Letters to the Editor: Readers react to street racing, National Guard deployment and more

Car enthusiasts gather in a parking lot Saturday night on Roosevelt Blvd. in Middletown. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Car enthusiasts gather in a parking lot Saturday night on Roosevelt Blvd. in Middletown. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Families deserve safe streets. Street racing might sound exciting in movies, but in real life it’s reckless and dangerous. Middletown residents shouldn’t have to wonder if a Saturday night trip to the store means dodging cars flying past at 80 miles an hour.

If this were business, people breaking the rules would face consequences, fast. In government, problems like this get studied, recorded, written about, but very seldom fixed for good. Families don’t want press releases. They want safe streets.

People in Butler County work hard, pay their taxes, and follow the rules. The least they should get in return is a community where their kids can cross the street without fear.

Leadership isn’t about more excuses. It’s about making sure basic rules are enforced and families don’t feel like they’re on their own. That’s not asking for much. It’s asking for the basics.

- Thomas Maddox, University of Cincinnati Senior

I call on Governor DeWine to recall Ohio National Guard troops from the District of Columbia. There is nothing for them to do, much less tasks for which they have been trained, no “threat” to anyone or anything from which to protect the residents of the District. They are being asked to be props for photo ops to accustom US citizens to the sight of their cities being militarized. I admire governor Pritzker of Illinois for standing up with facts and figures about the actual incidence of crime in cities and states around America to resist threats by the federal government to send military forces to his state. Governor, show similar backbone and recall my fellow Ohioans from this mockery of American history and values.

- Mary Ramey, Lebanon


This is an aerial of downtown Dayton skyline looking northeast. The warm early autumn weather will continue until cool weather moves in over the weekend. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

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Credit: JIM NOELKER

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