Fate of wild horses demands agency oversight
Congress placed wild horses and burros under the protection of the Wild and Free-roaming Horses and Burro Act in 1971, but their protections have been steadily degraded. There is very little oversight of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages them.
Annually, they conduct inhumane helicopter roundups — the first roundups started in Nevada last week and lasted for five days. They ran the horses for 5 miles in 90 degrees-plus, to the point of exhaustion. The foals could not keep up. The families were separated. Once rounded up, they lose their freedom forever. They are placed in holding pens, which are dreadful places to live, and where there are more injuries, disease and mortality.
Many of these animals end up adopted, many funneled to kill buyers, slaughtered overseas.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on public lands is scheduled to hold hearings Tuesday regarding the management of wild horses and burros. The panel has no wild horse advocates; people on the panel represent other interests, primarily those of cattle ranchers, who graze their cattle on our public lands for $1.35 per cow and calf per month.
If you care about wild horses and want to see the herds remain viable and able to graze on our public lands, please contact Congress and ask for BLM oversight. Oppose the roundups.
Debra Brinker, Dublin
Art should not be subsidized by public
I respond to the Sunday Dispatch editorial "Charter amendment to repeal ticket fees should be rejected." Why should taxpayers subsidize artists? They chose their vocation; if it doesn't meet their financial needs, they have other alternatives. Moreover, why should the public be forced to, in essence, pay for "artistic" products that it might find distasteful, unintelligible or even offensive?
Public art has its place, but it should be paid for through a public budgeting process that ensures consideration and accountability for spending tax money. Of course the Greater Columbus Arts Council wants more money — what agency doesn't? If the council is subsidizing artists, maybe they should receive a share of their sales. Even better, let the market decide if an artistic product is worth purchasing.
I wish I lived where I could vote against the ticket fees. Tim Harrington, Gahanna
Women's soccer team made me ashamed
The Saturday Dispatch editorial celebrated the “Women’s World Cup warriors” as inspiring the next generation of leaders.
Apparently, The Dispatch is willing to overlook their belligerence during the ticker tape parade in New York City. The same “inspiring leaders” who carelessly dropped the American flag and stepped on it. While their achievements on the field are worthy of celebrating, their self-glorifying look-at-me narcissism shows just how ugly American athletes can be. The foulmouthed video clip while holding the key to America’s largest city brought shame upon the "Canyon of Heroes" for the world to see.
These are not the athletes that America’s little girls should hope to become.
Jim Atkinson, Lewis Center
Mccain, Glenn would get past the politics
I wonder what Sen. John Mccain or John Glenn would have said about the pitiful exhibition we saw at the border when Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Lindsey Graham put on a horrible display of inhumanity.
I suspect that Mccain, who was an American hero, also was kept in a cage. What price and what consequences come from selling one's soul? Pat Monahan, Shawnee Hills
Immigrant communities seek voice in government
It was inspiring to read the April 18 Dispatch.com article “Immigrants driving Ohio’s population growth, U.S. Census says,” which described how immigrant populations moving to Ohio cities have directly contributed to the growth of our state in the past decade.
However, many immigrant communities feel their contributions have not translated into government influence. They feel voiceless and unheard, ignored by their leaders and representatives. That’s why I’m running for Ohio House District 25.
Born to poor farming parents in Ghana, Africa, I have endured poverty, hunger, corrupt governments, human rights abuses and war. I am a veteran of the Ghanaian armed forces, with peacekeeping experience in the United Nations in Rwanda and Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group during the Sierra Leonean civil conflict. Today, I am a professor of political science at Ohio Northern University with expertise in human rights law.
I have come to realize firsthand that community cooperation is the sole source of social and economic prosperity. Without the benefits of a community, I would not be where I am today. Therefore, I seek to return what I have been given by representing my community in our state government and empowering the social, economic and civil rights of all Ohioans.
As your representative, I will amplify the concerns of the working many over the wealthy few. I will build community-centric jobs, health care, education and environmental initiatives, and I will ensure all people — no matter their identity or heritage — have a voice in our state government.
Please consider joining our movement at kofiforohio@ gmail.com.
Kofi Nsia-pepra, Columbus
It's easier to replace power than newspapers
In response to recent articles on the Ohio General Assembly's corrupt effort to subsidize Firstenergy Solutions' two outdated power plants in the state, at a cost of $150 million billed directly to residents, I would like to add this:
If you’re going to bail out obsolete industries in Ohio, why not consider the state’s daily newspapers, which have been struggling to remain profitable for years, layoff after layoff? Ohio can get electrical power from many other states, but local news is not so easily replaced.
According to a recent statement by New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet: “The greatest crisis in American journalism is the death of local news. … I don’t know what the answer is. Their economic model is gone. I think most local newspapers in America are going to die in the next five years, except for the ones that have been bought by a local billionaire.”
Ohio state legislature, send your local newspapers a lifeline.
Ira Weiss, Pickerington
Each dollar for immigrants comes at citizens' expense
Why them and not us? Why are we spending billions of taxpayer dollars on illegal immigrants, or migrants, instead of using this money (our money) for our own citizens? Don't our military veterans, senior citizens and poor deserve to be taken care of first? Don't we have our own gangs threatening our young people?
Don't our own disadvantaged citizens deserve the scholarships, help with rent, free health care and other things we are paying to help the people who break our laws? We have our own problems; it is time to put our own citizens first.
If individuals or groups want to help the migrants, they need to step up financially and not use our tax dollars.
Suzan Lake, Delaware