I am personally distraught over the increase in violence in the West End community, which is seemingly ignored by law enforcement.
Within the past month, there have reportedly been a break-in at Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church, the theft of vehicles with keys left in the ignition while the owner stepped away for the moment, attempted robbery at gunpoint and one unfortunate soul who awakened at 6 a.m. to find a masked man standing over her in bed with a shotgun drawn. Abandoned and boarded-up houses are being taken over by young hooded men, particularly at night, as if being used for a gang house. Reports to local officials are seemingly not answered.
If the police won’t take action, then citizens need to arm to protect themselves. Neighborhoods need to be patrolled more frequently. Loitering and gatherings of young men on abandoned properties should be cause for questioning, and other surveillance activities should increase.
If we can’t feel safe in our neighborhoods and the church is not a safe haven, God help us.
— Dr. Ada M. Fisher
Salisbury

My question is why didn’t the City Council do any research before deciding on granting the license to sell beer at Inksane?
Simply by googling “alcohol and tattoos,” they could have found a lot of information on this. Beer does thin the blood; the more beer, the thinner the blood. It’s true a couple beers wouldn’t thin the blood enough to hurt the tattoo, but there are other factors to weigh.
For example, one website says, “Your health plays an important role as well. Not enough iron in your diet will thin your blood. Blood thinning medication … some muscle relaxers and pain relievers will also. Let us not forget those with high blood pressure too. These factors, coupled with alcohol, can cause some rather severe bleeding during a tattoo procedure” (www.tat2duck.com/index.php/tattoo-information/11-alcohol-and-getting-tattooed).
So why didn’t the council do a little research instead of taking the word of the owner?
— Shirley Morgan
Salisbury