[nfbwatlk] [nfb-talk] Trees Could Harm Blind Children, Parents Contend (fwd)

Fri Jul 28 21:02:48 CDT 2006

Hi Lauren,

Contact info you said?

Here's what the web says.

Cheers,

Rick

[quote]

Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15 St. NW
Washington, DC 20071
and by e-mail at:
letters at washpost.com

If you are trying to reach a Washington Post reporter or staff member,
please call 800.627.1150 or 202.334.6000.  [end quote]

Also, there's a link to e-mail the author Lisa Rein on the following page:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071301485.html

SOURCE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/mediacenter/html/about_contact.html

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006, Lauren Merryfield wrote:

> Hi,
> Bummer, there wasn't a contact email with that article.  It is too bad that
> the author of the article seemed to side with the famiily that trees are
> dangerous for blind people.  I never heard of such a thing.  Thank goodness
> my parents were not tree-phobic.
> thanks
> Lauren
> "What you really desire is to matter, to make a difference,
> to add your own special essence and flavor to life. What
> will bring you fulfillment is to create, express and bring
> to life, in your own way, the unique beauty of your spirit."  --Ralph
> Marston
> "Nature abhors a vacuum, but not as much as cats do." - Lee Entrekin
> CATLINES has moved to a blog at:
> http://bizcats.blogs.com/catlines/
> sign up for CATLINES and more:
> http://www.catliness.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)" <Bennett.Prows at HHS.GOV>
> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 10:43 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] [nfb-talk] Trees Could Harm Blind Children, Parents
> Contend (fwd)
>
>
> > There are people in the world who believe that the way to be blind is to
> > accept all the sighted help, encourage barrier removal, and otherwise
> > let society take care of you, and you'll be better off.  Well, quite
> > frankly, this article shows, that they're barking up the wrong tree.
> > One reason I love the NFB, is that we believe that we  live in a world
> > that is as it is, and we don't want or need a lot of special or
> > different things to function as normal, productive human beings.  We
> > don't live in a vacuum, and there will be barriers, trees, fences, etc
> > we need to learn how to deal with, just as each person has obstacles in
> > life.  Hope these parents don't join other organizations, but find the
> > NFB parents division.  And, finally, hope these parents don't give their
> > kids black eyes because of their attitudes.  (smile.)
> >
> > Bennett Prows, J.D.
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> > On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> > Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 10:26 AM
> > To: NFB of Washington Talk
> > Subject: [nfbwatlk] [nfb-talk] Trees Could Harm Blind Children, Parents
> > Contend (fwd)
> >
> > Oh lord! And people wonder why the NFB?
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:53:52 -0400
> > From: Sherrill O'Brien <srobrien at tampabay.rr.com>
> > Reply-To: NFB of Florida Listserv <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> > To: NFBFL <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> > Subject: [Nfbf-l] [nfb-talk] Trees Could Harm Blind Children, Parents
> > Contend
> >
> > Hi all,
> > Oh my goodness, how these parents need to be taken under the wing of our
> > NFB
> > parents division!!  My heart aches for these kids who are in the care of
> > such misguided parents.
> > Sherrill
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> > Behalf Of Ryan O.
> > Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 11:19 PM
> > To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> > Subject: [nfb-talk] Trees Could Harm Blind Children Parents Contend
> >
> >>
> >
> >>>
> >>>> Washington Post
> >>>> Friday, July 14, 2006
> >>>>
> >>>> Trees Could Harm Blind Children, Parents Contend
> >>>>
> >>>> By Lisa Rein, Staff Writer
> >>>>
> >>>> Family's New Fairfax Home Stuck in a Regulatory Forest
> >>>>
> >>>> Friday, July 14, 2006; B05
> >>>>
> >>>> Their seven-bedroom, $2.2 million dream home is in spotless, move-in
> >>> condition. It's an elegant hideaway on 1.6 acres in Oakton, set back
> > from
> >>> a
> >>> winding, tree-lined road -- a perfect place for their four youngest
> >>> children
> >>> to grow up.
> >>>>
> >>>> But for 36 days, Karen and Joe Bartling and their children have been
> >>> homeless. Along with their college-age son and the family's Labrador
> >>> retriever, they have been holed up in a tiny efficiency apartment in
> >>> Chantilly with a pullout couch, all of their belongings in a storage
> >>> locker.
> >>>>
> >>>> The Bartlings can't move in until their builder plants 20 to 80
