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First Posted: 1/15/2013

All children are special; some get special security

I keep hearing all kinds of suggestions about how we can keep children safe when they are in school. At the Sidwell School in Washington, D.C., Sasha and Malia Obama have protection provided by the Secret Service. The school also has a security staff of 11 and actually has a new job opening posted online.

I don’t know if people heard NBC’s David Gregory’s vicious attack on NRA President Wayne LaPierre concerning security guards at school. I found Gregory’s diatribe very strange indeed because his children actually attend the Sidwell school.

If you dismiss this by saying, Of course they have armed guards, they get Secret Service protection, then you’ve missed the larger point.

The larger point is that this is standard operating procedure for the school. And this is the reason people such as Gregory send their kids to Sidwell .

The children sit under the protection guns afford, while the children of regular Americans do not. All children are precious in God’s eyes, whether it be in school or in the wombs of their mothers. We need to do everything we can to protect this special gift from God.

Fire dept. thankful for help in Hanover Twp.

We sincerely thank and appreciate everyone who has been involved with helping the Hanover Township Fire Department acquire property on the Sans Souci Highway in anticipation of constructing a new centralized consolidated fire station.

Several years ago after acquiring a state study and through the volunteer fire department memberships’ vision it was decided that we needed to consolidate the six fire stations in our community into three to provide more efficient fire and rescue services to our community and people who travel through it.

Declining membership and outdated buildings were just a few of the underlying reasons that prompted the decision. Since that time we have been able to obtain a charter known as the Hanover Area Fire District and to secure, with the monetary aid of our state fireman’s convention committee, which was hosted in 2010, a piece of property along the Sans Souci Highway.

The Reese family, who owned the property, saw and felt the need for our project so they rendered a very reasonable cost A huge thank-you goes out to them.

We applied for funding/grants for demolition and construction in 2012 however, we were not successful and we set out to attempt to demolish the on site buildings ourselves . We were offered assistance in the demolition and removal of the buildings from Northeast Cartage and the John P. Halliday Trucking Company. On Sept. 22, 2012 the buildings started to come down. The ladies auxiliary from station #5 provided lunch for everyone and the demolition crew worked into the early evening hours. As of Dec. 20, 2012, four of the six dilapidated buildings are down and the property is cleaned up.

Additionally, we have received assistance from Medico Industries, Waste Management, Mascaros Recycling and from the Quad 3 Engineering firm .

We have a long way to go, but we feel it is truly necessary to offer our thanks and appreciation for services rendered up to this point. If we can secure future funding then this long-time dream will become a reality.

Rug problem leads to frustration with justice

We had carpeting installed in our home by a local business. About a month later the carpeting began to fall apart. We called the local business many times, only to be ignored.

We filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and it said we should file with the Attorney General. We won and this business was found guilty.

But, only to add to our aggravation, this man appealed, making sure we got that letter from his lawyer Christmas Eve. What are magistrates for when you pay to have a lawsuit and they make a decision of guilty or not guilty?

If a business or any one does not like the answer they just have to appeal. Then the victim has to shell out more money to re-file in another court.

Now we are out the money for the carpeting, have to replace it again next year and out the money we had to pay the magistrate. That whole lawsuit was for nothing. So congratulations to you, hope you are satisfied. We really wish we could put the name of the business that did this, but they know who they are.

Pittsburgh air reserves a unit worth fighting for

I have long known that the National Guard and Reserve are a bargain for our state and country. It’s gratifying to finally see the numbers in black and white.

Last month, the Reserve Forces Policy Board issued a report to the Secretary of Defense on the cost of military personnel.

It’s the first official report from a Department of Defense entity that makes it clear that the cost of a National Guard or Reserve member is much less than that of an active-component member.

The report, which looked at all costs such as health care, dependent education, housing and retirement, shows that in fiscal year 2013 the annual cost to the federal government for a reserve-component member is $123,351 while the cost of an active-component member is $384,622.

I point this out because as part of the President’s 2013 Defense Budget, the Air Force proposes to reduce the size and capability of its most efficient and cost-effective forces – the reserve component. More specifically, they plan to close the Air Force Reserve’s 911th Airlift Wing based in Pittsburgh this year. Governor Tom Corbett and I continue to work with members of Congress, urging them to support a 2013 budget that honors national security yet promotes fiscal responsibility.

Based on the defense department’s own report, it would make the most sense to take a small cut in the active-component in order to maintain or expand the capabilities of the Department of Defense by shifting forces to the reserve-component. It’s a 3-to-1 cost savings that should not be ignored.

Troops serving in the Guard and Reserve are as highly trained as their counterparts in the active-component yet they only get paid when they work. Taking advantage of this cost-effectiveness is certainly not a novel idea, but one that the Air Force must seriously consider.

Barbara Yanchek Jermyn Eric Sheeder Hanover Township Fire Department Yancheck family Wilkes-Barre Wesley E. Craig Major General Pennsylvania National Guard