Dorney Park is overcharging guests for mobility devices<\/p>\n
If you should visit Longwood Gardens and have a walking disability, it supplies an electric cart you can drive. The cost? Pay what you wish. You can give $5, $10 or even zero dollars. I\u2019ve done it. Dorney Park is basically flat but if you want to go on the rides, it\u2019s a long, steep hill all the way to the bottom. It offers electric carts also. The cost? $65! That\u2019s for one day. That\u2019s more than the admission price and two-thirds of a season pass. I\u2019m 72 with very bad knees. I can\u2019t do that hill and I sure can\u2019t afford the cart. It\u2019s rapacious highway robbery. Six Flags and Dorney should be ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u2014 John Hoban, Chestnuthill Township<\/p>\n
Column pointed out need, resources for children\u2019s literacy<\/p>\n
I wish to commend Tom Whalen for his recent column in The Morning Call regarding Dolly\u2019s Parton\u2019s legacy and the future of literacy in America. His statistics on third grade reading proficiency for the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania were chilling and should be a wake-up call for all of us who care about our children.<\/p>\n
Parton understood that access to books is essential for inspiring children to fall in love with reading, believe in themselves and imagine all that their futures might hold. And while we can\u2019t all be Dolly Parton, we can all make a difference.<\/p>\n
Whalen highlighted several outstanding programs and organizations that champion literacy in our local schools. The Allentown School District Foundation\u2019s Literacy Volunteer Program is another partner working every day to ensure that students in pre-K through third grade develop the reading and comprehension skills that form the foundation of a successful and meaningful future.<\/p>\n
We are 100 volunteers strong, and if you felt the call to action after reading Mr. Whalen\u2019s column, we invite you to join us. Please contact us at info@allentownschooldistrictfoundation.org.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cynthia L. Phillips, Allentown<\/p>\n
The unfortunate truth about the state of America<\/p>\n
It is impossible to believe that the world\u2019s No. 1 military power, America, is running-low on munitions.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s No. 1 oil producer is charging well over $4 a gallon at the pump.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s No. 1 military is at a six-month standoff with a fourth-rate adversary, Iran.<\/p>\n
The Secretary of War (formerly Defense), Pete Hegseth, fires a significant number of highly qualified admirals and generals, and then negates the promotions of countless other highly qualified minority officers to flag rank.<\/p>\n
Lastly, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu if he came into the city, and unabashedly accused Israel of genocide. He now runs the city with the most Jews in the world, outside of Tel Aviv. Would he have been elected if a large number of those Jews had not voted for him? Not likely.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wrong with that picture? Unfortunately, nothing.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheldon P. Siegel, South Whitehall Township<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let Musk, who hurt US, help reelect Mackenzie<\/p>\n
Who can forget the delight of Elon Musk showing his chainsaw as an emblem of what his Department of Government Efficiency buddies would do to our government? I have yet to see how much money was saved by eliminating so many crucial positions while some people had to be rehired almost immediately and other now empty positions have made us weak. Politics seem to be a joke to Musk, allowing him to sprinkle portions of his trillion-dollar wealth wherever his whim desires. He has given $12,000 to Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie\u2019s campaign. Don\u2019t let him massacre us again. Vote for Bob Brooks in November.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sara Ann Thomas, Allentown<\/p>\n
The third rule of political physics<\/p>\n
Just like in physics, in politics, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.<\/p>\n
For instance, when you put tariffs on another country, they typically respond. When you threaten to take over Greenland, your allies get upset. When you fire lots of federal workers, like food safety inspectors, foodborne illnesses become more common. When you start an ill-conceived war without considering how the opposition might respond, like choking off the Strait of Hormuz, it turns into a quagmire and $4 gasoline.<\/p>\n
When you give tax cuts, primarily to the wealthy and corporations, without reducing spending, you get $40 trillion in national debt, which pushes up interest rates making loans even more expensive when folks are already struggling with affordability. When you award a contract to a rich donor, you get the Reflecting Pool fiasco. When you put unqualified people in important positions, you get Pete Hegseth, who seems more interested in testosterone levels and ruining the careers of officers who aren\u2019t white men than in making sound military decisions. You get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and measles outbreaks. When you rename lakes, you look like a fool.<\/p>\n
Hopefully the 2026 elections are an equal and opposite reaction to 2024.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Owen Klicker, Macungie<\/p>\n
Nonprofit will take, redistribute old furniture<\/p>\n
I think it is great to put furniture out for the taking, but if it is not taken quickly, it is ruined by dew and rain. Someone near my home put a bed frame out more than a month ago and it is now scrap and has ruined the lawn. The Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot (lvoutreachdepot.org<\/a>) will take your things and give them to people in need; you can either drop them off or the depot will pick them up. They also need volunteers.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u2014 Bruce Wilson, Upper Saucon Township<\/p>\n Consider dropping off mail-in ballots<\/p>\n If President Donald Trump continues to try to stand in the way of mail-in-ballots, I would suggest that people who fill out mail-in-ballots take them to designated drop-off places rather than actually mail them, if at all possible. At least, in this way, you will be more assured that your ballot will be counted.<\/p>\n \u2014 Barbara J. Friedenheim, Allentown <\/p>\n