Don’t let your dog be the reason your mail is delayed
Last year, the Postal Service reported that 5,800 letter carriers experienced dog bites or dog attacks.
With deliveries every day, including Sundays and holidays, carriers continue to experience dog bites in urban, suburban, and rural settings.
Dog attacks and bites are 100% preventable when owners remain vigilant and properly restrain their dogs. To ensure mail carriers’ safety, dog owners must securely lock their dogs in another room until a delivery exchange is done. If outside, dogs must be leashed at a distance from the mailbox.
When a carrier feels unsafe, mail service could be interrupted, not only for the dog owner, but for the entire neighborhood. When mail service is interrupted, mail must be picked up at the Post Office. Service will not be restored until the dog is properly restrained. With your help, we can keep our carriers, your neighbors and your dogs safe.
VINCENT K. HAIRSTON, POSTMASTER OF THE SPRINGFIELD POST OFFICE HB 175 would remove pollution protections
The recent editorial by Farm Bureau Vice President Adam Sharp about House Bill 175 suggests (but doesn’t directly claim) that this bill will not result in increased pollution of Ohio rivers and streams by pointing to other agricultural pollution regulations that are currently in place. But that is misleading, at best. The other regulations apply to the “waters of the state” but HB 175 changes the definition of that term to exclude waterways that were previously included. These waterways would no longer be monitored or subject to current regulations. There are multiple reasons why this change is opposed by such diverse interests as the Ohio EPA, NGOs like the Darby Creek Association, the Ohio Environmental
Council Action Fund, and Hope and Bob Taft. For more about this and other “special interest give-aways” see Thomas Suddes’ recent column and the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund website. Unfortunately, this poorly-conceived bill has already been passed by the Ohio House so efforts to stop it must now focus on the Ohio Senate.
MARGARET BRANSTRATOR, OXFORD Medicare should cover new tests for cancer
As a 46-year cancer survivor from the Miami Valley, I’m excited about a new technology to improve early detection and save lives. Several companies are developing blood tests to detect multiple cancers early. These tests will complement, not replace, existing early detection tests. These tests could be life changing. But only if people can access them. That’s why I recently met with Sens. Brown and Portman along with U.S. Reps. Turner, Wenstrup and Balderson virtually to ask them to support the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. This legislation would create a pathway for Medicare to cover this technology after FDA approval. This legislation would ensure Medicare recipients don’t face unacceptable delays in accessing these new tests once approved. Medicare already covers early detection tests for common cancers, including breast, colorectal and prostate cancers, and people on Medicare must have access to new screening options.
Our Ohio elected officials can help save lives in Ohio by supporting this legislation. I’m grateful that Brown supports these efforts, and I urge Sen. Portman and Congressmen Turner, Wenstrup, and Balderson to join him.
JULIE TURNER, VANDALIA