Letters To The Editor Week Of 10/25/2021

Sr. levy merits
voter support
To the editor: The upcoming election is going to be very important for seniors. We enjoy transportation, exercise classes, and home-delivered meals courtesy of the Wood County Committee on Aging. It’s been since 2002 that the current levy of 0.7-mill was authorized by voters in the county – 19 years ago.
Since then, we’ve all experienced higher prices for everything. The senior centers have had to pay increased prices for food, gasoline, utilities and staffing.
The renewal of the 0.7 mill plus an additional 0.3 mill is definitely needed. The additional millage would cost the owner of a $100,000 home approximately $10.50 per year in additional property taxes.
When you consider the large size of Wood County and the fact that the WCCOA operates senior centers in Bowling Green, Rossford, Perrysburg, North Baltimore, Wayne, Walbridge, Pemberville and Grand Rapids, we are very fortunate these services are available close to our homes. This is a wonderful benefit of living in Wood County. Please support this levy and help the seniors to keep these needed benefits.
Marilyn Baker
Walbridge

Editor’s note: Property owners can use a levy estimator to calculate their property taxes for the renewal and additional millage on the county auditor’s website.

Satirical studies
To the editor: I, a local man, am going to publish a paper soon. But first a little background. I was studying the fact that boys are currently “identifying” as girls, then dominating girls sporting competitions. My studies led me to the conclusion that they are still boys! But they are really confused and appear to lack the skills and strength to compete with the unconfused boys. Since my conclusion agrees with approximately 2000 years of science, I realized sadly that I was on the wrong track. So it’s on the back burner again.
However, since my studies occur at night due to schedules, I noticed, then proved beyond all doubt, that the moon disappears when I am not looking at it. I will publish my exhaustive research soon; to be titled “2021, The Year Science Died”.
My next effort will be on gene therapy injections and the coronavirus, focusing on the success of changing the term “gene therapy” to “vaccine” to fool countless millions of people. Human testing is ongoing and will be completed in four to five more years. So far it doesn’t look good.
LJ Gefre
Oregon

Promoting theft
To the editor: I recently saw a cable TV network newscast that showed someone inside a store on a bicycle stuffing merchandise into a large garbage bag. After the bag was full, he rode the bike past a security guard, getting off free.
Not surprisingly, this happened in California, where they have decided not to prosecute theft cases in which the value of the stolen items is less than $950.
If you think something like this could only happen in California, think again. I have a cousin who works in a grocery store in a town not far from here. He recently caught someone shoplifting and stopped the perpetrator but had to let him go after the store manager decided not to prosecute him.
My cousin was not a happy camper that someone who was caught stealing red-handed was let go. He told me he will never stop a shoplifter again, even if they are walking out with the whole store.
This incident with my cousin apparently involved an ever-growing concern with liabilities involved with stopping and prosecuting thieves. Really? Someone is caught stealing and we have to worry about the thief suing the store they have stolen from?
This is one of the most ridiculous situations I have ever heard of. We are all concerned about inflation and how it affects the prices we pay for goods and services. It seems the cost of everything is going way up these days. As more and more theft occurs, it hurts us all when we pay at the cash register.
In retail speak, theft is part of what they call “shrinkage.” The merchants are not going to absorb the cost of stolen goods. The merchants are just going to pass the cost of shrinkage onto the customers, causing the prices we pay to increase.
It’s truly a shame the concern for liability has gotten so bad we have to let thieves go unpunished. Let’s not kid ourselves that the thieves don’t know this is happening. It only serves to make them more brazen, causing the problem to escalate exponentially.
We need to encourage merchants to take stronger stands against theft and apprehend thieves when they are caught in the act. This is what it’s going to take to stem the rising tide of shoplifting and other thefts.
Ron Craig
Crime prevention Officer/
Community Policing Officer
Lake Twp. Police Dept.

Skills lacking
To the editor: We have elections in a few days and I would encourage residents of Oregon to vote.
My main question is why has the Oregon school system stopped teaching writing and reading cursive? Students who’ve graduated the past few years have no idea except how to print. It was probably when they started using computers full time. A 21-year-old Clay graduate received a letter from his grandmother. He had to take it to his mother because he couldn’t read it. Since then, I’ve talked to other parents of Clay graduates or with children still in school and they told the same story.
Another skill is basic math. A Clay senior student was working at a local fast food restaurant when the computer system went down.
He had to take my order manually on paper but couldn’t add the amount. I did it for him but he was unable to calculate the change for the $10 I gave for the order.
I encourage voters to ask candidates what is going to be their priorities.
I won’t even go into Critical Race Theory or face mask mandates. We have to be careful not to ruffle feathers or we’ll be escorted out of school board meetings by the Oregon police who were present at the September meeting.
Ruth Price
Oregon