Published: July 15, 2008 05:37 pm            

Letters to the editor - Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Here’s an update on moped rider

On June 28, Doug Vanata had an unfortunate accident. Doug is the moped driver who slammed into the side of a car at Union and Defenbaugh. He is also the son of our neighbor.

My wife and I saw the KPD car looking for the house number that evening. The officer asked us where the address was, and we pointed across the street. Wondering what was happening, we waited for the officer and asked if all was OK. No, it wasn’t.

He said our neighbor has no relatives in Kokomo and might need some help, because her son was about to be Lifelined to Methodist Hospital. Shocked, we went over to talk. She was in shock.

Doug suffered a broken right leg, left leg, pelvis, ribs, left arm and two vertebrae in his neck. He also had a punctured lung and head trauma. No brain damage, which was good news! After almost a week in ICU and numerous surgeries, he was transferred out of ICU. Now, three weeks after the accident, he has been moved to rehabilitation hospital in Indianapolis. He will spend several weeks there before coming home.

Doug has no medical insurance, so it’s going to be rough. When Doug returns home, he will be in a wheelchair for several months. If anyone would like to sell or donate one, please contact my wife or me at (765) 453-2648. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

For those who wonder why he was where he was, Doug had been looking at houses to buy and remodel and rent or sell. He’s from Indy and wasn’t that familiar with the streets north of Hoffer and made a mistake. I know he was probably thinking, no stop sign (at Defenbaugh because Union goes north and he was going south), just turn and head home. Very unfortunate mistake.

We know whomever was in the car that Doug hit had to be traumatized also. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Also, Doug’s mother would like to thank KPD Officer Dodd, who came to tell her of the accident. He was very kind and thoughtful and has been helpful in phone conversations since the accident.

Don Hutchison

Kokomo

Just don’t pick up county bus riders

I have commented on this before regarding the annexation issue, that my position is basically neutral. However, there is an aspect that perhaps has not been considered.

Throughout the Kokomo city area are small sections of Howard County. Think of it as islands of county amidst a sea of city. Now ask yourself, does this make sense? To me, it does not.

Regarding the pickup policy for the Spirit Senior Bus system. Apparently the service is funded by the city, not the county, hence the policy of servicing only the city. It is not the first time I have encountered this situation.

For most of 1976, I was employed as a driver by Celebrity Cab Co., based in West Hollywood, which is part of Los Angeles County, not the city. When I hired on, the owner, Vincent DeCaeser, explained, “We are licensed by the county, not the city. We can pick up and drop off anywhere in the county, and we can drop off anywhere in the city, but we cannot pick up in the city, so you will need to deadhead back into the county.”

Perhaps a similar policy exists in this area – pick up and drop off in the city, pick up in the city, drop off in the city and county, but do not pick up in the county. That would make sense.

Kenneth Crockett

Kokomo

Miami Herald editors show political bias

With so many news outlets, official and unofficial, it is important to sort out sources that maintain integrity from those that don’t. This is why it disappoints me greatly whenever I encounter professional journalism that is less than accurate. Such is the case with The Miami Herald reprint (“War powers act for the 21st century,” Kokomo Tribune, July 11.) The article states, “The White House occupant could no longer act alone or under the authority of ambiguous declaration such as the 2002 resolution endorsing military action to enforce U.N. weapons sanctions against Iraq. The president would have to consult with Congress before ordering operations expected to last longer than a week.”

Even though a distortion of the actual events, the editors at The Miami Herald submit their account as fact. However, President Bush requested authority from Congress to engage Iraq militarily if Saddam Hussein failed to comply with specific U.N. resolutions by a specific date. This is the same Iraqi regime that the president, Cabinet members, and congressional leaders from and during the previous administration stated without reservation was a dangerous threat to Middle Eastern and world stability. Not only did Saddam fail to take the specific steps necessary to comply with U.N. sanctions, Iraqis continued to actively fire upon coalition forces enforcing the no-fly zones. They continued to overtly support terrorists, terrorists’ families, and terrorism. These are hardly ambiguous actions. At any point along the roughly 10-month period before actual combat, Saddam could have prevented it all by simply acting like a cooperating member of world citizenship by complying with the U.N. resolutions he consistently violated. Nothing ambiguous about that.

I am not implying that everyone has to agree with the actions that were ultimately taken. That remains open for discussion. I am simply expressing my disappointment with professional journalists who choose to perpetrate certain biases by attempting to make distortions and falsehoods look like facts. Sadly, they probably all received their paychecks that week, too.

Charles A. Layne

Bunker Hill

        

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