> > trees on
> >>> their property that Fairfax County says are required in part because
> > the
> >>> builder cut down too many mature trees during construction.
> >>>>
> >>>> But to the Bartlings, the trees are nothing but booby traps wrapped
> > in
> >>> wire and wooden stakes: Four of their five children -- who were
> > adopted
> >>> from
> >>> Korea, China and India -- are blind. For them, trees are bumps and
> >>> scrapes
> >>> waiting to happen.
> >>>>
> >>>> "I don't want my kids having black eyes running into trees all day,"
> >>>> said
> >>> Karen Bartling, 48. "These kids have enough obstacles in their lives.
> > The
> >>> last thing we want is trees in our yard."
> >>>>
> >>>> In a suburb whose last patches of green space are disappearing, the
> >>> prospect of a canopy of hickories, oaks and maples would be welcome
> > to
> >>> many
> >>> homeowners. Not the Bartlings. "For our family, trees don't work,"
> > said
> >>> Joe
> >>> Bartling, 48, who works in the District as a forensic investigator.
> >>> "Maybe
> >>> for other families, trees work."
> >>>>
> >>>> The Bartlings said they planned to build a swimming pool and put a
> > swing
> >>> set, trampoline and barbecue in the back yard, leaving precious
> > little
> >>> room
> >>> for a forest. The trees would be scattered around the property,
> > making it
> >>> impossible to fence them off.
> >>>>
> >>>> The odyssey started June 9, the day the Bartlings were supposed to
> > close
> >>> on their house on Coulter Lane. The piano mover arrived at 11 a.m. at
> >>> their
> >>> old, much smaller house on a forested lot in Oakton. The rest of the
> >>> trucks
> >>> were loaded by noon. Then the builder, NV Homes of McLean, called at
> > 1
> >>> p.m.
> >>> to cancel the closing, the Bartlings said. The county had denied the
> >>> builder
> >>> a permit for occupancy of the house.
> >>>>
> >>>> The day before, an NV Homes representative had shown the Bartlings a
> > new
> >>> plan for their lot with more than 80 trees in the front and back
> > yards,
> >>> in
> >>> addition to the row of old trees the builder had left at the edge of
> > the
> >>> property. The trees were not on the original lot plan. The couple did
> > not
> >>> agree to the new proposal, believing they could work it out after the
> >>> closing.
> >>>>
> >>>> What the Bartlings didn't know was that the county was requiring the
> >>> builder to come up with a new tree conservation plan for the site
> > after a
> >>> neighbor notified the county that a contractor for NV Homes had
> > illegally
> >>> cleared a dozen 25-year-old, 100-foot trees during construction. This
> >>> violated Fairfax's limits on clearing and grading.
> >>>>
> >>>> Things got testy. NV Homes asked the Bartlings to sign a document
> >>>> agreeing
> >>> to accept and maintain the 80 new trees and restrict any changes to
> > the
> >>> land, so they or any future owner would never cut down the trees.
> > "Can
> >>> you
> >>> imagine paying that much money for a house and having someone telling
> > you
> >>> what you should do on your property?" Karen Bartling asked.
> >>>>
> >>>> They called the county and got a lawyer and have been negotiating
> > ever
> >>> since. Yesterday, the county, the developer and the Bartlings reached
> > a
> >>> precarious agreement that could allow as few as 20 trees to be
> > planted.
> >>> But
> >>> nothing is final.
> >>>>
> >>>> Fairfax requires builders in residential developments like the
> >>> Bartlings' -- four homes on 10 acres called the Estates at Oakton
> >>> Hollow --
> >>> to preserve trees on 20 percent of the property. The trees can be old
> > or
> >>> new, to replace those that were knocked down for construction. NV
> > Homes
> >>> planned to put a "significant portion" of the trees on the Bartlings'
> >>> lot,
> >>> county spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald said. This was partly because
> > some of
> >>> the other lots lie in a septic drain field that needs to be cleared,
> > said
> >>> Hugh Whitehead, a county urban forester.
> >>>>
> >>>> The builder also recently cleared some trees on another lot it may
> >>>> develop
> >>> in the subdivision, county officials said, prompting a new round of
> >>> planning
> >>> to replace them. In both cases, dozens of new trees are needed to
> > make up
> >>> for the old ones, Whitehead said.
> >>>>
> >>>> Normally, the county allows trees on a private lot to be removed
> > once
> >>>> the
> >>> developer is released from bond. But in this case, NV Homes had
> > violated
> >>> the
> >>> rules, and stricter requirements applied, officials said.
> >>>>
> >>>> "It gets pretty sticky sometimes with homeowners wanting to do what
> > they
> >>> choose with their property," Whitehead said. "I'd certainly hope that
> >>> most
