Recently in Quality of life Category

What happened to customer service? Can the world operate when systems are down?

I went to the electronics store on Sunday with my $40 card from the National Telecommunications Information Administration in order to purchase my digital-to-analog converter box. The first person did not know how to process our purchase at the first register! We went to another register and that person rang it up and my husband handed him the $40 card, a $10 gift card, and some cash. The gift card went through, but the $40 card did not. He could not get it to work, so he called the service manager and she told us that the system had been down most of the day and it had just come back up.

The solution offered was to come back; we did not want to come back since we drove across town to take care of this purchase that day. My husband then asked for the change and a receipt but we then were told it couldn't be done.

Here we go again with the people on York city council trying to regulate things that the have no authority to do so. In my Friday morning paper I came across a story about how city council wants to try to pass a law requiring people to report lost or missing firearms within 72 hours. Forget the fact that in the state of Pennsylvania local governments are prohibited from regulating firearms. But even if they had the power to do what they are proposing which they don't. Maybe they could explain to me how they are going to prove when a firearm was lost or missing from someone. All a person has to do is deny any knowledge of the weapon being missing and they have no case.

Last June I purchase a new vehicle. It has satellite radio which I've not paid attention to - till today. The local FM stations have started Christmas tunes, 24/7, on the tenth of November. What do they have in mind? I have a neighbor with his place decorated, light strings, a blow-up figure, and a manger scene.

Pushing the season is a REAL turn-off. I enjoy the holiday season as much as anyone, but this is pushing the envelope.

Bill Spahr
York Township

The Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Builders and Contractors are against the Employee Free Choice Act because the laws have been in their favor for the last 25 years. The following facts represent how the Act will bring the favor back for the middle class employees:

1. The Employee Free Choice Act would give workers a fair chance to form unions to improve their lives.

2. Research shows nearly 60 million American Workers would form a union immediately if given the chance. Too few ever get that chance because employers routinely block employee efforts to form unions and our current legal system is too broken to stop them. As many as one-quarter of employers illegally fire workers who try to form unions.

How have the increased traffic and development in York County in the last 20 years affected you? Has it improved your quality of life or impaired it? If you want to help preserve the natural beauty and quality of life here, join with the Women's Club of Spring Grove to support the work of the Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County.

The Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the farm and natural lands of York County for future generations. All donations to the Trust are tax-deductible. No local tax money supports the Trust.

In mid-October, the Northeastern Senior Center in Mt. Wolf was robbed. Two safes containing the proceeds from fund-raisers for which the elderly members prepared and worked long and hard hours were stolen. The craft events, sandwich sales and dinners were all in vain. Even desserts in the center for an upcoming fund-raiser were smashed along with doors, windows and filing cabinets. The loss was not covered by insurance.

The senior center is an integral part of the lives of our elderly population who might otherwise face long, lonely days without companionship. I am appealing to individuals and businesses to please send a generous tax deductible contribution to the Northeastern Senior Community Center, 131 Center Street, PO Box 386, Mt. Wolf, Pa. 17347. Please help to restore the trust that these senior citizens have had taken from them.

Joyce Moul
York Haven Borough

Who is a family caregiver? Who is providing 306 billion dollars of "free" caregiving services to support our healthcare system? "Family" caregivers are those individuals who provide care to a loved one who is chronically ill or disabled. "Family" is meant to be close friends, neighbors and partners, anyone who has an emotional attachment to the care recipient and who acts like family.

National Family Caregivers Month observed every November is a nationally recognized month that seeks to draw attention to the many challenges facing family caregivers, advocate for stronger public policy to address family caregiving issues, and raise awareness about community programs that support family caregivers. NFC Month is a time to thank, support, educate, and advocate for the family caregivers across the country.

"Why is it OK for smokers to take breaks all the time? If I want to go outside and hang out once an hour, then I'll just take up smoking."
--Kelly Kapour on NBC-TV's "The Office"

As the owner of an office-products company, I have a special appreciation for the dysfunctional characters and situations found on "The Office." For the most part, the show is funny without, thankfully, having too much in common with ours or most other work places. But Kelly's comment about smoking breaks, in the second episode of this season, hit pretty close to home.

At The Phillips Group, we went cold turkey as of Jan. 1, 2008. We stamped out the use of tobacco products anywhere on our property, from our headquarters in Middletown to our offices throughout central Pennsylvania to our company vehicles.

What prompted the move was our continued efforts to control healthcare costs and, by extension, to encourage the wellness of our employees. To that end, our tobacco-use policy had become increasingly difficult to defend.

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As a former shelter manager I like to keep abreast of the shelter world in York County. It is with great dismay that I read the lack of support the SPCA is getting from a few municipalities. I understand that for some municipalities the contract price has greatly increased. However what isn't being taken into consideration is what the SPCA does.

The SPCA is the only shelter in York County that accepts ALL stray animals. Stray animals include not only dogs and cats but: iguanas, birds, goats, fish, snakes, turtles, hamsters, rabbits, ducks, chickens, rats, and any other manor of living creature.

All the above specialty animals take special needs, which is not the same as what cats and dogs require. This is all hidden costs that no one sees.

They also run a low cost spay/neuter program for cats and dogs. They have a food program for low income families. They do low cost shot clinics for the public which includes regular yearly shots, rabies shots, and micro chipping. (Micro chips are a tremendous help in getting lost pets home.) You can't provide low cost help and not receive backing from the public.

When they receive an injured animal the vet care is tremendous. The bills can run several hundred dollars.

When you adopt an animal it is up to date on shots, spayed/neutered, micro chipped and has been checked by a vet. Try buying a puppy or kitten at a pet shop, breeder, or puppy mill and not end up with a big expense for the above services.

The SPCA also has the only sworn cruelty officer in the county. So on top of the animal cost they have legal costs to prosecute people who abuse animals.

They have training programs to help people better take care of their animals.

So when you add up all the little things, 50 cents a person based on a census taken in 2000 is not that bad when you consider the population explosion York County has undergone in the last 5 years.

Please encourage your municipality to help the SPCA help you and the unwanted, lost, and abandoned animals of the County. They need it.

Roxanne M. Smeltzer
Red Lion

The ridiculous article, Bailout for Lauxmont, published in the York Sunday News, your opinion is thankfully not shared by the majority of the people in Lower Windsor Township, nor York County in general. Your article is an ignorant rant after the disgrace that Mitrick, Kilgore, Platts, and people of your opinion have set upon this county and its tax payers?

What ignorance, to steal Highpoint to build a park, we have Sam Lewis only a mile or so away from Highpoint and it is definitely not an overcrowded situation. It offers a beautiful view, and if promoted in the local newspaper could become a noted place to visit.
Then Lori and Doug have the guts to try to steal additional private land; you guessed it, for another park. The attempt to take Lauxmont Farm is another show of political strong arming that did not have the support of the people. Remember the people, the ones that elect the commissioners; the ones they are supposed to be working for.

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