Letters: Demanding change at correctional facility; Questioning ‘non-partisan support’
Demanding change at correctional facility
With all of the good intentioned people in Centre County, it is surprising that so few people have stepped forward to demand an end to the outrageous situation that has existed for nearly two decades at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
It is inhumane to prevent the people incarcerated in this jail from experiencing outside air and sunlight.
Of course, prisoners are human beings, some of whom are awaiting trial and so have not yet been found guilty. Some will be found innocent. I assume most people would want prisoners who have committed a crime to be given the opportunity to become mentally and physically healthy so that when they get out of jail they can contribute to society.
It is time more of us stood up and demanded a change in the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Clearly, poor governmental planning led to the current situation. We are already paying significant taxes and yes, it is possible taxes may have to go up because of the short-sightedness that was shown when this prison was initially designed.
That is in the past. It is time now for all fair-minded citizens to come forward and demand that this situation be changed as soon as possible.
Questioning ‘non-partisan support’
I see that SCASD school board candidate Michelle Young is concerned that another letter writer called out some of our town’s richest citizens for supporting some school board candidates and not others. Such donors, Ms. Young writes, should be “thanked for their non-partisan support.”
That’s right! Let’s be grateful to our rich neighbors for somehow realizing, in the full spirit of their non-partisanship, that they all needed to support the school board candidates who just happened, by an enormous non-partisan coincidence, to all end up winning on the Republican primary ballot. After all, we know that Glenn Hawbaker (who founded the company Daniel Hawbaker helps run) stole $20 million from its own workers in a completely non-partisan way. He didn’t care if the workers were Republicans or Democrats at all when he was stealing that money — he just did it!
As for Ms. Young’s school board group, United for SCASD, former member Michelle Layng (cut loose from the group for being, I’m almost sure, too non-partisan) was recently escorted out of State High for browsing the library books after hours. That’s not partisan! Book-banning is among the most non-partisan things you can do — you want to ban the books for everyone, not just for some folks.
Anyway, my point is, Michelle Young is right: we should all be more grateful to rich people, just like she is. If you love letting rich folks and book-banners control your school board, then Ms. Young has all the right ideas.