Let’s Work Together on Bike Safety

This past March we lost a good friend in a bicycling accident in Tucson, Ariz. Ken Vieira owned and operated the former Procam on Bridge Street in White River Junction. Ten cyclists were on the ride that Vieira headed up every week in Tucson — two were killed and five were sent to the hospital when they were hit by a car.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 700 cyclists are killed every year in crashes involving motorized vehicles. We have seen a substantial increase due to a number of reasons; one of them is texting while driving. Just this past Memorial Day, I was in a near-fatal crash at the intersection of Route 5 and Worcester/Highland Avenue in Hartford.

My goal is to organize a local chapter of the “Look! Save A Life” organization. Its purpose is to break down barriers between cyclists and motorists and develop a new level of awareness and mutual respect for both cyclists’ and motorists’ rights to the road. This is a grassroots project that I believe will go nationwide. It’s overdue and much needed.

To start a “Look! Save A Life” program, we’d need help with volunteers, brochures, special clothing, bike rodeos and public information. Here are some related links: “Look! Save a Life,” founded by Brendan Lyons, looksavealife.com; a tribute to Ken Viera, bikepilgrim.com/?p=708; and a piece about texting, icebike.org/texting-and-driving.

Please contact me for further information at 802-296-8224.

Ralph Falzarano

White River Junction

The Dangers of the Status Quo

A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for continuation of the Clinton/Bush/Obama presidencies, which were characterized by shameful and illegal wars of aggression against sovereign nations. At the same time, we have been impoverished by international corporatism and bank bailouts, destructive trade agreements, job flight and indebtedness. The resulting influx of displaced migrants also overburdens our health care and welfare systems and hurts the job market. There is no reason to blame immigrants for their plight, which wasn’t created by them, but by international corporatism.  

Based on her record, I feel Hillary Clinton can’t be trusted to change the policies favored by her predecessors. Donald Trump has not signed on to this agenda and indications are he will be less likely to engage us in more globalist wars for the 1 percent.  Britons as well have rejected world organization by the globalist masters in the form of Brexit. We ought to reject the known — Hillary Clinton — in favor of the unknown: Donald Trump.  Trump needs to find common cause with the Green, Libertarian and Socialist Equality parties to defeat Clinton. Their differences are far less important than the danger of maintaining the status quo.  

Dan Leggett

Hanover

Clinton Has Vital Experience

A significant column by Jeff Bryant in the June 24 Valley News detailed the many troubles states are having funding education. These have led to cuts in libraries, athletics, arts, music, languages, history and even sciences and technical studies.

We know that our country is known as the “Land of Opportunity” for all our people — and that without a good education a child is deprived of much of that opportunity.

We also should remember that in our past, education and the right to vote were denied to persons of color. In earlier times, citizens without enough property were also not allowed to vote — and more recently, women, too, could not vote. We know that the right to vote is our one great means of effecting change in the actions of our government. And the Republican Party has been active in limiting educational opportunities, and in limiting the right to vote.

Hillary Clinton is the one presidential candidate who has the educational knowledge and wide experience in foreign affairs that our next president must have. 

Martha H. Wiencke

Hanover

Discussing Sexual Assault

Thank you for your coverage of U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s roundtable at WISE (“Kuster Leads Panel Discussion on Combating Sexual Assault,” June 28). The roundtable discussion was a powerful opportunity to share with our national representatives the unique collaboration that WISE and Dartmouth College have created to formalize a longstanding relationship. It serves as an example of a model collaboration between a college and an independent domestic and sexual violence advocacy center on how best to support survivors on campus.

We are grateful to Rep. Kuster for her time and her courage in sharing her experiences so openly. It is never easy to tell our stories, and yet we can find incredible strength when we realize that we are not alone.

Sexual violence affects us all. Our family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues are survivors. By talking about our experiences, we eliminate the silence, shame and isolation that too many survivors feel. We at WISE are committed to supporting survivors as they share their stories. One of the most powerful actions we can take as a community is to listen and believe. Everyone in the community has a role to play in ending violence against women. And, by sharing our experiences and outrage, we can end violence together.

For more information about how you can help, contact WISE at 603-448-5922 or visit www.WISEuv.org.

Peggy O’Neil

Executive Director, WISE, Lebanon