroads. At 14, he heard about the Live Steamers and Railroad Park, and immediately joined the group. During the last 38 years of his life, he spent many thousands of hours helping to make it into the wonderful attraction it became. On days when he was in intense pain and could barely move, he ignored it and went there anyway. He and his granddaughter spent many special hours together. What will happen to equipment, so meticulously and expensively repaired, when it is destroyed? Will the City Council see that the boxcars are cleaned/repaired as needed after being used as shelter from the cold and rain, or replace items stolen or destroyed? Will the park even survive this? Surely there is a more appropriate place available for this than the Railroad Park. Mary Ann Carlson, Central Point Feeding plan appalling I was appalled when I read the article in the Mail Tribune regarding feeding the homeless at Railroad Park. The volunteers at the Railroad park have put in hundreds of thousands of hours, not to mention tens of thousands of dollars over the last 30 years to make that place the gem that it is. How arrogant for a group of five people to unilaterally decide to ruin this treasure that these people have worked so hard to build. There are already arrests and a steady stream of drug addicts and homeless who frequent the railroad park. Why encourage more? Hawthorne Park and the Bear Creek Greenway, both gems of Medford, have been plagued by criminal activity caused by the homeless. Families are afraid to frequent both of these areas due to the drugs and criminal activity; not to mention the garbage and drug paraphernalia strewn everywhere. Any accommodation breeds propagation. Let the drug-addicted homeless fend for themselves, or let the volunteers who insist on giving out food find a location themselves. The city should not be involved in this. Put the hard-working, tax-paying citizens ahead of the criminals for once! Dom Fontana, Medford Council is confused As an observer of the Phoenix City Council, I'm tired of being whipsawed by their attitude on medical marijuana. After a debate that lasted over a year, the council not only denied a business license to The Greenery, but at the instance of Councilor Luz, the council had an injunction filed against The Greenery. Their justification was that it's against federal Law to sell marijuana. At the same time, they have kept a hands-off attitude to people growing medical marijuana, even though it's also covered under the same federal Law. Then the council proposes a change to the city charter that would on the surface appear to allow the council to allow medical marijuana. However, the council couldn't even muster up enough courage to urge a yes vote on the change. Did I mention that the change is worded so that the change will lose? Now we have the council voting to tax marijuana sales, even though the sales are still illegal under federal law. Keep in mind that state law says all is OK and medical marijuana sales are legal. Except this is being challenged by Cave Junction and by Ryan Kirchoff, our city attorney and theirs. Confused! Steven Schulman, Phoenix Barnett limit too low I thought this would be a good time to remind our city officials of the coming election and how unhappy the residents of upper McAndrews and Hillcrest roads are with the present speed limits on McAndrews. We are preyed upon weekdays by Medford police and their mercenary radar vans and on weekends by sheriff's deputies. The speed limit of 35 mph is ridiculous with four lanes, divided boulevard with no driveways. A good comparison, Cherry Lane from Foothill to Hillcrest, is 45 mph and has many driveways and no shoulders. McAndrews is being used as a revenue source by the city administration. We hope our votes will convince the city to increase the speed to a reasonable speed of 45 mph or higher. James Hunter, Medford A bad idea I was surprised and dismayed to read that the Medford City Council is considering turning the Railroad Park into a feeding place for the homeless. It appears they haven’t completely thought through the ramifications of this action. The Medford Railroad Park is one of the few family-friendly venues we have in our city. It’s a fun, educational and inexpensive place for families to bring their children. The Railroad Park provides a safe and interesting experience for all ages. Medford already has several agencies dedicated to supporting the homeless: The Salvation Army, Gospel Mission, St. Vincent DePaul and St. Anthony Shelter for Women. Unfortunately many homeless people have criminal histories and substance abuse or mental health issues. Also, lack of sanitation could lead to health concerns. If the Railroad Park becomes known as a homeless "hangout," families will no longer feel comfortable or safe and will stop visiting it. It’s unfortunate that the homeless will not have a designated place to spend their time. However, this family-friendly venue is not the solution! If you feel as I do, please share your thoughts with the Medford Parks Department, Mayor and City Council, and encourage them to reconsider this decision. Sandy Abell, Medford Recital Hall too hot I recently had the pleasure of attending the opening performance of the Rogue Valley Symphony orchestra. Except for one thing, it was a truly enjoyable experience. That one exception was the recital hall at Southern Oregon University. You know it is too hot when the musicians and the conductor have to take off their coats during the second half of the performance. Apparently, the hall has no air conditioning. If the university is not willing or able to rectify this situation, at least let the musicians perform in shorts and T-shirts. James R. Ruston, Ashland Silly season is back The climate denial silly season returns, so Don Young and Jeff Fox entertain us with their fantasies. Fortunately hip waders aren’t necessary to see through their claims; even ankle waders are unnecessary: Young accepts warming but, quoting a theoretical physicist about climate, argues it will not be too bad. He presumably thinks this background is relevant. The claim that warming of the dimensions likely to occur will not be too bad displays ignorance of how temperature influences natural, agricultural and forestry systems, and how acidified oceans destroy marine life. Young then dismisses sea level rise as insignificant — apparently forgetting that millions of humans live close to sea level. Maybe the award for ignorance goes to Jeff Fox, who cherry-picks a few dates in the past to claim no local warming. He conveniently ignores actual data from NOAA showing Medford has warmed nearly 2 degrees F. over a century. Past carbon dioxide, he correctly argues, has been higher, but that was millions of years ago, before humans and current natural systems existed. No one claims carbon dioxide is the only factor influencing global temperature; it’s just the dominant causal factor now — with methane (natural gas) a close second. Paula Perez Costas, Ashland Be prepared Let's be informed. The Oct. 2 letter by Donald Young speaks of "Politically motivated climate alarmists." He apparently is not aware that scientific organizations such as the American Geophysical Union (actually very international in membership) have taken the position that we need to seriously address climate change. Mr. Young's reference to Steven E. Koonin's views does not change the "let's be prepared" position. Koonin uses short-term statistics while disparaging peer-reviewed scientific analyses. It's not hard to be broadly informed — use your favorite search site and enter "climate change" or another term of interest to you. Then don't "cherry pick" what to read. As a career scientist I prefer to be prepared. Ed Danehy, Central Point History compromised Living in the Historic Core zone of Jacksonville for 25 years has "grown" to be challenging, frustrating and draining. Due to ignorance and, at times, hidden agendas on the part of the HARC/Planning commissions and Planning Department, my once quaint neighborhood is being compromised and has even resulted in a historic property being removed from the Landmark List! Overscaled projects are being allowed to overshadow adjacent historic properties, including St. Andrews church (built in 1854). My property on North Fourth Street has been swallowed up by huge projects on both sides, and has compromised my property value. I have lost all privacy and am now dealing with unlawful exterior lighting issues illuminating my yard and glaring into my home. Gone is the sense of community — vacation rentals and new retail businesses (in a residential area) have taken that away. Quality of life gone — is the Landmark Designation next? Are these decisions being made within the requirements of the Jacksonville Municipal Development Code? Is it even a legal document? Just wondering.  Laura Reavis, Jacksonville   http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141012/OPINION/141019943 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->