Letters to the editor: Trust your vote is managed with respect

Everyone can rest assured their vote is managed with respect

To the editor:

I just completed my first stint as a Washington County election judge for the May 14 primary, and it was an excellent and eye-opening experience.

There was a moment of disbelief when one voter came in, expressing anxiety over voting because of "what happened in 2020."

We were confused. What had happened in 2020?

Well, all the fraud and illegal votes, she insisted.

The fact is, it's virtually impossible to commit voter fraud, especially at the precinct level. There are so many checks and double-checks and security measures that everyone can rest assured their vote is managed with respect, safety, equality and discretion.

If you don't believe me, sign up and train to be an election judge at https://www.washco-mdelections.org/become-an-election-judge and see for yourself. You'll get paid to make an important civic contribution, while finding out first-hand that those conspiracy theories are just nonsense.

Paulette Lee

Hagerstown

My faith in the American people is waning

To the editor:

What will it take for the citizenry to realize what the former president really is?

My faith in the American people is waning.

I pray that God continues to bless our country.

Jim Failor

Hagerstown

Little courtesies show true character

To the editor:

As a speech teacher, I told my students about a boss who was hiring new employees. He deliberately left a book on the floor not far from the door and his desk. He waited to see who would stop to pick up the book. Then, he planned to hire that candidate.

Recently, Donald Trump was about to board the helicopter named "Marine 1." One of the Marines standing at attention had his cover (hat) blown off by the strong wind. According to Marine protocol, the young man did not move. Trump kindly picked up the hat and placed it on the head of the Marine. Once again the wind blew his cover off. Trump attempted to catch it. He bent over again, picked up the hat and gave it to the Marine.

Often the true character of a person is illustrated by little courtesies like this.

Dan Manka

Fairmont, W.Va.

Soil health education event was very informative

To the editor:

We would like to commend the Washington County Soil Conservation District and University of Maryland Extension for their recent two-day, hands-on soil health education event.

Farmers from Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia visited Ernst Grain and Livestock in Clear Spring to learn from farmer Steve Ernst about planting “green” by roller crimping — a process of mowing or rolling vegetation flat while planting corn at the same time. This practice greatly reduces farm input costs, maintains soil moisture and requires less fertilizer and herbicides.

Red clover, a legume that pulls nitrogen from the atmosphere, provides nitrogen while diverse crimped plants protect soil from erosion and feed carbon to the soil microbes. In a carbon-starved environment, this drives the whole natural nutrient cycling system. Crimping also saves farmers time and money by doing one pass with the tractor instead of two.

The second part of the event was held at the University’s Western Maryland Education and Research Center showcasing research on grazing cover crops with animal and soil health benefits. Practices demonstrated how these conservation practices can help farmers become more resilient to climate change.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation commends all the partners, especially Hans Kefauver and dedicated crew, for going above and beyond to educate how healthy soil can act as a sponge, which leads to more productive farms for the next generation while improving water quality and quantity for local streams and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

Let’s embrace regenerative agriculture Bay-wide for healthy soils, farms and Bay.

Rob Schnabel, Annapolis

Maryland Restoration Scientist, Chesapeake Bay Foundation / Mountains to Bay Grazers Alliance

Valerie Keefer (she/her)

Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Maryland Communications & Media Relations Manager

Closing South Mountain Golf Course will be huge mistake

To the editor:

You may be aware that the residents of Franklin County are in strong disagreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) about the closing of South Mountain Golf Course (SMGC). This may seem like an insignificant issue, but it has far-reaching implications for the residents of Franklin County and the surrounding area.

DCNR is closing the historic and often used 9-hole SMGC at the end of its lease on Dec. 31, 2025, to build a new visitor center. This is an ever-expanding story that needs reporting. The residents and the local state legislators, Franklin County Commissioners, all of the surrounding municipalities never participated in the decision to close SMGC and were informed after the decision was made in September 2023. As you can see, all of the surrounding communities have adopted resolutions objecting to the closure. The documents include:

• November 1, 2023 Letter to Governor Shapiro

• November 7, 2023 Letter to Governor Shapiro

• January 3, 2024 Response from Cindy Adams Dunn on behalf of Governor Shapiro

• January 29, 2024 Goldberg response to Cindy Adams Dunn

• February 7, 2024 Letter to Dave George from Seth Cassell, State Forester Director

• November 14, 2023 Email from Dan Moul, State Assemblyman

• February 12, 2024 Email from Paul Schemel, State Assemblyman

• April 5, 2024 Email from Rob Kaufman, State Assemblyman

• March 21, 2024 Quincy Township Resolution objecting to the closing of SMGC

• April 4, 2024 Guilford Township Resolution objecting to the closing of SMGC

• April 8, 2024 Chambersburg Borough Resolution objecting to the closing of SMGC

• April 22, 2024 Green Township Letter to Governor objecting to closing of SMGC

• April 17, 2024 Waynesboro Borough Resolutions objecting to the closing of SMGC

• May 6, 2024 Washington Township Resolution objecting to the closing of SMGC

• April 25, 2025 Staci Montgomery letter to Franklin County Commissioners

• Historic Significance of grounds of South Mountain Golf Course

The documents include emails from the current state legislators that are directly affected. The Franklin County Commissioners are also against closing SMGC but DCNR is working very hard to not have them vote on a resolution. All of the surrounding municipalities have already voted on resolutions and sent them to the governor, and all are enclosed.

The first document is a letter I sent to Governor Shapiro yesterday. It is much too long for a letter to the editor but it summarizes the situation and requests he review all aspects. There were over 24,000 rounds of golf played on SMGC last year, so it has wide impact on a lot of people.

SMGC is in a remote area far removed from the major access road to Michaux and Caledonia. In addition, the golf course is 47 acres, while Michaux is over 85,500 acres and Caledonia is over 1,100 acres. Both are directly on U.S. 30, and this is a blatant attempt to close a widely used public recreation site without any public input. There is lots of room for both the proposed new visitor center and SMGC. We need your help to expose the situation.

Bernie Goldberg

Fayetteville, Pa.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Letters to the editor for Sunday, May 19