Opinion

May 7, 2012Richmond, Iowa To the Editor:Washington County?s newspapers have been busy reporting our county?s troubled relationship with Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS). The April 17 meeting was a well-staged public relations event ? obviously planned in advance, but added to the agenda at the last minute.At the April 24 meeting, Supervisor Ron Bennett challenged an attempt to quietly pass a $25,000 ...

To the editor:Re: ?Cake-baker has rights too? (Dec. 1): I admire people with principles, and who stand up for the rights of others. However, actions always have consequences. When you endorse homophobia, and particularly when you give it the stamp of religious approval, you are sending a message to immature children that it is acceptable to abuse, bully and otherwise make the lives of gay children a living ...

To the editor:I?m at a loss here! What is wrong with our government? It?s not working right that?s what?s wrong with it. Here?s the way it?s not working right.Our government is for the rich, sure they give a little here and a little there to the poor. But why do they not encourage more small business? Because they are rich and that?s who they cater to.If loans were made available to people with perfectly ...

To the editor:Tis the season to be responsible.The holidays are almost upon us, a time of pies, cookies, turkey, Christmas festivities and the temptation to overdo alcohol consumption. While holiday related adult alcohol use is something to be aware of, there is cause for concern of a corresponding rise in teen drinking.This time of year, the news is full of preventable alcohol related tragedies from ...

To the editor:Why does it seem that when it comes to the topic of the future of the high school building, that we only get part of the facts and even those are cherry picked to support the position of a new high school? Superintendent Art Sathoff recently was quoted in the paper of saying that ?it is not uncommon to find high school space of more than 223 feet per pupil? [?Debate on high school facility begins ...

On a beautiful Saturday morning, on my way to the What Cheer Flea Market, I had a near-death experience. Rounding the S curve, just this side of Trenton, there was an oncoming pick-up truck in its proper lane. Suddenly, it shot over into my path! Everything was reaction. I pulled the steering wheel to the left and slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, the truck didn?t veer from its course, and there was no other ...

April 30, 2012Richmond, Iowa To the Editor:As reported in Washington County?s newspapers, the county supervisors? meeting on April 24 was a gold mine of information. There was confirmation of quite a few things that I have known or suspected for some time.Someone recently told me that Washington County paid $95,000 for confiscated church land near Richmond and was giving the land to Regional Utility Service ...

May 1, 2012Washington, Iowa To the Editor:This Saturday at 8 a.m. volunteers will meet in Washington?s Central Park. They will bring work gloves, shovels, and rakes and wait for organizers Joe McConnell and Craig Davis to give them team assignments. Then they will pick up trash strewn around the square, by the schools, various residential areas, city streets and parks. There are painting projects planned to ...

To the editor:Stop inflation!From testimony before Congress: When President Franklin D. Roosevelt complained to his Secretary of the Treasury that there wasn?t enough money to do all he wanted to accomplish, the Secretary replied, Oh, don?t worry! We can make all the money you want, and it won?t look like stage money either; it will look real, and they will take it!That is the money we are dealing with ...

To the editor:?What if conservatives who preach small government wake up and realize that our interventionist foreign policy provides the greatest incentive to expand the government,? Ron Paul before the US House of Representatives, Feb. 12, 2009.It baffles me how some conservatives who rail against the excess and waste of big government here at home, in particular its uncanny ability of mismanaging and ...

To the editor:Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk and the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce would like to express deep appreciation to the sponsors, partners and volunteers that contributed to making the Dec. 2 Gingerbread Extravaganza such a successful event.With gratitude we would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following organizations and individuals:A big thank you goes to the Fairfield Art ...

Members of the WACO Community,On behalf of the WACO School Board, I?m going to give a quick update on the current status of our district. There seems to be many negative rumors floating around, and the Board wishes to clear these up. As many of you know, we are experiencing financial difficulties this year and into next year. We are not the only district with this issue. Many other districts in the area and ...