“A positive call: I would just like to commend the bookmobile program of the Washington County Free Library. It is a great program for us seniors and limited citizens. The ladies associated with it are great.”
— Halfway
“I read in a paper the other day where illiteracy is growing in this country. Gee, I wonder if there’s a connection there with the amount of illegals coming to this country. We should put a quota, pro-rated, on the amount of people we accept legally from each other country. It’s like putting air in a tire; you can only put so much in it before it bursts. That’s what’s happening with our country.”
— Hagerstown
“Here we go again, someone in Mail Call attacking Social Security. Social Security is an entitlement. I worked 45 years, and Social Security was taken out of my check every single week for 45 years straight. We get what we paid in. If you didn’t work, there’s nothing there for you. And if you worked — the key word here being ‘worked’ — you get back what you paid in. Social Security is an entitlement, a hard, long-worked one. What are past working senior citizens supposed to live on, air, bread and water? Give us seniors a break and get over it.”
— Clear Spring
“This is about people who receive free medical, free food, help with rent and bills. These are healthy, able-bodied people who are able to work, but they turn down work because they won’t get everything free. I think that is ridiculous, and I don’t think — that’s the reason we are so much in debt. There should be some kind of a law or something ... that people who are able to work turn down jobs because they won’t get everything free.”
— Hagerstown
“I read in Tuesday’s paper of another new office building being constructed in Hagerstown. Why do we have so many new, empty new suites in our town? Terry Baker said this is great for Washington County. Our contractors can’t get work in Pennsylvania, but so many subs and contractors from Pennsylvania bring their workers here. ... How does that benefit Washington County?”
— Hagerstown
“I would rather subsidize student loans than subsidize the war in Afghanistan, Iraq or any other place we want to start a war.”
— Boonsboro
“Friday’s paper, May 4, my thanks to Darlene Hoffman for reminding us about God’s good earth and the beautiful world we have around us, instead of all the people complaining all the time, and ... they need to start thinking about the good things in life. Surely you have something you can be grateful for, and be blessed with; your family, friends, parents, children. Think about it ...”
— Hancock
“Several weeks ago, baseball manager Ozzie Guillen made some comments about Fidel Castro. OK, they weren’t really good comments, as far as Americans go, but why the big hullabaloo? Look what we have still living here in the country, and people almost worship them: Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn. These people have actually visited our enemies, rubbed elbows with them, smiled. These people should still be blasted by the media, no matter how many years ago it happened.”
— Hagerstown
“I am amazed at times by the lack of professionalism of supposed ‘professionals.’ Two weeks ago, I interviewed with a local school system, the interview conducted by an HR rep and the retiring employee whose position I applied for. After the interview, I was told that if I made the ‘finalist’ round, I would be interviewed again by the head of the system. A week later, the HR rep called to tell me that the field was narrowed down to two candidates and ... ‘one of them isn’t you.’ I wanted to ask if the other one was me. What an inexcusable way to tell a candidate that they are no longer being considered.”
— Mercersburg, Pa.
“Look at Charles Town. Its proud heritage of the ‘Sport of Kings’ has continued with the support of the large gambling enterprise there. A large casino in downtown Hagerstown, co-located with a stadium, could invigorate downtown, pay to operate the stadium and ball club, utilizing the stadium for entertainment of the gambling guests year-round; baseball in the summer, other entertainment when the team isn’t playing. The casino would draw visitors every day and evening, cause no peak traffic problems, provide employment, keep our ball team and support downtown businesses.”
— Boonsboro
“I recently heard a couple of comments where they are planning to let a semi-pro football team use the new stadium. ... Don’t they realize this will destroy the field for playing baseball? What are their plans, redo the baseball field by laser leveling and resodding it every single year? Where’s this expense going to come from? I love baseball and have been a season ticket holder for several years. In spite of all of the hype about a downtown stadium, I am against it because of traffic access and egress and the lack of public parking. The current stadium is situated conveniently.”
— Hagerstown
“That Hagerstown caller has my blood boiling. Maybe college loans are an entitlement, but after 49 1/2 years of paying in to Social Security, please don’t insult my hard work by trying to say my Social Security is an entitlement.”
— Hancock
“Hello, business owners in Washington County. If you own a business, you should have a restroom for your customers, and if I’m shopping in your store and I ask you if you have a restroom and you tell me no, I will no longer shop in your store. It’s courtesy, for people spending money in your store.”
— Hagerstown
“Hagerstown caller, you again conveniently forget President Obama had a filibuster-proof majority in Congress for his first two years. ‘You Republicans filibustered everything for four years’ is nonsense, and could have passed anything he wanted — like Obamacare passed — to fix the economy. Why didn’t he? Something Reagan, who turned around a worse economy in his first term without even a Republican-controlled Congress, never had. And thanks for implying anyone who doesn’t support Obama’s policies is a disloyal American.”
— Frederick, Md.
“I cannot believe that President Obama is taking credit for what SEAL Team Six did to bin Laden last year. SEAL Team Six did all the work, and he’s trying to take the credit for it. I am lucky that I retired out of the military with 20 years out of the Navy, and I’m glad I didn’t have to work for somebody like him. I’m glad I got out before he came in office.”
— Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
“Thanks, Herald-Mail, for the article in the Sunday paper on 3 and 1, on the stadium. If we have so much of a fan base, why don’t we have a bigger attendance than what we do? And why don’t the mayor and the owners of that club, why don’t they push for a fan base? If their fan base is so good, why don’t they try Green Bay, Wis., and let the fans purchase into that, and let the taxpayers off the hook?”
— Leitersburg
“After seeing the picture in Sunday’s paper of the proposed stadium downtown, I cannot believe they’re going to try to squeeze that stadium into that area. Look at all the others, the stadiums that were built, like in Frederick, Salisbury, etc. All of them were off main roads. This is absolutely ridiculous.”
— Hagerstown
“I wholeheartedly agree with the Maryland Court of Appeals that pit bulls are an inherently dangerous breed. I see the Humane Society of the United States is seeking legislation to overturn the ruling. I hope our local Humane Society does not back them on this. What is really good about this bill is the ruling means that landlords can also be held liable ... where their tenants have pit bulls and break the laws, or the dogs are aggressive. I totally support this ruling.”
— Hagerstown
“I agree that President Obama got bin Laden, but it was due to the policies that George Bush had put into effect before he left office. Obama doesn’t like torture, he doesn’t like waterboarding, he doesn’t like any of that, but it’s due to that torture and that waterboarding that we got information that helped us get bin Laden. So thank goodness we had George Bush, and we need somebody like him back.”
— Sharpsburg
