Support the arts
If you liked “The Color Purple,” you are going to love the current production on Feb. 16, 17, 23 and 24 at the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center. This show is based on the novel written by Alice Walker. Per the Downing-Gross website, this “is an inspiring family saga that tell the unforgettable story of a women, who through love, finds the strength to triumph over adversity and discover her unique voice in the world.” If you are not familiar with the storyline, be mindful there is language and subject matter that may not be suitable for children.
This live production, directed by Iris Good, with Angela Gilliam serving as stage manager, is being performed in the state-of-the-art Ella Fitzgerald Theater. From the time the curtain opens, the audience is spellbound. The array of those portraying the characters and the musicality will make you so proud of the breadth and depth of our local talent. The entire cast deserved the well-earned standing ovation it received opening night.
Also, the Newport News Public Schools City Wide Youth Art Show is on display at this venue Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. through Feb. 23. Admission is free. If the opening year events are any indication of the wonderful things happening at Downing-Gross, you’d better not sleep on it.
These comments are solely those of this writer and not those of the Newport News School Board.
Terri L. Best, vice chairman, Newport News School Board, Newport News
Stop the source
Re “Cleaning up PFAS in Virginia comes with a staggering price tag” (Our Views, Feb. 5): The editorial highlighted the enormous — but necessary — cost of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from our drinking water. Treating drinking water to remove PFAS is expensive, and it’s a cost we’ll continue to pay unless we start to address this pollution at its source.
One substantial source of PFAS pollution is industrial uses. Our neighbors in North Carolina have been dealing with an environmental crisis after a Chemours Company plant released PFAS into the Cape Fear River and polluted the drinking water of about 500,000 people. In Virginia, PFAS pollution from an industrial facility forced the water authority in Roanoke to alter its drinking water source and install expensive treatment technology.
But Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality has authority right now to implement a solution. Under the federal Clean Water Act, facilities that release PFAS into our waterways should disclose those releases and install treatment technology to control them. That’s good for public health. And it makes economic sense, too: It’s less expensive to treat smaller volumes of wastewater at individual facilities than large volumes at treatment plants, and it puts treatment costs on the industries using these chemicals instead of the public.
To date, DEQ has failed to use this authority to gain more information about — and control — PFAS pollution. DEQ’s inaction puts our environment and health at risk and leaves downstream communities on the hook to clean up this ongoing pollution. Ensuring clean drinking water for Virginians requires stopping PFAS pollution at its source.
Carroll Courtenay, staff attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center, Charlottesville
NATO
I am surprised at Rep. Jen Kiggans’ silence in the face of former President Donald Trump’s denunciation of NATO and his willingness to throw our allies under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bus. After all Norfolk is the home of NATO’s Allied Command Transformation; the U.S. Second Fleet; a NATO Joint Force Command; and the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence, a NATO maritime think tank. These commands symbolize, not only our commitment to the alliance, but the alliance’s commitment to our mutual defense in the face of mounting Russian aggression. ACT’s presence is a feather in Norfolk’s cap because it is the only NATO command stationed on U.S. soil.
For her to tacitly side with a growing anti-NATO sentiment in the Republican-controlled Congress demonstrates a distinct lack of strategic thinking and a dismissal of the importance of alliances in maintaining not only peace in Europe, but a strong deterrence to violations of international order.
She seems to have forgotten that NATO, under Article 5, dispatched aircraft to patrol our airspace in the aftermath of 9/11. Does the support NATO provided as a part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, as we pursued the Global War on Terror during Operation Enduring Freedom no longer matter? She should also be reminded of the contributions to our community of the assigned officers and their families, as our friends and our neighbors.
John Mannarino, Virginia Beach
Too far
Re “PETA wants carousel maker to stop creating rides with animal figures” (Feb. 9): I agree with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ stand against cruelty to animals. But this is too much. What harm does it do for a child to climb aboard a beautiful musical carousel, sit on a beautifully carved image of an animal and ride? Who is this being cruel to? How does this create a negative precedent? Do we take away all of our children’s stuffed animals? What about our pets?
Gary Fentress, Newport News