A wonderful city

Oregon is such a wonderfully run city.  We have an informed, dedicated and intelligent Mayor a knowledgeable, skilled and educated city manager a caring and decisive city council and group of city managers that make decisions for their own department that do not infringe or create problems for other departments. Isn’t it wonderful that we can dwell on the little things like tile drainage instead of having to worry about serious things like dilapidated buildings, unanswered police calls, inadequate fire response; or schools in the academic failure category?We do not have potholes large enough to swallow a car or boarded up buildings that look like firewood.Our citizens walk freely and are confident of their safety. We are the largest Toledo suburb city with small problems that we can be confident that our city management will correct!Thank you!

Vicki Gulch

Oregon, OH -- another view

A recent writer extolled the virtues of Oregon, Ohio.  Here is another
point of view.  The City is a relatively nice place to live if you can
overcome some of the serious disadvantages.  The fire department and EMS
people are very good as is the highway department during the winter. The
mayor is a person who lives in another world and doesn't really
represent the view of a lot of residents. As far as the city council
goes there are several people who are concerned with the people of the
city but the remainder have their own agenda.  In general, with a few
exceptions, the entire city administration has no concept of what a
beautiful, progressive city is all about! We have loud motorcycles
running through the city at all hours, a city sports complex with enough
lights to illuminate 5/3 Field and noise from 8 am until 11 pm during
sport season.  A lot of people just don't seem to care.  If it were not
for Pearson Park and the proximity of Maumee Bay State Park the City of
Oregon would be NOTHING -- just another "wide space in the road". Twenty
years from now Oregon will still be mired in the same old thinking that
prevails today unless there is a radical change in City Hall and in
resident's concern for the City.   Phred Smith, Oregon, OH

Too many pets lost

A tremendous Thank You to Kelly Kaczala & contributing writers for their excellent & informative series on pet health & potential hazards regarding their care. Wise consumerism not only applies to humans, but to our pets as well. Too many people have lost pets due to lack of available information but with the advent of the Internet and the courage of writers like Kelly, public awareness is increasing. The more educated pet owners become, the healthier and safer our pets will be.   

Sue Draeger
Curtice, Oh.

A special thank you

I would like to thank the Genoa Community for the wonderful support of the Genoa Lady Comets Softball team.  We had more fans in one night than all the opposing teams we played had put together.  What a wonderful community we live in.

A special thanks to the players and their families, I couldn’t have asked for better people to enjoy this incredible journey.  Also to the Traver family for the late night hot dog dinners, we had a lot of fun.

A big thanks to our coaches (Coach Chris, Coach Lauren, Coach Papa Joe,  Coach Tom, Todd and Bob) for all their hard work and dedication.  The Lady Comets wouldn’t be what they are with out you.

Last, but not least Coach Tom Kontak and his family for all the time away from your family to be with ours.  You made it a very special season for this group of young ladies.  They will never forget this incredible ride.  Your leadership and support was greatly appreciated.  Best of luck to the team next year, I know you can be right back at the top next season.  GO COMETS!!!!!!!!!

Brenda Vincent
Curtice

Learning the hard way

I just wanted to thank you for your efforts to educate
pet owners. Your articles about NSAIDS and vaccines
are fantastic!
I certainly do wish that I had been aware of the risks
associated with these products a long time ago. Like
too many others, I learned about them the hard way.
Sincerely,
Deb

Thorough coverage appreciated

Thank you for giving such thorough coverage to the very important issue of pet over-vaccination and veterinary medications! 

I'd like to address the inaccuracy under the "Cancer" section -- "Tumors have been found at the site of vaccine injections in cats, though not dogs, according to an article published in the March/April issue of The Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association."  Below is an abstract published in the August 2003 Journal of Veterinary Medicine on the Vascellari study (full text attached) which documented fibrosarcomas at presumed vaccine injection sites (rabies) in dogs.  My own Labrador Retriever, Meadow (click on this link for his story and photo www.dogsadversereactions.com), developed a malignant mast cell tumor directly on the site of his fall 2003 rabies vaccination -- he was 6 at the time.  He is now one of the "poster" dogs for The Rabies Challenge Fund, which was founded by Dr. W. Jeans and me to raise funds to sponsor concurrent 5 & 7 year duration of immunity studies on the rabies vaccine, finance a study of the rabies vaccine adjuvants to improve safety and to set up a rabies vaccine adverse reporting system.

