It is simple. The towing companies make more money if they tow more cars. They are in the business to make money, so they are going to tow as many cars as they can.

Fast-food type restaurants such as Panera and Chipotle make more money when there is customer turnover. The more customers they can serve in a day, the more money they make. It is in the interest of their bottom line to hire towing companies. It is not about naughty or nice; it is not about anything but money.

So, here’s my solution. Don’t spend money at businesses that hire tow trucks. After shopping at Carr Mill Mall for 23 years I have largely stopped. And I stopped the first day I saw a tow truck circling the lot looking to make a buck. It is fair and square. The business is free to make its choices and so am I. I don’t have to contribute.

Conversely, if you park at Carr Mill Mall and catch the bus up to Chapel Hill to hang, go to the dentist or school, you deserve to be towed because someone trying to buy groceries can’t do it if they can’t park. It’s just business folks.

If a visitor gets towed, they will remember and choose their destination more carefully the next time, maybe skipping Chapel Hill altogether. Residents are free to choose where they spend their money; there is absolutely no need to patronize these businesses. So don’t.

See a tow truck breaking the law and behaving like a bully? Dial 911. They are not special. They are just citizens and businesses. Treat them that way.

Melanie Cecil

Carrboro

Ellmers’ record

Freshman Congresswoman Renee Ellmers delivers little to nothing for Tar Heels and the 2nd District, yet has the time to take trips to Israel and Turkey – trips which deliver exactly what for her constituents? Photos? Frat boy parties on the Sea of Galilee? Meetings with Turkish leaders that will do exactly what for Tar Heels?

Will these junkets re-open chicken plants in Siler City? Help the farmers crushed by these plant closings? Pave roads? Obviously, the answer is no. Her junkets do not bring jobs to the district, nor do they invest in sticks and bricks in the district, or fix water and/or sewer plants in the district. This is outrageous. And done right after her Tea Party supporters went bonkers over “waste.” Where are they now with critiques?

As the mayor of Pittsboro, I can’t point to anything her election has done for our citizens. As the chair of an NCDOT advisory board, which includes Orange, Chatham, Lee and Moore counties, I have seen little to nothing from her and/or her office. Shiny mailers sent using the House franking privileges does not cut the mustard. Where is the money for the district? Enlighten us.

What I see is not impressive nor deserving of re-election. Get behind Steve Wilkins and elect a native Tar Heel who served our country as a military leader as is willing to serve the 2nd District!

Randy Voller

Pittsboro

How very patriotic

The writer of the letter “Not to mention” (CHN, Aug. 22) neglects to mention that the biggest failure to protect us against terrorism occurred on the watch of a Republican administration: 9/11.

Yes, Obama did not serve in the military but unlike Romney he did not dodge the draft or run off from it to go live in France. Choosing not to serve his country as a combatant during the Vietnam War, Romney did his part by opposing anti-war demonstrators, holding a picket sign against them. How very patriotic!

And Obama had everything to do with the death of bin Laden. He announced it as a top priority of his administration, and he followed through. Compare that with Bush’s craven record, who said of bin Laden, sounding much like the fox in the fable who could not reach the grapes, “I truly am not that concerned about him.” (March 13, 2002).

Patty Barker

Chapel Hill

Mystery meats

With the new school year just around the corner, parents’ attention is turning to school clothes, supplies, and lunches. Yes, school lunches.

Traditionally, USDA had used the National School Lunch Program as a dumping ground for surplus meat and dairy commodities. Not surprisingly, its own surveys indicate that children consume excessive amounts of animal fat and sugary drinks, to the point where one-third have become overweight or obese. Their early dietary flaws raise their risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Gradually, the tide is turning. The new USDA school lunch guidelines, mandated by President Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, require doubling the servings of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, less sodium and fat, and no meat for breakfast. Still, food lobbyists have prevailed on Congress to count pizza and French fries as vegetables, and fatty mystery meats and sugary dairy drinks abound.

Parents and students should consider healthy school lunch as a work in progress and insist on healthful plant-based school meals, snacks, and vending machine items. Guidance is available at fns.usda.gov/cnd, healthyschoollunches.org, and www.vrg.org/family.

Colin Barnett

Chapel Hill

AHCA a good thing

I’m pleased with the Affordable Health Care Act (that Republicans call Obamacare). Since 2001 employer-sponsored health coverage for family premiums have increased by 113 percent, but my salary has not increased. The private sector’s efforts to control costs over the years has not worked.

I like the AHCA’s provision allowing young adults to stay on their parent’s plan until 26 years of age; preventing insurance providers from withholding insurance for persons with previous health conditions or disabilities and from dropping them once they develop a serious illness. I like that it strengthens Medicare; provides access to preventative services, annual wellness visits, personalized prevention plans, and prescriptions drug discounts for seniors. It also makes 4 million small businesses eligible for tax credits worth up to 35 percent of the employer’s contribution

This debate over Medicare is now a major issue, and Congressman Ryan wants to turn it into a voucher system which is a hidden way to send my tax dollars to the insurance companies so they can be big “Welfare Queens“ and to have the average Medicare recipient pay an extra $6,500 a year.

The AHCA is much more attractive to me the more it is implemented.

John R. Thompson

Chapel Hill