> >>> people want trees. I've been surprised by people who buy a lot and
> >>> proceed
> >>> to cut down every tree on it for one reason or another. They don't
> > see
> >>> the
> >>> benefits."
> >>>>
> >>>> Whitehead said he sympathizes with the Bartlings, who have tried to
> >>>> reach
> >>> a resolution with the county and NV Homes as they pay $219 a night
> > for
> >>> lodging. The number of trees required plunged to 68 and then 50, and
> > the
> >>> builder and county dropped the requirement prohibiting the trees from
> >>> being
> >>> cut down, said the Bartlings' attorney, Gorham Clark. Last week, the
> >>> Bartlings agreed to accept some trees but demanded $250,000 in
> >>> compensation
> >>> from NV Homes. In response, NV Homes threatened to terminate the
> >>> Bartlings'
> >>> contract and resell the house. Whitehead, asked about the Bartling
> > case,
> >>> said he is willing to accept fewer trees. "This is not a situation
> > where
> >>> I
> >>> typically find myself," he said.
> >>>>
> >>>> James Sack, NV Homes' general counsel, declined to comment.
> >>>>
> >>>> The Bartlings are born-again Christians who said their faith led
> > them to
> >>> children with special needs. After their son Joel was born, fertility
> >>> problems led them to adoption. They brought Hannah, 11, a bright
> >>> fifth-grader who sings in the church choir, home from Korea nine
> > years
> >>> ago.
> >>> David, a precocious 6-year-old from China, literally appeared on the
> >>> couple's doorstep less than two years ago after another couple
> > decided
> >>> they
> >>> could not handle a blind child. The year before, Karen Bartling had
> > read
> >>> in
> >>> a publication for parents and teachers of blind children that Jesse,
> > from
> >>> Korea, and Abi, who had been abandoned malnourished on the streets of
> >>> Calcutta, needed homes.
> >>>>
> >>>> Life at the Towne Place Suites has been a mix of improvisation and
> >>> anticipation. Everyone needed new clothes, and the children new toys.
> >>> Five-year-olds Abi and Jesse, not good sleepers to begin with, are
> >>> uncomfortable sharing beds with their older siblings, their mother
> > said.
> >>>>
> >>>> Meanwhile, with the lock on the interest rate on their mortgage
> > about to
> >>> expire, the Bartlings have taken to calling their predicament their
> >>> Extreme
> >>> Screwover.
> >>>>
> >>>> "We're just sitting on the sidelines waiting for NV Homes to deliver
> > us
> >>>> a
> >>> home we contracted for," Joe Bartling said. "Since when are trees
> > more
> >>> important than people?"
> >>>>
> >>>> (ENDS)
> >>>>
> >>>> (Thanks to Barry J Campbell for bringing our attention to this
> > article).
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR200607
> > 1301
> > 485_pf.html
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> BlindNews mailing list
> >>>>
> >>>> Archived at: http://GeoffAndWen.com/blind/
> >>>>
> >>>> Address message to list by sending mail to:
> >>>> BlindNews at blindprogramming.com
> >>>>
> >>>> Access your subscription info at:
> >>>
> > http://blindprogramming.com/mailman/listinfo/blindnews_blindprogramming.
> > com
> >>>>
> >>>> To unsubscribe via e-mail: send a message to
> >>> BlindNews-Request at BlindProgramming.com with the word unsubscribe in
> >>> either
> >>> the subject or body of the message
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Join the MMS program of ACB and help improve tomorrow today in ACB.
> >>> Contact Dr. Ron Milliman, MMS Program Committee Chair, by e-mail:
> >>> rmilliman at ziggycom.net
> >>> or by phone at 270-782-9325 and get started making
> >>> tomorrow look brighter today!
> >>>
> >>> This message has come to you from the ACB Leadership List:  a special
> >>> List for use by the leadership of the American Council of the Blind.
> >>> This communication is privileged and may contain confidential
> >>> information intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed.
> >>> Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, other distribution of this
> >>> communication is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate
> > removal
> >>> from the List.  If you have received this message in error, please
> >>> notify ACB immediately by writing to support at acb.org.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nfb-talk mailing list
> > nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Nfbf-l mailing list
> > Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbf-l
> > _______________________________________________
> > nfbwatlk mailing list
> > nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nfbwatlk mailing list
> > nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > No virus found in this incoming message.
> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.4/402 - Release Date: 7/27/2006
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>