THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601160076
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Thanks for the help
On Dec. 23, shortly after 7 p.m., while coming out of the Spaghetti Warehouse with a group of people, I slipped and had a bad fall.
My fault - I was wearing worn, slick heels, old shoes. I wish to express my thanks to the people who were concerned about me, especially the kind gentleman who lifted me, calmed me and the kind lady who put my shoe on and helped lift me up. I am most grateful.
Indeed, there are still good people in this wicked world. Incidentally, after the trolley ride, I ended up at Sentara Leigh Emergency Room. There, too, the doctor and nurses were very considerate of me. Again, I thank you, one and all.
Ovenea Fisher
Pamlico Circle
A matter of responsibility
As an American, I am appalled by the welfare state America is becoming.
Those of us who work and take responsibility for ourselves find ourselves made responsible for supporting those who don't. Why does a promiscuous teenager who didn't take responsibility for contraception have the right to a check from the government at my expense when I can't even afford to have and support a child of my own? It all comes down to responsibility. What happened to it?
J.L. Robinson
Bainbridge Avenue
Thanks, Commodore Park
I want to thank the residents of Commodore Park in Norfolk for another wonderful light display.
Since 1987, I have taken first my son and then my daughter through the Christmas Wonderland off Granby Street. Not only do they put on a wonderful light show with Christmas carols but on Christmas Eve my daughter was delighted to see a ``real'' snowman, and Santa Claus gave her a candy cane.
This means so much to children and over the years I am sure many people have wanted to say thank you. These really nice folks need to know how much we all appreciate the work they put into it. Thank you so much.
Susan B. Kirksey
Chancery Lane They won't stay around
My husband is in the U.S. Coast Guard working at District 5 Headquarters in Portsmouth. We moved to Norfolk in August 1994. In July we were here for a week to find a home.
We were interested in the Great Bridge/Chesapeake area in hopes of Elizabeth City as his next duty station so we would not have to move for at least six years. But I have always wanted an older home and Norfolk had a lot to offer. We bought an older home in Norfolk - my husband decided he could commute for three years if indeed he did get assigned to Elizabeth City after Portsmouth.
While we were looking for a home we noticed that Norfolk seemed to have ``pockets'' of good areas and bad areas. And the area we were interested in sat right in the middle of some of the rundown areas. We asked our real estate agents about the crime rate and other things. They told us to call the police and the civic association president.
The police told us we would have to read the newspaper; the civic association president told us what a great place it is and was to leave a year of back issues of the civic association newsletters at one of the homes we were interested in. Those got misplaced somehow, and we really weren't going to learn much from reading the newspaper for a week. We now had to leave to drive back to our home in Florida. We left feeling torn between buying a house we loved and living in the middle of who knows what.
On May 4 of last year The Compass published an article entitled ``Looking Beyond the Numbers.'' I don't know about anyone else reading this article, but it did not make me feel good. The numbers may be down from previous years, but they are still frightening and are more than I want to live with. Even more frightening were the murder statistics published recently in The Virginian-Pilot. I was not surprised to see Norfolk in the lead.
I do not understand why someone could not have given us these statistics when we asked for them in July. I do not believe that someone had to gather them for this article. I do believe that they can be pulled from a computer data bank at any time.
There have been several robberies in our neighborhood and they attempted to steal my husband's car earlier this year. At least twice a week we hear gunshots. All in all we do not feel safe in our home and we definitely do not feel safe leaving it.
We have done a lot of work on our home and we love it, but we will sell it at the end of this tour. No one should live in a home or city where they are frightened.
I know the city is trying to clean up the low-income housing and is restructuring the welfare system, but these are not the only areas that need cleaning up. Every time I drive down 26th or 27th streets there is another boarded-up house. And Church Street is frightening to say the least. There are many other areas like these and the more I drive around the area, the worse they look.
There may be plans for these other areas that I am not aware of. If there is I would like to hear of them.
Betty J. Mayors
Orleans Circle by CNB