The mass murders are not as last week's editorial states "an intentional sacrifice" for the purpose of giving Americans something to watch on television, any more than surgeries are undergone so that people can have guests while they're recuperating in the hospital.

They happen, they are fed to us by the media, and we react as if they are personal, which any day they may be. We react to stimuli, no matter what the medium. It is the presenters who are making it the national sport. The media is creating the circus and paying the performers in usually posthumous infamy.

Hank Harwood
Montela

As a resident of Rochester and a renewable energy executive, I was quite concerned reading your reporter's coverage of the TOR PB meeting and the scale of solar projects under review. There is an immediate risk of over-solarization in the Rondout Valley. It appears that TOR alone has currently three large solar projects under consideration and projects in the pipeline. With slightly over 3,000 full time homes in TOR, these three projects alone could provide solar electricity to 50 – 75% of TOR homes, if the homes opt in through Central Hudson. The number of completed/proposed community solar projects in Hudson/Rondout Valley communities is approaching overcapacity for the electric grid.

I applaud TOR leaders to pursue green energy initiatives. But not all solar installations yield equal benefits. Solar panels on commercial rooftops, industrial lands/brownfill/old landfills can be sustainable home runs. Unfortunately, we have also adopted laws and policies that encourage utility-scale solar photovoltaic facilities to be developed on farmland and forestland. Farmland and forestland in and of themselves provide a carbon sink/carbon offset and are irreplaceable. Farmland and forestland are at the heart of what makes this community unique and a great place to live. The exploitation of rural communities by commercial solar companies trolling for cheap land and of rural Town Boards desperate for new sources of revenue is well documented. Solar projects hide behind a patina of greenness, and, while it is renewable, it is not environmentally neutral by any means: clear cutting woodlands destroys native habitats; environmental damage is caused (toxic chemical seepage, topsoil erosion, herbicides); and solar panels not properly decommissioned are left behind as environmental eyesores. For those reasons alone, farmland and forestland should be excluded from consideration for any solar projects in this town.

The economics of community solar are excellent for the installing solar company, less clearly beneficial for the community when the Total Cost of Ownership is honestly examined, including the decommissioning of the solar farm at its end of life. Many solar developers are leasing financing companies establishing LLCs for various and complex financing strategies (Tax Equity Partnerships, Partnership Flips, Sales/Leaseback) that change ownership of the solar equipment to institutional investors oftentimes unknown to the town Board. Financial investors could not care less to leave panel graveyards on abandoned solar farms.

Compounding that risk, solar technology is improving rapidly which means solar farms obsolete rapidly. In 10 years the footprint needed for solar will be smaller and the Rondout Valley will be burdened with abandoned dinosaurs.

Conflicting goals are at play in the Rondout Valley: promoting agriculture, tourism/agritourism, vacation rentals, land conservation and renewable energy to name a few. The siren song of financing companies disguised as solar/green energy could dangerously tip this balance and leave a blighted landscape.

The leaders of this town should not succumb to the "shiny object" syndrome. The TOR PB should set a cap on solar MW production capacity for the town and impose decommissioning bonds on all solar projects as recommended by NYSERDA.

Denis Lavallee
Kerhonkson

I traveled down this road eight years ago trying to save the Nevele Schoolhouse and as result of my being the initiator we were able to finally achieve some satisfaction. However, it has come to my intention through our Vice President on the Board of our Museum project that deterioration is setting in once again. I worry of an extreme harsh winter which can potentially cause irreversible damage.

I recognize everyone is busy, but we can't wait for inaction because the building is over 150 years old and won't withstand the harsh elements without some paint and repair.

I hope you will be able to help reinvigorate an effort to save an important structure in the Town of Wawarsing.

Thank you and I'm keeping the faith.

Jack Godfrey, President
Committee for Catskill Resort Museum

As the political season is upon us and we are soon to elect a new supervisor for the town of Rochester, I believe one of the candidates is deeply troubling.

Len Bernardo not been in town government before. He has rarely attended town meetings (only recently, since announcing his candidacy, has he attended a few). His recent attendance at a Planning Board meeting regarding Project Cat saw him speaking out in violation of meeting procedure, creating a disturbance and demanding special privilege; that he should be allowed to speak even though the Public Hearing had ended. That is disturbing. In my opinion, Mr. Bernardo is insincere, ignorant of the requirements of the office he seeks and engages in game playing. He has an obvious distaste for government. Sadly, he is resorting to old time Rochester politics by appealing to a segment of the population who do not know the laws by which we must abide.

It is 2017, not the days of corrupt government and a town running like the wild west. Sorry, those days are past us now.

We need a supervisor that will provide for the health, safety and welfare of all residents. We need a supervisor that knows, understands and fully accepts the responsibility for the position. A supervisor that leads as an example of moral fortitude and one who will continue the excellence of government that the Town of Rochester has risen to in the eyes of our surrounding communities through years of diligence and hard work. We have gone from being the laughing-stock of the county to one which other towns look to as an example of excellence. And, in case you haven't noticed, our town is thriving.

I firmly believe Mr. Bernardo is not qualified nor has the ability to do the job that is required on so many levels. If elected, it will be a sad day for the Town of Rochester.

Barbara Fornal
Accord

On Columbus Day we celebrate, not Columbus the man, but the anniversary of the date that the "known world" expanded (for better or worse), not only for Europeans but for everyone in the Americas. Make no mistake.

Columbus was not a nice person, neither by today's standards nor those of his time. He and the following Conquistadors were among the cruelest and most destructive forces unleashed by man against man.

But it was the disease they brought, not the subjugation and slaying that did the most damage.

On that issue the score is settled. It is believed that most likely syphilis was brought to Europe by Columbus' crew. But even if syphilis is pre-Columbian, tobacco is not. And tobacco, the gift of the Native Americans, like as not has damaged as many souls worldwide as were done in by the Europeans in the Americas.

Bob Prener
Grahamsville

The second amendment of the United States Constitution states: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Obviously, the need for a state militia has been replaced by the National Guard and Coast Guard whereby trained military personnel are entrusted with the defense of this country against domestic enemies. Their weapons are tightly controlled and safeguarded.

The only two reasons for a citizen to own a firearm are for hunting or defense of the household from intruders. In either case, ownership of a handgun, shotgun or rifle is more than adequate to satisfy these purposes. There is absolutely no need for any U.S. civilian to own any weapon more powerful or sophisticated than these.

Accordingly, all handguns, shotguns and rifles must be licensed and registered to the degree necessary to match weapon to owner at the click of a computer key. Furthermore, we must guarantee that the mentally ill do not gain access to them under any circumstances. Finally, if we had prohibited the purchase of more sophisticated weapons several innocent victims would not have died or been harmed at shopping malls, college campuses, Congressional meetings, churches and now concerts. We as a country must deal with this issue immediately lest our society fall back to the days when everyone carried a holster.

Joe Bialek
Cleveland, OH