Letters: Hope in a most unlikely place -- a child's message on a grocery bag
As someone who lives with stage 4 metastatic cancer, I am used to finding hope in unlikely places, especially when it is scarce. I did not expect to find it on my grocery bag from our local Ryan’s Market IGA recently, but there it was.
In a child’s beautiful lettering it read: "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words AND NEVER STOPS AT ALL." It is signed "Lany W. "
Thank you, Lany. Thank you to the teacher who made the assignment. Thank you to the Ross family for being an agent of hope, too.
When I was a fourth grader, this was the poem I chose to memorize. It speaks to me still. “Make a Little Birdhouse in your soul” goes the song from "There Might Be Giants." Lany, I hope this poem makes a little birdhouse in your soul as it has mine. Your art finds a place there, too. Thank you again.
Betsy Williams, Granville
Give OSHA, worker protection agencies the resources they need
More than 50 years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Working people have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer and saved thousands of lives.
Each day, 343 workers across this country die from preventable on-the-job injuries and illnesses. Our job safety laws are too weak, and our job safety agencies are under-resourced. Penalties still are too low to be a deterrent. Corporations exploit these weaknesses. This has led to Black, Latino and immigrant workers being disproportionately killed and injured on the job. Immigration status and lack of union representation make workers especially vulnerable to unsafe working conditions.
On Workers Memorial Day (April 28), working people in our community gathered to commemorate those who have lost their lives and livelihoods tragically due to workplace injury and illness. We are calling on government to provide worker protection agencies with the resources they need to issue strong standards to protect against dangerous conditions.
Ohio working families and their unions are speaking up for safe workplaces. We are fighting for our fundamental right to a safe job.
David R. McElfresh, president of Licking-Knox Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, Newark
Congress needs to pass ethics code for Supreme Court justices
The Supreme Court is run amok, and it’s time to get it under control.
For the last year, we have witnessed scandal after scandal come out of the Supreme Court. From learning that Samuel Alito may have leaked a decision about reproductive health to conservative anti-abortion activists, to discovering Clarence Thomas has been secretly accepting luxury vacations from a GOP megadonor for 20 years, the actions of these justices on the highest court in the land are unconscionable.
Thankfully, this bad behavior can be addressed. Congress has the ability — and responsibility— to act as a check on the Supreme Court and restore faith in our judicial system. It’s time they take the first step and pass a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.
No one is above accountability, and that includes our justices on the Supreme Court.
Lenore Daw, Johnstown
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Letters: Child's grocery bag message gives hope to woman with cancer
