Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my concern and, hopefully, to lobby my fellow residents along Old Orrville Road, councilperson and city to take some sort of action on what I feel is one big accident waiting to happen and perhaps appeal to my fellow Selma citizens at-large to look at and change their driving habits.

My wife and I have been living on Old Orrville Road near Meadowview Christian and public schools for a little more than six months now and have been alarmed at what we feel to be excessive muffler/exhaust noise and speeding along this stretch of road.

It&8217;s so bad we have taken to nicknaming the road in front of our house Old Orrville Speedway.

The posted speed limit is 30 mph, however, I have observed individuals traveling upward of 55-60 mph, sometimes even faster. On one evening there was almost an accident between myself and another individual who was hurdling down Old Orville so fast that, because of the dark and this individual&8217;s speed, I didn&8217;t see this person until it was almost too late.

There have been other instances where I have observed individuals drag racing on the street.

My wife and I had enjoyed walking the long road in the early evenings, however we have taken to walking through the neighborhood side streets because it&8217;s a tad unnerving having speeding vehicles sometimes only 2-3 feet pass by while you are pushing a stroller.

In addition to the speeding muffler/exhaust sounds,

bass from individuals who play their stereos too loud keeps us from enjoying television or movies in our front room and keeps us (and our infant son) up off and on through the night.

I hope that those of you who travel this road with any frequency take the time to consider your actions whenever you push down on that gas pedal.

It&8217;s only a matter of time before a child or someone gets injured.

I know that there have to be other residents along Old Orrville Road who have the same feelings about what is passing by their homes; I hope to hear from more folks who do.

Sincerely,

Michael Duran

Selma City School Board needs to focus on issues

Dear Editor,

With the problems above and looming local and state budget crises that could affect school funding, the case for an elected school board has never been clearer.

I&8217;ve recently learned that 96 percent of the nation&8217;s school boards are elected. Also &8212; in theory at least &8212; elections could draw out the very best candidates for these positions and hold them accountable for their actions.If they have no clue as to how to give our children the resources and support they need to learn, and how to deal with other members of the board and the public they serve we simply vote them out and replace them with someone that does.

Parents that have children in the Selma City Schools &8212; especially African-American ones whose children make up the vast majority of their student bodies &8212; need to pay attention to this board that&8217;s supposed to be looking out for its best interests.They also need to make this an issue in the upcoming city council elections and support candidates that have school board elections as part of their platform.

Selma and its children need a school board that it can be proud of. It&8217;s up to parents to make that happen.

Terry Lewis