DEAR EDITOR: 

The Bergenfield Council for the Arts held its annual art exhibition on June 15 at Veteran Memorial Park under threatening weather conditions.

Despite the weather, the exhibit was a success.

 I would like to thank people who helped to make the exhibit a success. Thank you to our sponsors, the Bergenfield Lions, Elks and Optimists. Thank you to Carol Chamberlain Berman, the DPW’s Ed Volmer and James Tinsley, and special thanks to arts council member George Lutz and Lucille Tendler, and finally a thank you to my family, Debbie, Darlene, Kara and Stevie. I love you guys.

                                                           Paul Calebotta

                                                      Bergenfield Council for the Arts

DEAR EDITOR:

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the community for its generous donations to March of Dimes March for Babies 2008.

Special thanks to Dr. Mark Jaffe, Dr. Jeffrey Gliksman, my teachers at Honiss School and Dumont High School and Twin-Boro News for their lovely article, and to all the other individuals who supported me.

It was with your help that I raised a total of $645. Team Madison raised $19,000, breaking our goal of $15,000.

I started doing this walk as part of my confirmation community service, and I will continue all through my high school years and hopefully beyond them as well.

Thanks again for your support and generosity.

Kayley Ebenhack
Member, Team Madison

Dumont

DEAR EDITOR:

Last month, my daughter was playing kickball at lunch recess at school when the ball struck her right pinky.

She went to the school nurse, who applied an ice pack and kept her in her office for 15 minutes before sending her back to class.

During class, my daughter complained to the teacher that the injured finger hurt as she was writing. My daughter was told by the teacher to run it under cold water.

At 3:40, I picked up my daughter from school, as she stayed late that day. My daughter informed me at that time she injured her finger at recess. Upon examination of her finger, it was swollen and black and blue.

I was a little upset since several school personnel were aware that she injured her finger, but yet I was never given a courtesy call.

During the early morning , she was complaining of pain and I took her to the emergency room to learn she had fractured her pinky close to her growth plate in her hand. Her hand and half of her arm was casted.

After the hospital, I returned her to school and informed the secretary I will pick up the accident report at 3 p.m. and was told that it would not be a problem. At 3 p.m., I returned to the main office to learn the accident report was sent to the board of education office.

After a week of chasing the accident report down, I was once again upset that the report contained inaccurate information, such as the wrong date of the accident, the wrong cause of injury, and my daughter’s wrong age.

I also learned that the district did not follow its own policy as far as reporting accidents.

New Milford Board of Education policy Number 8442 states: "A copy of the accident report shall be retained by the building principal and a copy shall be sent to the business office."

I understand, accidents happen. However, it would have been nice to been informed of the injury since everyone knew but me; the documentation provided by the school was very sloppy; and, once again, what is the purpose of board of education policies if they don’t follow them.

Karen Tyler

New Milford

DEAR EDITOR:

I just read an article regarding Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) adding an amendment to a spending bill to allow offshore oil drilling no less then 50 to 200 miles off the U.S. coast.

Oil exploration and drilling has been outlawed for 27 years due to environmental issues.

Because of the apparent shortage of domestic oil supplies and our dependence on imported oil, the cost of petroleum products has become obscene.

The oil is out there; all we have to do is go and get it.

The only problem is that the liberal environmentalists will fight this and may just win again as they did 27 years ago.

Sen. Lautenberg, during his latest campaign in a TV ad, bragged that he kept the oil companies from drilling off the Jersey coast.

But will he now use his vast wealth to help the people of New Jersey pay for the gas they need to get to work or to go to the store to buy food for their families? Will the environmentalists help pay for the heating oil to keep many of our fixed income seniors from freezing this up coming winter?

Many of these idealists talk about alternate forms of energy — solar power and wind power to name just two.

First, the sun doesn’t shine every day; and second, the only wind strong enough and consistent enough to do any good is the hot air coming out of the Statehouse and the U.S. Congress when the politicians start blowing it.

It’s clear that we must develop our own sources of oil and do it now. We cannot afford to continue to depend on the Arabs or Latin American dictators for the lifeblood of our society and economy.

The liberal environmentalists must be made to realize that, without oil, our great nation will flounder and our economy will go down the toilet.

Lautenberg claimed or inferred in his TV ad that he saved the Jersey Shore from an environmental disaster by fighting against offshore exploration and drilling

First, what good is a pristine Jersey Shore if people can’t afford to put gas in their cars to drive there? That is assuming that there would be an oil spill or some other accident causing damage to the waters and beaches.

Second, many oil tankers come up along the Jersey Shore on their way to the oil thermals in Sewaren and Linden. God forbid that there is a maritime disaster involving a collision with one of these tankers; the spill could be as bad as the Exxon Valdez.

I don’t see any laws preventing these ships from navigating through these waters. In fact, I recall seeing a tanker on the horizon from the beach in Wildwood last year.

Protecting the environment is vital to the survival of the human race, but cheap available energy is just as vital.

Granted there is a very small risk of something going wrong, but there is risk in everything that we do. All we can do is take every precaution to reduce the risks to an acceptable level.

By using common sense, we can get over this current oil crisis and become energy-independent from foreign oil imports and the price gougers that they control.

Edward Kostka

Dumont

DEAR EDITOR:

As the media showed pictures of National Guard members helping during the crisis caused by flooding in Iowa, I wondered, "Where will New Jersey’s National Guard and their equipment be if we are hit by floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires?"

Half of New Jersey’s Guard and their equipment will soon be deployed to Iraq. Even the governor thinks this could endanger the welfare and security of the people of New Jersey.

If the governor really cares, he should quickly get behind legislation introduced by State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblymembers Valerie Huttle and Connie Wagner. Those bills would cancel the upcoming deployment and bring all New Jersey National Guard members back to New Jersey.

In 2002, Congress federalized the National Guards because "Iraq was a threat to U.S. national security." Even Congress knows that this was a lie.

Gov. Corzine voted against the war when he was in the Senate. Since then, he has done nothing help end this illegal and immoral war.

It’s time for the governor and the state Legislature to take immediate steps to de-federalize the New Jersey National Guard.

For people interested in joining this effort, go to www.peaceandjusticecoalition.org. Bring the troops and the contractor army (of 180,000) home NOW!

We spend $770 million each day in Iraq. Bring the billions of dollars home for people’s needs — education, health care, housing, and jobs.

Paula Rogovin,
Military Families Speak Out

Teaneck