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Letters to the Editor

We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here

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Make Our Roads Safe by Design

Dear Bay Weekly:

The deaths of two teenagers in November 2007, at Route 4 and the Briscoes Turn/Skinners Turn Road intersection as well as tragic deaths at Route 2 and Brickhouse Road have more in common than loss of life.

Both intersections have an at-grade (or surface-grade) crossover that forces drivers to place their vehicle perpendicular to oncoming highway traffic.

The Dunkirk Area Concerned Citizens Association Board of Directors reviewed the Maryland State Highway Administration evaluation of Route 4 and Briscoes Turn/Skinners Turn Road intersection proposal. It concluded that the highway administration offers only a partial solution that will not sufficiently improve safety.

The plan is to channel east-bound Briscoes Turn Road traffic southbound to prevent one dangerous crossover of Route 4 south- and north-bound traffic. This part of the plan is sound as it will permit traffic to continue flowing while preventing some traffic from crossing Route 4.

Reducing dangerous conditions without impeding traffic flow can and should be the objective.

Unfortunately, the plan still permits one dangerous crossover of west-bound traffic of Route 4 north- and south-bound from Skinners Turn Road.

–Evan Slaughenhoupt: President, Dunkirk Area Concerned Citizens Association

Everything I need to Know I Can Find in Bay Weekly

Dear Bay Weekly:

For all the years I have lived in Anne Arundel County, I’ve neatly stacked my newspapers, flattened cereal cartons, washed empty tuna and tomato tin cans, sorted my plastic and glass bottles, and yes, even smashed cardboard toilet paper and paper towel tubes. Once, few houses on my block had a yellow recycling bin put out on Thursday mornings; now there’s not a house that misses the call to reduce the costly mountains of trash going to our landfills.

And while lately I’ve noticed that all the recyclables piled curbside are tossed into the same truck, it took Carrie Madren’s article “Can that be Recycled?” [Vol. xvi, No: 12: March 20] to reveal why: the county’s new high tech machine that “sifts and sorts our recyclables for us.” 

  I’ve often joked, “everything I know I’ve learned from the Today Show.” Now I say, everything I need to know I can find in Bay Weekly. I’ll still sort and stack my recyclables out of habit, but because of Madren’s informative piece, I know why it’s more important than ever and why the county is issuing a call to action recycling campaign.

–M.L. Faunce, Churchton

You Put the Wind Back in My Sails

Dear Bay Weekly:

Recently I traveled to Maryland and was delighted to read the comprehensive article “Putting the Wind to Work” by Carrie Madren [Vol. xvi, No. 11, March 13]. Even though I’m from North Carolina, I found that the article provided an in-depth review of the myriad of different options available to tap this endless resource.

As a homeowner, I had investigated the different possibilities that might allow me to capture this resource on a small scale only to be disappointed by the exurbanite cost and the seemingly gargantuan size of the turbines that were available. Ms. Madren’s article not only described the smaller scale options available to me but informed me how to go about determining the feasibility of putting the wind to work on my property. From figuring out the wind resources at my location to determining the amount of kilowatts I would need to generate, this article has indeed put the wind back in my sails, encouraging me to continue on my quest for harnessing this renewable resource.

–Bob Wolford, Caldwell, N.C.

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