THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603150184
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 163 lines
What!
Gloria Webb announces for mayor again?
So, she says, to carry out her agenda.
She has chased all the big stores out of Portsmouth and closed streets.
If there is any more harm she can do, I can't think of it at the present, but I'm sure she's hard at work, to completely destroy the city.
Wake up, Portsmouth voters!
James B. Kilpatrick
Oregon Avenue
March 3, 1996 Leave Waterview alone
Don't divide the city just to please a few and make it inconvenient for many.
Waterview is one of the safest areas in Portsmouth, so why not leave good enough alone?
At least, let the traffic exit east and west at Grayson and High streets.
B.L. Dickerson
Leonard Road
March 5, 1995 Praise for hospital
I have heard many ugly rumors about the Portsmouth Naval Hospital and I am sure most people in Hampton Roads have heard them, too.
I, recently had a C-section at the Naval Medical Center. The staff was very attentive and professional. The procedures performed were clearly explained. I was more informed of procedures and complications that could arise at the Naval Medical Center than at a civilian hospital with my first C-section.
I was not only impressed with the hard-working staff who actually cares about its patients but the upbeat attitudes that went along with it.
I praise all the staff on the labor deck and maternity ward at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth.
Christine Swafford
Virginia Beach
March 4, 1996 On patrol for books
I am writing to inform the citizens of a program that the Sheriff's Office and the Portsmouth Public Libraries worked together recently, and ended up saving hundreds of dollars.
The program is informally titled ``Book Patrol.'' Several members of the Portsmouth Sheriff's Office Auxiliary helped to locate overdue books, many of which were due as long ago as 1987. The program was conducted during December 1995. During that month, 19 books with a value of more than $20 were collected. And, according to Susan Burton, manager of the main library, at least eight other books were returned by people who heard our deputies were looking for them! Mrs. Burton also said that several of the books returned were out of print and could not have been replaced.
Keeping in mind that auxiliary deputies are strictly volunteers, this effort did not cost anyone anything! What a great idea! Kudos go to Sheriff Waters and Mrs. Burton on a great cooperative effort. The program will be continued, so if you are reading this and have any overdue items that belong to your library, I suggest you get them to its proper owner real soon!
Lt. Elizabeth A. Aronson
Portsmouth Sheriff's Office
March 11, 1996 Angry and teeth hurt
Portsmouth residents are once again left out in the cold.
I am a 35-year-old disabled women who has lived in this area all my life.
I have a degenerative disease. All of my 23 teeth are rotten, broke, chipped and downright painful. I have called everyone for help and I do mean everyone. However, no one can help me.
I was given the number to Operation Smile. My heart jumped; I just knew they would help. Every tooth has to come out. I feel like I'm dying a slow and painful death.
So, I called Operation Smile and told the woman who answered my problem and how I felt like I was dying; my teeth hurt all the time. I told her even though I'm young I could live without dentures if someone could just get these teeth out of my mouth.
They were all set to help me until she asked where I live. As soon as I told her Portsmouth, I was told they weren't funded to help Portsmouth residents and that Portsmouth had been offered the chance to donate funds and be helped by Operation Smile, but since they aren't, don't blame them, blame Portsmouth. The city of Norfolk funds Operation Smile and they would not help Portsmouth residents. And then she hung up on me.
Well, Operation Smile, don't be surprised when you call Portsmouth residents begging for donations and you get hung up on. My teeth have nothing to do with Portsmouth, they are mine.
If you can take funds from all over Hampton Roads, you can surely help someone from Hampton Roads.
Also, Operation Smile, does the Philippines fund you as well, or do you take our donations to treat them? No matter, I still have 23 teeth that have to come out and still no leads. Thanks for nothing. Wait by the mailbox for donations from Portsmouth residents, although you may have a long wait.
Shirley Bedsole
DeKalb Avenue
March 13, 1996 Traffic in Port Norfolk
Now let's get out your violins for the Waterview residents. I'm appalled the city had the gall to close Waterview streets to the public for through traffic. Why should I be taxed to pay for their private, quiet streets, when I can't even use them? Yet, they can cut through my neighborhood. I really pity the residents who have to put up with a mere 6,000 cars a day cutting through.
We Port Norfolk residents should be so lucky! I've owned my house on Mount Vernon Avenue for 20 years. It used to be quiet, safe, and nice here, too, until the state built a freeway and forgot about a connector and dumped 80,000-plus cars a day through our historical neighborhood (at supposedly 25-mph residential speed limit). That's a joke.
Come sit on my porch and see for yourself. Real smart planning on behalf of the morons who had a hand on this road. So we have to bear the burden of this never ending freeway traffic. And we are supposed to be an historical area. Do you have any idea what 80,000 cars and tractor-trailers do to houses that are nearly a century old with old horse hair plaster? There is no such thing as repairing wall and ceiling cracks. They never go away. This traffic flows exactly 25 feet in front of my house.
If Waterview wants its streets closed, let the residents pay and maintain and clean. Not me. We may as well close every neighborhood to through traffic for that fact. Wake up and smell the coffee, Waterview, you have not experienced a real traffic problem until you have lived on my street. And we have an elementary school located here, too.
Streets for play? God forbid you even try to cross the street on Mount Vernon, Chautauqua or Bayview. You stand a better chance of winning the lottery. My child is not safe playing in his own front yard, yet alone the street. I've had cars run in my yard and wreck. My brand new truck was creamed while parked at my home. Numerous animals have been killed. My neighbor had a car lose control and run through his yard and crash into his kitchen!
Should the city and public officials side with Waterview on this outrageous demand. I say, beware. . . the rest of the registered voters of this city outnumber the Waterview voters.
Let's concentrate on the real problems of the city - crime, drugs, education and this freeway traffic that literally ended and was dumped in the city's historical residential Port Norfolk.
Jill Steen
Mount Vernon Avenue
March 13, 1996 An unhappy kitty
I had to have both of my 16-year-old cats put to sleep. The person who came to pick up Tinker Belle sat a carrier down and opened the door. Out walked 6-month-old Miss Kitty, a spayed female calico Persian. The vet's nurse sent her to me to ease the loss of my two. Since I am a semi-shutin, they were my lifeline.
Beautiful playful Miss Kitty is wonderful, but I am kind of slow on my feet and I got about eight scars on my hands and feet before I would agree to have her toenails removed. She went to the vet's for two days and when she came home, she ran scared. Two hours later we got her out from under the bed, washed her in warm soapy water, dried her off and wrapped her up in her clean, dry bed.
She stayed for 12 hours and was the most pitiful sight I've ever seen. No one really should put an animal or human through that.
However, she has healed beautifully and now we can play and I don't get scratched.
Catherine Hughes
Effingham Street
March 5, 1996 by CNB