Letters: We deserve better; Vote for candidates who support workers rights

Editor’s note: The CDT welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the May 16 primary election and will accept letters that are received by May 11. Letters are subject to editing, must be based on facts and should avoid attacks on other candidates.

We deserve better

After the most recent mass shooting in Louisville, KY, many politicians took to various social media outlets to express their condolences and outrage. However, if one looks closely, one may notice something odd. Many of the posts are unnerving in their similarity. It is as though the messages are copied and pasted from previous postings concerning mass shootings. There have been 134 mass shootings since January 2023, killing 196 innocents and wounding nearly 470.

There appears to be a formula that some politicians use to respond to mass shootings on social media: I am (horrified, heartbroken, etc.) at the senseless tragedy in (location) today. We are (lifting them in prayer, praying for them) and thank the heroic efforts of (police, first responders, etc.) on the scene.

There is no promise that legislators will pass laws to help stop or decrease these mass shootings. There is no recognition that the U.S. is the only developed country where mass shootings happen frequently. There is no acknowledgment that children in other countries do not have to participate in active shooter drills. The only message some politicians can muster is “thoughts and prayers” and “thank God for our cops.” The victims deserve better. We all deserve better.

Brian E. Lewis, State College

Vote for candidates who support workers rights

In May and November, State College Borough residents will face important choices at the ballot box, ranging from crucial statewide judicial races to our local Borough Council.

Local races matter, especially amid local debates regarding affordability, inclusion, and what State College will look like in the future. But there are aspects of that debate that go ignored. We often talk about “preserving the nature of our community” without taking a hard look at what that nature is — and who it excludes.

For all of the benefits, our community often excludes working families and those who work in the Borough, but can’t afford the Borough’s cost of living. When we talk about the undergraduate experience, we don’t talk about the students who work extra jobs and accrue significant debt. We don’t talk about the fact that their housing options are often unsafe, dilapidated rentals, or astronomically priced student high-rises built by irresponsible contractors, hired by out-of-state developers.

There are candidates for Borough Council, like Evan Myers, Josh Portney and Matt Herndon, who are committed to building a community that supports working families and working class students. That commitment, and their firm support for workers’ rights, is why all three earned the endorsement of Seven Mountains Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Everyone deserves to enjoy the benefits of State College. Ensuring that they can means electing council members who will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live here, and that the rights of those that work here are respected.

Connor Lewis, State COllege. The author is the president of Seven Mountains Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Readers beware

Sunday’s Home and Garden edition of the Good Life section of the CDT had a lengthy article, “5 unexpected ways lawns benefit our communities,” and, by extension I guess, our world. Like most misinformation, the article plays on a kernel of truth but then misapplies that kernel to glorify lawns.

The first thing that caught my eye was the question, “Still on the fence about natural grasses?” Key in on “natural,” which has nothing to do with the ubiquitous lawn. I’m pretty sure that question is a reference to the grasses and other plants making up our country’s native but dwindling grasslands. All the good stuff found through research about grass being a boon to our environment, including very good for carbon sequestration, comes from studies of grasslands, not lawns.

Sure, if not mowed multiple times a week and drenched with herbicides and pesticides, lawns are probably better than fields of asphalt. But my bet is that the American Petroleum Institute could conjure up an article in favor of asphalt. Just as the “content promotion and digital marketing agency,” Brandpoint, writing for the Youtube channel, “Lawn Life,” did with this blatant advertisement disguised as objective information.

So, before we launch a campaign to turn the Amazon jungle into the largest golf course in the world, let’s further understand just what lawns really are — veritable environmental wastelands.

Ross Adams, Boalsburg