ICE warehouse purchases make no sense
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency officials have determined they need detention centers in our area to house people suspected of being in the country illegally for processing and eventual deportation.
The agency bought a warehouse in Berks County and another in Schuylkill County for this purpose. Those buildings are designed to store things, not people. The purchases were made with apparently no regard to whether or not there is a sufficient water supply or adequate sewage capacity. ICE will have to spend who knows how many more millions of dollars to modify the buildings to make them suitable for purpose.
Then, a few years later after there is no longer a need to detain immigrants because they are all processed and gone, the government will be stuck with buildings that no one wants to buy, because they aren’t suitable as warehouses.
Mark Menges
Bethlehem
Newspaper should be objective
Regarding the letter to the editor from Maryanne West that ran in the Feb. 5 edition of The Morning Call, I couldn’t agree more that I would love to see a daily paper that was more balanced in its content.
There should be objectivity and balance in the printing of letters, editorials, columns and news reporting. After all, The Morning Call is our only local newspaper for all citizens.
To read the constant complaining about President Trump, Rep. Mackenzie and Republicans demonstrates the lack of objectivity.
I have been a newspaper reader my entire life, going back to delivering the Evening Chronicle and The Morning Call while acquiring a habit and interest in a daily paper. I still believe reading a good daily paper will result in a more rounded and better-informed citizen.
Bruce Charles
Whitehall Township
GOP should draw a line regarding Trump’s policies
As naive, innocent Americans, we grew up asking, “How did Germany and Poland let the atrocities during World War II happen? Where were the good people?” Our children are witnessing the answer firsthand. It would be nice if the Republican Party would finally draw a line, because so far, they have drawn no line on any of President Trump’s reprehensible behaviors. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Donald DeCray Sr.
Bethlehem
Federal officials putting our health at risk
Throughout over four decades as a health care professional, I have looked to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as trusted sources of public health guidance. However, that confidence has been strained under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In January, HHS changed recommendations for several routine childhood vaccines, including influenza, rotavirus and hepatitis A, despite decades of medical evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness in preventing serious illnesses. Thankfully, Gov. Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Health have upheld these life-saving recommendations, but now health care providers must reconcile those differences, and parents feel uncertain about whom to trust.
Vaccines remain among the most effective tools to prevent serious disease. When national guidance diverges from longstanding medical consensus, it erodes trust. Public confidence in our health institutions directly affects vaccination rates. We are already seeing the consequences with renewed measles cases, which endanger vulnerable populations.
Elected officials need to support evidence-based public health policy, and I encourage Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to speak clearly in support of vaccine access. Protecting children’s health should never be a partisan issue, and leaders should work together to ensure families receive consistent, reliable information.
Laura L. Tyndall
Coopersburg
Congress should not allow mining near protected land
In January, the House of Representatives voted to overturn a mining ban on 225,000 acres of federal land in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and possibly destroy the greatest wildlife/habitat preservation in the U.S.
I grew up a few miles from the BWCA and have spent multiple months canoeing in the crystal clear waters. I gave up fishing when I moved to Pennsylvania; the waters are far too polluted. I also grew up in the mining industry and supported/worked mining in the Iron Range — far from water in the BWCA. I have witnessed the damage from exposing sulfates during mining in the Black Hills of South Dakota — fishing streams destroyed by acid runoff.
The Senate should not confirm the House vote.
David Thompson
Lower Macungie Township
US slipping toward totalitarianism
Our president has suggested that the Republican Party should run our elections. If this happens, we will be just like China, Russia and North Korea. They have elections but they are controlled by the party that is in power and that party always gets 90%-plus of the votes. We are slipping more and more into a totalitarian state.
Al Wiemann
Northampton
We need to hold data centers accountable
Many folks, including myself, care about protecting our water and mitigating climate change. Investing in renewable energy and leaving fossil fuels behind is an essential transition here and now. Our state can be a leader in supporting solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sources, and I hope our legislators will do so.
Abundant renewable energy has potential to lower electricity costs for ratepayers. However, in tandem with this, we must limit data center expansion and curb excess corporate energy use. It’s concerning that data centers are consuming massive amounts of water and electricity, and in many cases the costs are being passed unequally to residential ratepayers.
I ask our legislators to please support any bills that would encourage responsible data center development, and curb excess sprawl.
Clearly, environmental health and climate action have never been more important. Renewable energy expansion is a necessary smart move, and will lower costs for residential ratepayers. Let’s prioritize people and planet when deciding whether or not to allow more data centers in our communities. And by doing so, we’ll protect farmland, wildlife habitat and the natural open spaces that make our state beautiful.
Rebecca Canright
Franklin Township, New Jersey
The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
