I want to thank quite a few people who helped a friend and me at a couple of the Windsor High School basketball games.
We both have walkers, mine I hope short-term. So many people helped us get to our seats without falling. We didn’t know any of them!
We are very grateful.
Thank you.
Dot Murphy
West Lebanon
I was pleased to read that “Dartmouth calls time out on dorm plan” (Feb. 23), putting on hold the idea to build dorms or student apartments along Lyme Road. As a freshman at Dartmouth in the 1960s, I was assigned to the then-new, so-called “wigwams” near the Thayer School of Engineering. Many of us who lived there felt like we were on the outskirts of campus life, even though we were within easy walking distance of the campus center. How much more isolated Lyme Road would seem! As another writer suggested, why not transform “Fraternity Row” into a multiple-use housing complex, by using some architectural imagination to blend the old and the new?
Peter Thompson
Post Mills
The challenges of sharing the road are real: In January alone, the Valley News reported both a pedestrian and a bicycle fatality in the Upper Valley. In Lebanon, we have years of data on crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, and the danger only appears to be increasing — the Lebanon Police Department reported eight crashes in 2021, compared to seven in 2020. It’s worth noting that crashes do not happen only on roads. In fact, in Lebanon between 2006-2021, 43% of all pedestrian-involved crashes occurred in parking lots. The second riskiest location for crashes was marked crosswalks (31%). Pedestrians were more likely to be involved in crashes, and suffer more serious injuries, at dusk or after dark.
The good news is that we can learn from this data and take actions to reduce the risk of being involved in a crash.
■Wear light-colored and reflective clothing when walking or biking in the evening or after dark; preferably also carry a light.
■Pedestrians need to stop and check before moving into a roadway, even at a crosswalk, and before crossing to make sure that a motor vehicle driver has seen them and is stopping.
■Drivers need to follow the speed limit (25 mph on most city streets now), be vigilant for pedestrians and bicyclists and be ready to stop when approaching crosswalks and in parking lots.
It’s still winter out there, when short days, slick conditions and poor visibility of crosswalk markings pose an increased risk. Let’s recommit to staying safe on our roads, in Lebanon and throughout the Upper Valley. More information about pedestrian and bicyclist road safety, the Lebanon crash data report and the work of the Lebanon Pedestrian and Bicyclist Advisory Committee are available at the Lebanon City website (lebanonnh.gov) on the Ped & Bike Advisory Committee link.
Marie McCormick, Alan Schnur and John Kelleher
Lebanon
The writers are members of the Lebanon Pedestrian and Bicyclist Advisory Committee.
School’s out for New Hampshire Republicans. Whether it’s Commissioner Frank Edelblut trying to de-core the curriculum, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne accusing our teachers of being Marxists, or Governor Sununu signing laws that stifle difficult conversations, Republican leaders are revealing their disdain for our public school system and the hardworking people who keep it running.
Whatever the cause of their disdain for public education, our children and their teachers shouldn’t be scapegoated. The education laws proposed by the current Republican legislature are supported solely by conjecture and anecdote. Where is the evidence of teacher disloyalty to the United States other than the fears of some vocal parents? Where is the evidence that teachers are teaching Marxist doctrine or even concepts that are divisive aside from the rantings of right-wing radicals? Is there evidence that removing art and music from the curriculum will be of educational benefit, or is it only the desperate need of a politician to shrink the cost of a 21st century education by looking backwards?
The Republicans are hell-bent on passing new laws that are red meat for their base; solutions looking for problems. Many Republicans of late have been guided by fantasy. Voting out those who capitalize on misinformation would benefit us all. Meanwhile, New Hampshire legislators of good faith need to pass legislation that helps and supports our teachers, not laws that disrespect their training and holds them in suspicion. Passing HB 1090 to repeal the divisive concepts law that was slipped into last year’s budget would be a positive start.
James Graham
Lyme
It may be true that “Vermont top 10 in LGBTQ residents,” as reported in the headline on the March 1 front page, but just remember that these gentle neighbors are everywhere, and it could be that Vermont is just a friendlier place for our fortunate LGBTQ residents. There could be just as many in, ahem, nearby, less hospitable states.
Patrick Kearney
Norwich
I could not help but be struck by the contrasting articles in this morning’s (March 3) paper. The front page had a long article regarding the convoy of aggrieved truckers and others heading to Washington to protest the public health measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is claimed that the imposition of mask and vaccine mandates somehow has taken away their freedom and liberty. Also in the paper today are articles about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the world’s response. Ukrainians are truly being threatened with the loss of freedom and liberty, to say nothing of their lives, their homes and their country. Perhaps those heading to Washington should instead be thankful that they live in the United States, with the freedom to do what they are doing, and gain some understanding of what an actual attack on freedom and liberty really is.
Susan Mattson
Grantham