Re: Amendment 1

My companion and I are still fuming over the passage of Amendment 1 in May. While it may have been wrong of lame-duck governor Bev Perdue to publicly lambast the voters of North Carolina for her own political hay, we are moving on with our plans of marriage. Although we are the kind of couple (opposite sex) who would make for a “better” marriage in the eyes and minds of The Old North State voters, we refuse to be married here. We would urge others to do the same as well as contacting their nearest elected official with their coldest regards.

Glenn Maughan
Morrisville

Re: Alcohol sales

I’m seeing articles in the media about tightening the governmental grip on small, locally owned convenience stores that sell alcohol. Meanwhile, every time I walk into a supermarket here in Durham, I see thousands of bottles of wine proudly on sale. This makes me think that the action on small, locally owned convenience stores that sell alcohol is at least racist or caste-ist, and at worst paternalistic. People have to live their lives. That’s what they’re here for.

Alan Paprocki

Durham

Re: Fracking

I am opposed to fracking. We do not know what chemicals will be used while the rocks are split and drilled; these unknowns may, or may not, damage our water supply. I think we should have been told this before the bill was passed. I want to know if our Legislature would put these chemicals in a glass of water and drink the water. Imagine the huge rocks in Chatham County; imagine drilling a hole straight down into the rock. What would happen? The rock would split in thousands of pieces. What will happen to the ground when the rocks splits? Will it not move?

Would we put a fox in a hen house to guard the chickens? We have been advised that Ray Covington was appointed by Speaker Thom Tillis to the fracking board. Covington co-owns a company (North Carolina Oil and Gas) that stands to make money on future fracking operations. How can he be impartial on this commission? Why did Tillis appoint this person to the “conservationist” seat on the energy and mining commission?

Tillis had promised North Carolinians that he’d run the House with honor and fairness. Does Tillis need any more foxes to guard North Carolina chickensI mean citizens?

Sue Davis
Chapel Hill