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The stadium's gone; the issue's dead. Let's keep it that way

David Bowers did considerable damage to his mayoral candidacy when he aligned himself with a malcontent such as Brian Wishneff. (He lost two votes in this household.) Two things should be certain to these individuals: Elvis is dead and Victory Stadium is gone. Get over it.

People have to plan for long-term care

People don't worry about long-term care until they're in crisis because medical assistance and Medicaid have paid for most long-term care in the U.S. since 1965 ("As we age, we need to reset priorities," April 22 editorial).

The country is in recession. State and federal budgets are stressed. Medicaid, especially its long-term care component, threatens to sink the foundering fiscal ship. More public spending on long-term care is less likely than ever. Cutbacks in Medicaid eligibility and benefits are far more likely. Medicaid estate recovery efforts will increase. Access to and quality of Medicaid-financed care, whether in nursing homes or home and community-based settings, will surely decline.

More citizens who failed to plan will be caught in the Medicaid trap. Their adult children will lose inheritances.

Someday, folks will recognize their care will have to be paid for out of pocket. At last, they'll turn to private financial planning tools like insurance and reverse mortgages. Those markets will thrive and, in time, thanks to market competition and extra private financing, long-term care service delivery will improve.

Thus the calm will come after the storm.

A reminder to honor our country

Ed Brown's letter ("Good grief, it's the nation's anthem," April 24) is a great reminder of honor to our nation. Personalizing music, especially that which honors nations and religious music, is just noise.

I thank Brown for reminding everyone that honor and patriotism are a great part of our freedom and moral responsibility.

AL daCOSTA

No Dirty Harrys in this bunch

During the manhunt for fugitive Steven Branscome, Floyd County had an abundance of law enforcement that I'm sure was welcomed by our department to be of help in the search.

And then there were the others. The fatigued-clad wannabes who were having a meal, probably for free, at a local restaurant. They know who they are. Just who do they think they are coming in here calling our law enforcement Barney Fifes? Not that there's anything wrong with Barney.

I realize they think they're hot stuff, among other things, but they wouldn't make a pimple on Dirty Harry's gun. If they were never in the Army, they should get some service person to tell them about their guns. I assume Dirty Harry is who they wanted everyone to think they were.

The next time they come into our county, they can kindly check their huge egos at the county line. They can pick them up when they leave, which I hope will be sooner rather than later.

Put the amphitheater on the mountain

Much has been made on these pages recently about where to put the proposed amphitheater and what to do (if anything) with Mill Mountain. Why not put the amphitheater on Mill Mountain? Boone, N.C., has a similar arrangement that's worked well for them for decades.

An amphitheater in the old Victory Stadium flood plain seems like a bad idea for lots of reasons already mentioned.

One more restaurant vs. one Mill Mountain

Out of the latest telephone book for this area I counted 709 restaurants. Mill Mountain -- 1. Valley Forward, shame!