Again, many, many thanks for your outstanding series of articles! 

Regards,

Kris L. Christine
Co-Founder, Co-Trustee
The Rabies Challenge Fund
www.zbirdbrain.com

Improving regulations

It was nice to see your article by Patrick Eaken in regards to animal welfare. Articles like this one allow us to gauge the feelings of our congressmen and women and tell us how hard we have to push the legislature for help in resolving the matter of client information sheets, and blood work for which the manufacturer has suggested it be done. It is refreshing to see that our legislators are listening, they do understand the problem and simple suggested solution and can identify with our pain and anguish, and they will come to our aid when asked. The matter is plain and simple and makes perfect sense; the state vet boards will not entertain any restrictions or liability issues for their licensed members. They have proven this time and time again by throwing out any complaints brought forward against a vet where an animal has died and the underlying cause has pointed to unsafe use of an NSAID. When pushed for a regulation in regards to the CIS and blood work matter, their response is 'we have something in place'. Well in my opinion they do not or these complaints would not have been throw out. The simple fact that vital information in relation to proper and safe use of these drugs, as the FDA CVM intended upon approval of the drug, is being withheld from the animal guardian is not only wrong, it is immoral. The FDA has ordered the drug manufacture to come up with an easy to understand explanation sheet on their drug. They have. Within this sheet it specifically states; it is recommended that this sheet be given to the client, and it is recommended that pre-screen blood work be done to eliminate any animals that may have an underlying problem related directly to NSAID use. The FDA has also stated they feel the state is responsible for regulating vets that reside within their borders. Our state legislature must agree or we wouldn't have state vet boards. Sounds pretty simple to me! One has to wonder...are these state vet boards also in the drug manufacturer's pockets? Who are they serving to protect....the vets? Or the animal owners in each state? Since the state vet boards are unwilling to do the right thing and require the vet to properly inform his/her client of the potentials of NSAID use, we have no choice but to turn to our legislators for help. I urge everyone to write your state legislators and inform them of the situation, advise them you support the issue of handing out the CIS sheet and doing blood work where ever the drug manufacturer recommends it, and ask them to author legislation and submit it for review and passage. If the state vet boards will not do the right thing and work with us, then we will find other means to become properly informed animal guardians.

Demitry C. Herman
Allentown, PA.
*For the companion/animal cause. Always*
www.dogsadversereactions.com

Ask questions

I just wanted to say what a great job Kelly Kaczala
did in her article "Pet owners want informed consent
of drug's risks".  I felt it was a great story because
the public needs to know that when you take a pet in
to see the veterinarian you should ask questions about
the drugs they are prescribing and what treatments
they are doing on the animals. A pet is a member of
your family and when you take it in with a problem,
you should ask questions, just like you do with all of
your family members. This article made me realize that
there are drugs out there that could do more harm then
good. If I was in that situation I would want to know
all of the facts before I decided on any treatments.
Thank you for encouraging your reporters to work hard
and ask questions to make the general public aware. I
appreciate it!

Julie Mutsko
Rossford, Ohio

O.D.O.T. OK

With regard to the Veteran's Memorial Bridge my answer is no.  Before the tragic accident Frucon worked nights and weekends and the project was way ahead of schedule.  After the accident, (it is understandable while things were shut down for the investigation), there has been no work on nights and weekends and the project has been moving at a snails pace.  I would like to see O.D.O.T. require Frucon to work nights and weekends on the project. The bridge shutdowns have an adversary impact on Oregon businesses and commuters.  Where is the consideration to those that pay the gas and license taxes to pay Frucon?

Sandy Bihn
Western Lake Erie WATERKEEPER®
Western Lake Erie has the warmest, shallowest waters with the most fish in the Great Lakes
6565 Bayshore Rd.
Oregon, Ohio 43618
419-691-3788
Web: westernlakeerie.org
Email: migima@aol.com