“The comment that I have is the person who was wondering why the birds are not coming to her feeders is because there are hawks around, because I’ve seen them sitting in my trees out here. So, therefore, my birds are not coming back to eat or not, either.”
— Hagerstown
“I think that any elected official who wanted a secret meeting to decide how to spend the 15-cent-a-gallon gas increase should be voted out.”
— Hagerstown
“Have you ever considered Western Maryland seceding and joining West Virginia? Annapolis is taxing us and sending our money to the richer counties in the east. The teacher pension liability will cost Washington County, which has approximately 10 percent unemployment, $2.5 million. The same program will give Montgomery County, with approximately 4 percent unemployment, $18 million. The state wants to raise the tax on coal mining, which is only done in Western Maryland. The state is prohibiting shale (gas) drilling, which would help Western Maryland prosper. Why don’t they put a surtax on waterfront property to save the bay, rather than saddle Western Maryland with a flush tax, soon to be increased?”
— Washington County
“I love Mail Call. ... There are many good, informative and interesting points of view, and opinions, written with facts. But for the most part, most of the writings are humorously entertaining. Many lack substance of fact, old beliefs, and lack of understanding of local national and international events. I understand we live in a fast-paced world, but with all the news stations on TV, and the Internet, more people should be informed, and be willing to research and dissect the facts to find the truth. You have got to come out of your comfort zone sometimes and see things for what they are. ... Too many people allow media and others to do their thinking for them — ultimately steering them away from the truth.”
— Hancock
“Now and then, one of the defenders of perfection will accuse us lesser mortals of incorrect use of the language. Fear not. Were you able to express yourself in a sufficient way that created understanding on the part of the hearer/reader? Was their response one that indicated comprehension, and this transaction was concluded successfully? Congratulations. You achieved the goal of complete and successful communication.”
— Boonsboro
“This is in the Jan. 23 paper in Mail Call. Tim Rowland and President Obama say there is no inflation, and what should they call it? It’s called overinflation, because it’s overinflated and the bubble’s gonna burst pretty soon.”
— Hagerstown
“There was a fairly interesting article in Sunday’s paper, written by what some people call a liberal elitist. I think this person is, but that doesn’t matter. But anyway, he quotes all these numbers, as far as voters, registered voters. It doesn’t matter how many registered voters you have in this county or the state of Maryland, it’s how many actually go out and vote. So I’m wondering if this writer really read the article by Sen. Shank and Del. Parrott. And I’d like to thank those two individuals again for their article several weeks ago.”
— Hagerstown
“Can someone tell me if people who have cellphones get calls from charities, or is it only people that have landline phones? They all need help, but you can’t help all of them. I got one on Christmas Day.”
— Williamsport
“I would have loved to seen John and Jim face each other in the Super Bowl, but it didn’t happen. Instead, what we have, to me, is the two luckier teams ... in the Super Bowl, not the two better teams. And I used to be doubtful of Flacco, but I take my hat off to you. ... If it wouldn’t have been for Evans or Dixon dropping a few, we would be in the Super Bowl.”
— Williamsport
“I just want to thank Kelly, who helped me during when I had my seizure at ... in Greencastle. She took charge of my daughter, when my daughter was there by herself. She also contacted my husband, who was out of town at the time. I’m glad to know that there are people out there that were willing to help. Again ... she was a customer at Mikey’s, and I really want to thank her. I wish I could talk to her personally.”
— Hagerstown
“I was watching Mitt and Newt go at one another in the debates, but got tired of their bickering, and changed the channel. ‘Mike & Molly’ was on, and after five minutes of watching it, I couldn’t help but notice similarities. I realized it was time to go to bed.”
— Smithsburg
“You have your headline going today, ‘Man shot several times near city park.’ See, we have a City Park and then we have a Fairgrounds Park. Better distinction between the two. Come on, guys, let’s get it together in that rag paper of yours.”
— Hagerstown
“OK, Suns fans, let’s go to Winchester and watch them play. It looks like it’s a done deal. As that happens around here most every time with any big decision, too little, too late. Knee-jerk reactions from our lovely city council people and county commissioners. Winchester’s a great location, a very progressive little town that knows what it’s doing. We don’t seem to know how to do that. Vision? Yeah, where’s that vision?”
— Hagerstown
“Wake up, Jefferson County, and the school board. Approximately $300 million leaves our county every year and goes to Charleston. So halve that money for our school system, and no more layoffs. How much money does our school system receive from Charleston anyway?”
— Charles Town, W.Va.
“I keep seeing where people are saying that the Democrats are responsible for the budget deficit, but George Bush took over with a surplus, put in tax cuts, then two wars and Medicare Part D, without funding for any of them. This led to the deficit. How are the Democrats responsible for that?”
— Waynesboro, Pa.
“I am one of the people that feel that Mail Call sheds a negative picture of the area, thereby discouraging economic development. Why do I feel this way? Many times I have called, and never got printed. A friend of mine said because you sound too intelligent. Dummy down your language and you’ll get in. When I did, I was printed many times. So please print more intelligent comments, to help you raise the view.”
— Hagerstown
“It’s time for the City of Hagerstown to get out of the real estate business, out of the golf course subsidizing, out of baseball and all nonprofit areas. And also, we need a new mayor and council.”
— Hagerstown
“This is concerning the call from the Williamsport caller, saying let’s talk about President Obama. President Obama did get Osama bin Laden. He’s the one that had to OK the military to go into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden. We had no rights to even go into Pakistan, but President Obama stood up and made it happen. Also, with Gadhafi, he gave military support to the rebels; something that the Republican Congress did not want to do. So he’s tougher on defense than George Bush ever was. President Obama’s done a lot for this country.”
— Hagerstown
“Recently I read in the paper where two students at the vo-tech center did a very good job in two fields that were technical fields, and — but I haven’t heard anything about I thought the school was started for kids that just weren’t doing well in school and needed to learn a trade. I was wondering if these kids were falling through the cracks again, the kids that need to learn a trade to survive in life.”
— Williamsport
“Tim Rowland’s column, which is protected by the First Amendment, should not criticize Neil Parrott’s right of petition, also guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
— Falling Waters, W.Va.
“This goes out to the person that was looking for a support group for the grieving of a child, any age. Hospice of Washington County has a wonderful group. They meet the last Thursday, the fourth Thursday of each month. Their phone number is 301-791-6360.”
— Boonsboro
“This call’s concerning Municipal Stadium. Why do we do all the studies over the course of several years and spend thousands of dollars and do nothing, and there’s a waste of taxpayers’ money to do studies — such as Bester school is another example — and then they end up and they do what they want anyway?”
— Hagerstown
“Well, I see nothing’s changed. I watched Obama’s State of the Union tonight, and it’s the same old thing; spend other people’s money. You guys remember the rock group back in the ’80s from Sweden, ABBA? How about ABO: Anybody But Obama.”
— Williamsport
“What kind of convoluted logic justifies changing traffic patterns because some motorists are making illegal left turns on the Dual Highway, or cutting through a private lot? These poor motorists are being forced to break the law, and won’t stop unless they get their way? Welcome to the slippery slope.”
— Hedgesville, W.Va.
“Obama sounds like Lenin; once size fits all. Ask Russia. Been there, tried that, done it, didn’t work.”
— Hagerstown
