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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …
Akron Zips:
Akron trounces Howard to reach .500
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Published on Friday, Jul 18, 2008
I am the mother of Terrance Feaster who was found guilty in the murder of another young man (''Man gets 26 years in killing,'' July 10).
To Dustin's (Cline) mother, I would like to say how sorry I am for your loss. I can only imagine your pain. I would like her and others to know that I have always believed that when one makes bad choices, one must accept responsibility for those choices and, so to speak, ''pay the piper.''
I, too, am dealing with a loss — a loss that pales in comparison to his mother, Jolyn Cline's, loss, but a loss no less. I lost a son to the streets; a son with great potential, a son who is handsome, athletic and intelligent.
My prayer now is that other young people learn from this and realize that the streets are a dead end for them.
For Terrance, I pray that he asks for forgiveness and that he experiences a true conversion of heart. God kept him alive for a reason, and perhaps now he can come to truly know and serve the Lord. I want him to know that God loves him unconditionally, as do we, his parents.
There are no real winners in this case, for society has lost two more young men, one to the grave and the other to prison.
Dustin, may you rest in peace.
Terrance, my love and prayers go with you.
Joan Feaster
Akron
Scoot on
out of the street
The story regarding mobility scooters (''Mobility scooters on road raising a red flag in Falls,'' July 9) caught my eye.
I live in Cuyahoga Falls, and the scooters are very prevalent along State Road, sometimes in the street. There is no reason for these scooters to be in the street. They cannot be seen in parking lots. They are a danger to themselves and a safety problem for drivers. Many do not obey stop signs. Almost every corner in the city is now handicap accessible. The city has done a wonderful job of lowering the curbs at corners.
Janet Hill's statement, ''It's like driving a car,'' is absurd. It is not a car and should not be on the road. It has no license. And the statement from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles says it all. They are not supposed to be on the road.
Theresa Davidsaver
Cuyahoga Falls
Ohio jobs riding
on C-17 cargo jets
The Department of Defense's plans to cut orders for the Boeing C-17 cargo jet should concern Ohioans.
Allen Aircraft Products, based in Ravenna, employs 152 Ohioans and is an industry leader in the production of aircraft fluid-system components and metal finishing processing. The company is a supplier of components for the C-17.
The C-17 plays an important military role. Its cargo capacity, ability to land anywhere in the world and its versatility make it the military's most widely used cargo aircraft, flying 80 percent of all U.S. cargo missions. C-17 production employs thousands of Americans, with many suppliers located here in Ohio.
Stopping production of this aircraft will have an enormous impact on Ohio's aeronautics industry. Ohio is struggling to keep jobs. Aerospace is one industry that is trending upward, providing great potential for growth right here in Ohio. The Boeing C-17 is important to Ohio jobs.
Neil W. Mann Jr.
Chief executive officer and president
Allen Aircraft Products
Ravenna
Elected officials are
watchdogs over money
I was startled when I read the July 2 editorial, ''Partner at Knight.''
The editorial seemed to be recommending that the Akron City Council members vote in favor of a bill to invest $800,000 without reading the contract.
While I am in favor of the project, I believe that it is the responsibility of every public official to be a watchdog on spending issues.
Why does the Beacon Journal editorial think that Councilman John Conti was out of line in asking: ''Would you sign a contract you have not read?''
As a business person and a taxpayer, I believe that this is a valid question.
Tom McCombs
Akron
A better handle
on commodity pricing
There have been many comments about the role of speculators in the rising prices of commodities. The focus has given politicians a role in addressing the problem.
We realize that not every individual involved in the process of speculation is going to take delivery of the product when the option expires. This leads people rightly to believe that speculators play a role in the rapid, higher commodity prices.
The information politicians need to make informed decisions is available to them from private companies. The survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is completely outdated and does not cover who the parties are that take delivery of the product.
Corn is a perfect example, and information is available with a high degree of accuracy about the actual corn yield that will be available.
Where politicians fail is in matching the actual yield of the corn crop to the individuals who take delivery of the crop.
The markets have denied that other investors help drive prices. We are creating another bubble, and we can expect little action from the politicians, who rely on the investors for money.
We learned recently about the Pentagon's desire to develop more spy satellites and our politicians' rush to embrace the idea.
More important, we should develop a satellite system to survey the world's actual crop production, which would lead to an early warning system of crop failure. It's being done, but politicians are too dumb to realize the potential for a system with this degree of intelligence.
Maurice Rice
Cuyahoga Falls
Real incentives
needed to save gas
Why are politicians so quick to jump on the ''spend money stupidly'' bandwagon?
I read that U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette has proposed the Commuter Relief and Fuel Efficiency Act of 2008. Under the proposal, commuters would be reimbursed 4 cents per mile for driving up to 30 miles per day, five days a week.
Why aren't our leaders offering incentives to people who use public transportation or carpool, or even to telecommuters?
Wouldn't it make more sense to encourage smart solutions to rising gas costs rather than to encourage continued consumption? I just don't agree with throwing money at a problem, especially without thinking through the alternatives.
Janine Casey
Norton
Look to the people,
not big government
In response to the letter from Clayton Hartley (''Taxes to help the poor should be a priority,'' July 9): In the 1960s, during the Johnson administration, the Great Society programs were launched — the mother of all government programs to help the poor. Yet there is still poverty.
The failure of this attempt proves that asking our government to do what ''we the people'' should be doing is, and always will be, a dismal failure.
While it is tempting to think that our government is the one to do this, the facts show otherwise.
Poverty has many causes. In our nation, ironically, one of the reasons for what we call poverty is the government.
Government taxation of the so-called big bad corporations — which is, by the way, the highest on the planet — discourages companies from growing and providing jobs.
An example of this is the stranglehold the government, in conjunction with the green movement, has placed on oil companies regarding drilling and building refineries.
We could be self-sufficient in our energy and, more than likely, also become a real exporter of oil, turning the tables on the foreign exporters, many of whom harbor terrorist groups that simply want us dead. The jobs and offshoot benefits of a ''drill here, drill now'' approach would be most beneficial, creating jobs and making us energy independent. But we don't do it.
When we learn as a nation that it is ''we the people'' who have the answers, things will start turning around. It is the private sector that solves problems. Government is the worst place to start.
We must go back to the basics and renew our understanding of the Founders' intentions and put government back in its limited place so it can get out of the way and let Americans be Americans.
Free enterprise and capitalism are who we are. States' rights trump federal mandates. We are not socialists, and those nations that have adopted socialism, which inevitably leads to communism, ultimately fail. It is time in America for pitchforks and torches.
A.P. George
Akron
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