Buc-ing to Buc-ee's
To whom it may concern: When are we going to stop the nonsense and let a major corporation dictate what small-town shops can do when they have been in business much longer than Buc-ee's has been in town?
The corporation of Buc-ee's should be ashamed of itself. They don't need to harm small businesses or insult people's intelligence by suggesting they couldn't tell the difference.
Really.
Tami Gardner, Middleburg Heights
Ramaswamy's strange talking points
Re "Merit pay for teachers proposed," Aug. 7: There is one main reason merit pay won't work in public schools: Much of teaching is relational.
The development of trust among teachers and their students is a cornerstone of good teaching and learning.
A productive learning environment is largely the result of the human relationship built in each classroom.
It is crucial to student success, and it can't be measured. So how can merit pay be determined if so much of what leads to student success is not measurable?
What will help ensure student success is a deeper and more committed family support structure in our state: accessible and affordable health care, food and housing security, reliable public transportation to jobs and schools, and reduction of crime and poverty in our cities, towns and rural areas.
These are what our candidates should be talking about and planning for if they want to increase student achievement in our public schools.
Rose Solomon, Upper Arlington
Trump can't beat an umbrella
Re "Prosecutor details Reflecting Pool case," Aug. 8: The very idea that a U.S. attorney should lose their job over the installation of a swimming pool is laughable.
Some of you may recall President Donald Trump losing a wrestling matchwith his umbrella while boarding Air Force One during his first term in office, so I thought it was interesting that he should criticize his attorney general for having "folded like an umbrella" in dropping charges against a former Olympian for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
Trump had hoped the pool would be ready for the Ultimate Fighting Championship match on the White House lawn. It wasn't.
The score now stands: Umbrella 2, Trump 0.
Syd Lifshin, Columbus
Ramaswamy would kill data centers
Re "My data center plan will kill your electric bill," Aug. 6: Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has developed a plan to manage the proliferation of data centers in Ohio. The major points are:
- Data centers will not receive property tax abatements, thereby reducing the property tax burden on area homeowners;
- Data centers will build gas- or nuclear-powered generators sufficient for their electrical needs and provide excess capability to the surrounding community free of charge; and
- Data centers will abide by all air and water quality standards.
I foresee a few problems with Ramaswamy’s plan.
First, attracting manufacturing by providing tax abatements is an ingrained practice. If Ohio won't provide an abatement, Indiana, Michigan or some other state will.
Second, building and operating an electrical generating capability will add significant expense to the facility. Providing electricity at no cost to the community will not only further increase the expense but, more importantly, will also create liability for power or equipment failures. Regarding nuclear-powered generators, add the problems of long lead times for approval and the specter of a nuclear meltdown. Finally, water usage by data centers is a quantity rather than a quality problem.
If the water will be reused outside the data center, it has to be returned to the municipal processing system.
The headline on Ramaswamy's guest column was "My data center plan will kill your electric bill," but perhaps a better title would be, "My data center plan will kill data centers" ... which, ironically, could generate more votes.
Neal Snyder, Columbus
Breaking the law for Epstein?
“Looking the Other Way: How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking” is a 67-page, detailed and documented report by the Senate Finance Committee released Aug. 4 by Sen. Ron Wyden following a four-year investigation of Wall Street banks’ failure to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as required by law under the Bank Secrecy Act.
The law requires banks and credit unions to generate and file suspicious activity reports with the Treasury Department when a customer deviates from his or her normal profile, performs a transaction that lacks an apparent business purpose, or suggests links to money laundering, fraud or terrorist financing.
suspicious activity reports are to be reported within 60 days of the activity, but in Epstein’s case, the reports were held for years until Epstein finally was arrested.
Why didn’t they file the reports? I suspect that Epstein was a good customer. The money involved totaled more than $1.4 billion. The transactions with the banks generated considerable income. If they had filed the suspicious activity reports, the government would have investigated Epstein’s activities and probably would have shut him down.
It appears that when enough money is involved, even well-known, highly respected banks are willing to bend, if not break, the law.
Ben Freudenreich, Columbus
Acton is not weak, she's kind
Dr. Amy Acton spoke to a group of donors in Pickerington on Thursday, Aug. 6.
The doctor candidly stated that she is not a career politician, but she is a lifelong public servant. She is powerful and consistent in her messaging.
Two excerpts from her 2024 article in The Case Western Reserve Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine speak volumes about her:
"Fast forward to June 2020, when I stepped down from my position. Like many health directors around the country, I was being pressured by the legislature to sign orders that did not make any scientific sense as we were beginning our reopening plan. One particular order related to allowing 15,000 spectators to attend an event just as we were beginning to open businesses safely. In the end, this pitted my Hippocratic oath against my intense wish to serve the people of Ohio. We all face moments in which we need a strong compass, and I am grateful, as painful as it was, that I listened to mine. So, I resigned as Ohio Health Director, but stayed committed to advising the governorand continue to do so."
And
“Kindness is not weakness.”
Ohio is in desperate need of leaders who are committed to their constitutional oaths while embracing the true meaning of public servant leadership. Amy Acton is that leader.
Mike Halaiko, Pickerington
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Buc-ee's rules! Ohio drools. The Buckeye State should roll over, right?!? | Letters
