Stop blaming police for violence in Allentown

I’ve grown up in the Tenth Ward area, lived in or worked in this area for 69 years of my life. And now we have a police chief who is stepping down. He didn’t have mental telepathy. This city is and has been saturated by drugs.

So this is my take: Years ago we had a heck of a prostitution problem. They busted every prostitute every time until it dried up.

What would be so wrong with telling your staff on the police department, when they see someone selling drugs, no matter how small the amount, bust, bust, bust, and keep on busting until the suppliers no longer want to deal here.

These three-year long investigations aren’t working, and they never have. A million drugs are sold over that entire period of time.

In addition, you need to provide anonymous phone numbers for people to contact the police, and keep on putting them out. There are elderly people in this town who don’t go anywhere because of fear.

Stop blaming the cops. Please. They are doing their jobs. But the community needs to be part of it.

Jim Takatsch Whitehall Township

ammunition fired from so-called “assault” rifles is the same ammunition that can be fired from ordinary sporting rifles.

223 Remington/5.56 NATO ammo is a common caliber that is used in “assault” rifles but it is also used in hunting varmints with ordinary sporting rifles. Accuracy, trajectory and performance are the same in both types of rifles.

Louis Spagnoletti Lower Macungie Township

and entertaining evening of music. They closed with an excellent voice rendition of a Frank Sinatra classic.

Rita Y. King Allentown

years, is typically low, because it is local officials who affect quality-of-life issues like land use planning, school safety and maintenance of secondary roads.

Now another reason to turn out this November can be added. Lehigh Valley voters will be experiencing new voting machines. Thanks to Gov. Tom Wolf, we will vote on machines that produce a tamper-proof paper trail.

This is a great relief to those of us who worry about election security, something that should concern everyone. But there is always a learning curve with new equipment.

In November 2020, we are sure to have high turnout. It will be terrific if there are many voters who have already used the new machines. The lines will move faster and our democracy will function better.

Circle Tuesday, Nov. 5 on your calendar, and be part of the vanguard working to make next year one for the record books.

Lucy Horton South Whitehall Township