Crohn's and colitis walk this weekend
On Oct. 20, in Coolidge Park, the second annual Take Steps Be Heard for Crohn's & Colitis walk will be held. The walk raises awareness and money to fund research for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. This money funds patient support programs, enhances professional education efforts and research for a cure for these diseases.
There are over 1.4 million people suffering from either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in the United States. Patients struggling with these irritable bowel diseases often feel alone and isolated due to the nature of the disease. The Take Steps walk and events give those with these diseases an opportunity to connect with others who understand the challenges of living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.
Join us Saturday in Coolidge Park at 1 p.m. for music, food, kids' activities and local entertainment followed by the walk at 2 p.m. To donate or form a walk team, please visit the Chattanooga Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis website at www.cctakesteps.org/chattanooga.
ETHAN ANDERSON, CCFA Takes Steps, Chattanooga Committee, Hixson
Licensing system aids teen driving
Regarding Sonya Manfred's (leader, Tennessee Teen Safe Driving Coalition) letter about the inadequacy of Tennessee's teen driving laws. I am a member of the TTSDC. We are committed to educating teens about the importance of focusing on the road, minimizing distractions and learning and adhering to the requirements of the graduated drivers licensure system that Tennessee adopted and made law over 11 years ago.
The week of Oct. 14 is National Teen Drivers Safety Week. Our roads will be safer and lives will be saved if we all understand and follow the GDL system. The learner's permit is obtained at age 15 and held for a minimum of six months, during which 50 hours of supervised driving time must be documented, 10 hours at night.
Age 16 brings the restricted intermediate license: one year of driving between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., no more than one passenger and all cell phone use (including texting) is prohibited.
Age 17 brings the unrestricted intermediate license, also with absolutely no cell phone use. The standard Class D drivers license is not issued until the age of 18.
At every stage of licensure, seat belts are mandatory and texting is strictly prohibited.
CAROLINE JOHNSON, Drivers Education Coordinator, Traffic Engineering Division, City of Chattanooga
Be careful how you treat fellow man
My letter is to thank the men and women who served or are serving in the military, putting their lives on the line for all of us.
It is sad to know that if Mitt Romney becomes president, they will not get the benefits they deserve. Mitt Romney does not care about people who need a helping hand. He is not concerned about social issues. He is the rich man's man. He said that himself.
Everyone who needs a helping hand is not a moocher, a bum or a lazy person. Sometimes hard times just come. Some of the big companies even needed a helping hand. You cannot ever get too big to fall. Ecclesiastes Chapter 9:11 states: "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all."
We as all people need to be careful how we treat our fellow man.
BETTY PALMER
Johnson will guard taxpayers
Residents of Soddy-Daisy have a chance to elect a true conservative to the Soddy-Daisy Commission. I have known Garland Johnson for over 20 years and always have known him to be fiscally responsible. Garland is a property owner, businessman and a long-time school bus driver.
Garland will fight against property tax increases, keeping in mind that a large percentage of property owners in Soddy-Daisy are senior citizens living on a fixed income.
Cast your vote for someone who will look out for the taxpayers in Soddy-Daisy - Garland Johnson.
RHONDA THURMAN
Lowery will keep eye on spending
Mimi Lowrey is the one person needed on the East Ridge City Council! Mrs. Lowrey is concerned with the way our current council spends taxpayers' money. This shows in the way Mrs. Lowrey has handled her campaign.
When you have one candidate who overspends on billboards, expensive signs flooding East Ridge, and according to figures released from the Election Commission, has overspent $1,000 more than any of the other candidates, would that not give you a clue they would overspend on the East Ridge budget? Mimi is very frugal with her spending and would hold the line on spending your taxpayer dollars!
Mimi has lived in East Ridge 33 years, is a businesswoman, is well-educated, knows the East Ridge charter very well, served on the board of several community clubs and projects for years. She's an active participant in City Council meetings from the floor, has been past president of the East Ridge Needy Child Fund for five years, works with senior citizens and youth groups, and is a long-term substitute teacher at East Ridge High School. You will never find a harder working woman for East Ridge!
Mimi Lowrey is a voice for the people who you can count on!
EMILIA GENTER, East Ridge
Times cartoon clouds the issue
The Chattanooga Times' (note that I am not imputing the Free Press on this) publication of an editorial cartoon (Oct. 16) depicting Scott Desjarlais committing suicide in the aftermath of a sexual affair is very poor taste.
I served as the medical examiner of Williamson County, Tenn., from 1984-1998. I witnessed a number of men who committed suicide after their affairs were uncovered. Every instance was tragic.
Is the Chattanooga Times suggesting that Dr. Desjarlais kill himself as a consequence of this affair? If so, then many of the nation's doctors would do so, given that Vanderbilt University research estimated in 2002 that 3 percent-10 percent of the nation's physicians have crossed sexual boundaries with their patients, not to mention politicians with their interns (Bill Clinton), attorneys with their clients, and the like. Read the abstract at this website - www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720160290062284#preview to learn more or perhaps contact Vanderbilt to obtain a professional perspective on the issue.
I believe that the Chattanooga Times should apologize for this pejorative cartoon. It clouds the issue, does not solve the problem, and encourages a tragedy. Let the voters and the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners decide how this situation should be handled.
JAMES S. KENNEDY, M.D. Smyrna, Tenn.
GOP resists, then blames president
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stated that the Republicans' first priority is to deny President Obama re-election. It's not to help rebuild the shattered economy nor staunch the upward flow of wealth nor fix a failed health-care system. Every program, suggestion, or law that the president has proposed to help us get out of a mess largely created by Republicans themselves has been resisted, distorted or lied about to make a democratically elected president fail.
Yet Republicans have the audacity to blame the president for a lack of economic progress which is largely the result of unrelenting Republican obstruction. And in case their cynical tactics aren't enough to win the next election, they've embarked on a program of Democratic voter suppression in many states.
The only solution Republicans have is to cut government spending, a policy that has failed miserably to improve peoples' lives in Greece, Spain and Great Britain. Republicans apparently believe such a policy somehow will succeed in this country. People who reject experience and rely on magic to solve problems shouldn't be in public office.
Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Eisenhower were Republicans. The current claimants to that name aren't. Why vote for any of them?
TED TUMELAIRE, Signal Mountain