The upside of junky yards

I see in your Oct. 6 editorial you are railing against junky yards again. I don't think you or anyone else care about the yards; you just care about your property values going down.

I live just south of the At Home Furniture store. I think there used to be a mill there. Some of the houses around us are the original millworkers' homes. I like to think of this area as the historic mill district. Some of the yards look like used car lots; of course the cars are historic (historically inoperative).

The people in north, east, south and west Albany can have their "tony" neighborhoods, but I am glad that there is one section of town that is run down. It allowed us to be able to buy an affordable home and it keeps our taxes low.

John J. Collet, Albany

Try something different

The Republicans believe that the market will police itself, which has resulted in massive deregulation over the last couple of decades. First we had the collapse of the savings and loan industry, now we have the collapse of the mortgage industry, both due to the unmitigated greed of industry taking advantage of the fact that nobody was watching.

With the elections around the corner we can continue letting the Republicans run the show, or choose to do something different. Who was it who said "Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"?

Kaynor Heineck, Sodaville

Too many pets: A nuisance

Trying to raise flowers in downtown Albany has become impossible.

For the past 10 years I planted a beautiful petunia bed successfully, until this year. Pet cats and feral cats invaded in large numbers and used it for a toilet. I couldn't get my plants to grow because they were dug up and urinated and pooped on.

Also, my wife and I have noticed a very annoying and unsightly amount of dog poop lying exposed on our sidewalks and parking areas everywhere in downtown Albany. When you mow your lawn, guess what? More dog poop.

I have noticed violent dogs running loose on my walks in downtown Albany. Thank goodness no dog bites yet, but I do read about an increasing number of dog bites in the local newspaper. There is no excuse for dangerous dogs not properly contained and controlled. More animal control officers are needed. It is unsafe to walk in downtown Albany anymore.

Also dogs barking loudly and persistently for longer than 10 minutes has become a common annoyance.

This is a result of the "everyone should have a pet" campaign in the media, and because of Albany's large population increase.

When are we, as a community, going to wake up and stop this growing nuisance?

Come on, folks, let us restore our pride in having a clean, safe and pretty Albany, Oregon.

Pride of homeownership, and this includes renting, means no nuisance harassment. What is more important: people or too many pets?

Tom Savage, Albany

The more they talk …

It seems that any speech by Ben Bernanke is worth a 100-point drop in the Dow Jones Average. Bush appears to be worth a 200-point drop.

If these two keep talking about the economy, we will all be broke well before Christmas. I guess stores are smart to be pushing their holiday sales now while we still have a little money.

Kenneth R. England, Sweet Home