Recycling
Effective Sept. 30, the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority board has canceled curbside recycling in York County, Williamsburg, James City County and Poquoson. This is unfortunate since very few citizens will take their recyclables to the dump. Trash volume will increase dramatically, overloading the landfills.
Instead of throwing it all away, I wonder why this great country can’t follow the example of Sweden’s profitable pioneering recycling system. Their national program has become a way of life, making it convenient and easy to recycle. About 52% of Swedish trash and garbage is converted to low cost energy, 47% is recycled and only 1% goes to landfills. In addition, the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland and Italy pay Sweden $100 million annually to take their trash and recyclables. In the face of growing world population, climate change and scarcity of resources are inevitable. Recycling waste and transforming it to energy make good sense.
Kaaren Ancarrow, Yorktown [ ]
Cancel culture
Over the past decade or so, “cancel culture” has been a tool of some on the left. Some of the tactics have included doxing those who disagree; following them to their jobs in order to get them fired; organizing boycotts of businesses; asking Republicans to leave a place of business, as happened to President Donald Trump’s former press secretary; and intentionally giving businesses low online ratings if they don’t bend the knee to leftist ideology.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some have taken to social media to celebrate his brutal murder and an alarming number of these people are school teachers, college professors or administrators. If they’re spewing this kind of venom over a political activist being assassinated, it’s a fair question to ask, what kind of bile might they be spewing at school kids?
Cancel culture has been a weapon of the left for years, and while one has the absolute right to free speech, those who chose to celebrate this murder are now learning the hard way that the monster they’ve created has come back to destroy them using their own words.
They demanded retribution and consequences but forgot that’s a two-way street.
Jimmy Frost, Virginia Beach
State elections
Re “Wittman: Congress will address Obamacare premium increases” (A2, Sept. 15): Rep. Rob Wittman’s “swing through the district” conveniently excluded those of us in the Historic Triangle who would welcome a town hall to share our concerns. The form letters he sends in response to citizens’ concerns are specious at best, as are his comments about a “clean CR” and “conversation with the White House” about our state’s offshore wind projects.
We can’t replace Wittman until November 2026, but in the meantime, we can improve the makeup of the Virginia General Assembly, which is our best defense against federal chaos. Virginia Dels. Chad Green (House District 69), Amanda Batten (HD71) and A.C. Cordoza (HD86), like Wittman, continue to toe the party line, even when it hurts the people they purport to serve. Green, Batten and Cordoza voted against key cost-of-living legislation that included funding for affordable housing, wage adjustments and tax credits aimed at the cost of living. They also appear to stand with President Donald Trump against clean energy tactics.
That’s why we must elect Dr. Mark Downey, Jessica Anderson and Virgil Thornton to the House of Delegates this November.
Beth Hoer, Williamsburg
Helene recovery
Re “This isn’t my house” (A1, Sept. 19): Thank you for your front-page story on Swannanoa, N.C., and the continuing rebuilding efforts after last year’s hurricane. A region so far inland is unprepared for that kind of weather, and the devastation was severe and widespread.
As a graduate of Warren Wilson College, I have a soft spot for the small town where it is located and was heartened to know that the restoration is continuing.
The Rev. Beth Woodard, Portsmouth
