Roads need more help from oil, gas companies

Where has all the money gone? Our roads are either full of potholes or falling over the hills. Gas and oil money was supposed to help this situation and has failed miserably.

Route 250 will definitely slide again while it falls over the hill on the opposite side. Barton Road has become a one-lane road going from Route 250 to Saint Clairsville. One side had ditches dug by the county that have undermined the road, the other side is falling over the hill and the middle is full of potholes.

Meanwhile, semitrucks have been permitted to drive these Belmont County roads along with overweight gas-oil trucks. Almost every road in this Ohio valley is in disarray.

Our representatives can’t do this by themselves. All our voices need to be heard.

Readers should write their legislators and the governor. They consider us Appalachia. When they come to visit, they stay on the main roads so their tires aren’t totaled.

Nancy Alltop, Martins Ferry

US must pull support of Saudi Arabia in Yemen

The U.S. support of the murder of civilians in Yemen by Saudi Arabia must stop. Our military personnel and resources should not be assisting President Trump’s Saudi business partners in these atrocities. Sen. Rob Portman must support the War Powers Act.

Oh, and if the president sends troops to Venezuela to distract the American people from the Mueller investigation and one soldier dies, impeachment proceedings should immediately begin against him and maybe a few of his Republican congressional supporters.

Richard Back, Reynoldsburg

Bezos proves money can't buy good judgment

Despite Jeff Bezos being the wealthiest man in the world, he made a really dumb mistake using an electronic device to transmit information. He broke the first rule of sending email, pictures or text — never send anything you would not want your mother to see. This is a gentle way of saying anything transmitted from your computer (or phone) to another device is no longer in your control and could end up in places you did not intend.

Not only it is on another person's device, which could be hacked or used against you, but quite possibly the data is permanently stored on a server somewhere. Some businesses are required by law to back up and store all email, coming and going. Being transmitted on a public system, the potential of eavesdropping or interception (i.e. National Security Agency or foreign entity) is very possible for a high-profile person.

I hope she was worth it, but I doubt it.

John Lorenz, Columbus

Columbus voters prefer Democratic policies

The Monday Dispatch editorial "Democratic stranglehold on city government is embarrassing" is a blatant misinterpretation of Columbus’ changing ideologies. The 2018 elections proved Ohio leans right. But 2018 saw Columbus residents placing their trust in Democratic candidates intent on providing fundamental rights to all, while ensuring Columbus advances as a haven of social acceptance and commercial success.

The failure of Republican leadership to recruit viable candidates to Columbus politics is indicative of Columbus’ growing support for politicians championing progressive ideologies. City politicians running uncontested isn’t new. Mayor Michael B. Coleman went unchallenged in 2003, and in 2015, no Republican mayoral candidate progressed beyond the primary. This most recent case is not symptomatic of a “Democratic stranglehold” but is representative of the moral and political beliefs of Columbus residents.

Running unopposed will allow Mayor Andrew J. Ginther greater time for connecting with constituents to understand our community’s needs. Citizens have greater opportunity to share how the current regime has both supported and failed them while advocating for advancement. This accountability, truly, is the root of democracy. Nicholas Salgia, Columbus

Some politicians lack natural-born citizenship

The U.S. Constitution gives three distinct qualifications to be eligible to hold the office of president. The one qualification that seems to engender the most controversy is being a natural-born citizen. If one studies the writings of the founders and the writings of others on which they relied, one will consider Emeric de Vattel and his book "The Law of Nations."

There one will find the meaning of natural-born citizen. There are two requirements to be considered: One has to be born on the soil and one has to be born of a citizen father. Having this understanding, Barack Obama was not eligible to be president because his father was not a U.S. citizen.

By the same standard, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio also would not have been and are not eligible. To date, one announced candidate for the 2020 presidential race, Kamala Harris, also is not eligible to be president. If reports are correct, her father came to the United States in 1961 and Harris was born in 1964. Her father was a foreign national and not a citizen at the time of her birth.

If we do not hold candidates responsible by honoring this basic constitutional requirement, it places the entire Constitution in jeopardy.

Stephen Ball, Lancaster

Restore canal system and reduce emissions

I am concerned about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez’s prediction that the world will end in 12 years unless we abandon our dependence on fossil fuels. I have one answer, and it is a reliable replacement straight out of the past: We can rebuild the canal system.

In many places, the remains of this system can be a guide and inspiration on how to proceed. As a bicyclist on tours, I have noticed quite a few examples of historic canals in central Ohio.

Barges can replace the trucks we now use. Mules will pull the barges along the waterways. And of course they are the symbol of the Democratic Party. Tim Jenkins, Columbus

Pension fund's moves threaten retirees' health

I've been reading about the retired police and firefighters and what happened to their health coverage via the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (Dispatch article, Dec. 14). The handoff from group

health-care coverage to a stipend system whereby insurance must be purchased through Aon (and is not accepted through many health-care systems, including OSU'S Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital) has been extremely harmful to these retirees.

Relative to the highly negative impact these changes have made on the lives of these retirees and their families (One example was a retiree whose cost for insulin went from $50 a month to more than $800), and to the fact the pension fund board has made little discernible effort to fix the problems, has anyone considered charging the pension fund board with depraved indifference?

I suspect there will be some whose lives are in jeopardy because of the board's inaction. It strikes me as morally, if not legally, unacceptable.

Ralph Veppert, Westerville

Columbus Castings deserved an advocate

In his Feb. 3 op-ed, former Sen. Judd Gregg said it is unconscionable to stand by and watch good-paying jobs leave Ohio when something can be done about it. He is asking that both the DavisBesse and Perry nuclear power plants be saved. He said millions of dollars and economic impact are at stake.

I never heard or read one word about saving the jobs at Columbus Castings during its demise. The impact of the largest steel-casting foundry in the U.S. closing must have had a big impact on loss of tax revenue, ie. people’s lives.

Had Worthington Industries not sold what was then Buckeye Steel Castings, it still would have 800-plus employees supporting their families and paying taxes. John A. Backus, Pickerington