(Editor’s note: This week, we begin running a series of letters from Escalon High School students that were part of a class project. A couple of letters will be featured each of the next four issues, running through the month of January.)

Bring in the new

Dear Editor,

I’m here to address the new buildings in Escalon, Orlandos and McDonalds. I’ve heard many things about these places, good and bad, from what I’ve seen being posted and talked about, Orlandos has a great reputation for coming into Escalon and providing an almost upgraded Mar-Val. What do I think about this? I think that the idea of a more organized, well cleaned, and brighter atmosphere, Orlandos, is well needed in Escalon. I believe that this place can be an old country sometimes and have great history, but it’s always great to see something new pop up here in small ol’ Escalon. Orlandos is a great addition to this town and I believe that it has nice gas pumps and a well anticipated coming, that it has bloomed here in the heart of Escalon and I think it is a great place for basic and necessary needs.

Now what about McDonalds? I’ve heard a little more negative feedback about it being here, that possibly it will bring too much attention to our small town, that it doesn’t fit here, or that it is being placed in a bad spot. I feel it has its pros and cons but overall still has potential being in Escalon, maybe it will attract students on weekends when driving out with friends, or possibly bring family together more, and maybe just add selection to the fast food we have here.

Overall we people in Escalon would always strive to keep our place a small town because that’s what we like, but addition and changes are always meant for the better, so hopefully we can get great experiences from new placed being added in Escalon. The bigger question is, what do you think?

Sincerely,

Adam Chaffey

Traffic light concerns

Dear Editor,

Are traffic lights supposed to be helpful and problem-solving? But what happens when they don’t work together? The small town of Escalon serves the commuters of the surrounding communities. It tends to be a chaotic mess of traffic lights that are working against each other and as soon as there is any relief a train comes to stop any forward progress. If you leave your house with an extra 15 to 20 minutes or longer if there is a stopped train then getting to your destination should be fine. More often than not the traffic that is filtered through our town adds unneeded stress to our visitors during rush hours.

Other cities have adapted their traffic lights to work all together to flush the traffic through the fastest depending on the need during rush hours. But that would require adjustable lights and someone monitoring the current situations during the most demanding times. Even if our town population doesn’t grow as fast as the communities around us we are still affected by the ones that depend on us to get to where they need to go.

Sincerely,

Alexis Esquivel

Alcohol causes … death?

Dear Editor,

The big problem, alcohol is all over the place. People drink too much, go on to bars and get addicted to it. It messes up their lives and their families. It’s super bad for our bodies and brains, messes up relationships, and our whole neighborhood. Why should you care? It’s not just our problem, it’s yours too. When folks drink way too much, they do dumb things, like get in accidents, fights, etc. Families gotta deal with sad and money problems when someone’s addicted. Even kids have to grow up in homes that are not safe. Plus, it’s making our hospitals very busy and costing lots of money to treat sick people who had too much to rink.

We have to do a bunch of stuff to deal with this. First we need to teach people about how bad drinking is. So people will not be influenced to drink it so much, and if someone’s addicted, they have to go get help that is not so expensive. Also we can restrict drinking by creating more laws that make it hard to get and give to people. Like maybe saying we can only get a certain number of alcohol per person each day. This is a leading factor to better our city and I feel we can all help to change it.

Sincerely,

Josh Fiori