Opinion

To the editor:Recently we experienced a wonderful surprise; we came home to find our driveway void of snow!We later found out the ?Booster Club? and the student athletes of Fairfield High School were responsible.Such a wonderful organization that hopefully everyone supports to help our young people in the same way they helped us. These fine young members showed their appreciation and had such an important ...

To the editor:With the upcoming special election for county residents to vote for the support of the pool and gym project, I would like to share some of the reasons I feel a yes vote is important to our community.When I say community, I mean all of Jefferson County because we truly are all one.As a lifelong resident and business owner I believe these facilities are very important to the continued growth and ...

To the editor:In reference to ?Regulator among farmers to spill manure in 2013,? (The Fairfield Ledger, Feb. 4) it?s important to note that the DNR database shows a minimum of 9,750 animal feeding operations in Iowa.The article cites a 65 percent increase in manure spills, but the number of spills represents less than 1 percent of Iowa farms when compared to the number of animal feeding operations. With only 10 ...

To the editor:National groups have banded together in a boycott of the cookie sales by the Girl Scouts because of their ties with the Planned Parenthood business.There has been growing concern over the years about the slant of the Girl Scouts? resources, role models and affiliations. The Girl Scouts continual collaboration with the billion dollar Planned Parenthood enterprise whose foundation is deeply racist ...

To the editor:As a member of the Fluoride Action Network, I am informing you that the federal Farm Bill recently signed into law by President Obama contains a provision that overrides a ruling by the EPA to phase-out the toxic fumigant sulfuryl fluoride because it leaves unsafe levels of fluoride residue on food.The aggregate dose that children receive from these residues along with the fluoride from other ...

To the editor:I?m taking just a moment this morning to thank people for being thoughtful.My Monday morning and work week began with people going out of their way to be supportive of the school. First, I opened a letter from Deb Swan at the Libertyville Farmers Coop, notifying me she had nominated the school for a Keep Rural Schools Growing Grant from Monsanto. Julie Manning and Jennifer Anderson had done this ...

To the editor:What part of ?no? did the Fairfield outdoor pool and gymnasium task force and the supervisors not understand when the unincorporated portions of Jefferson County rejected the $1 million support for this project in August?Sports enthusiasts should know it doesn?t matter if you lost the competition by one point or 26 points ? you LOSST. The task force had the impression that the first vote was not ...

To the editor:The original idea behind biofuels was good: to create a farmer-owned industry to produce home-grown fuels ? preferably for on-farm use -- with the expectation that over time feedstocks would transition from erosive and nutrient-leaky row crops (corn and soybeans) to more sustainable perennial cropping systems. That didn?t happen.The ethanol industry was mostly taken over by large corporations, and ...

The Burlington Hawk Eye, Feb. 1Public purposes: Iowa?s Lake Delhi to return with taxpayer help It?s been four years since a raging Maquoketa River destroyed the 80-year-old dam that created Iowa?s Lake Delhi.The ruined dam and now-dry lake bed are near the Delaware County town of Delhi, which is midway between Waterloo and Dubuque.The 2010 flood also took out the spillway and the county road that ran along ...

Mason City Globe Gazette, Jan. 23.Legislation aiding veterans belongs on fast track Gov. Terry Branstad says he wants to make this legislative session a landmark one for the state?s veterans. We support that support for those who have served and are glad that legislation to aid them appears on a fast track.Legislation to exempt military pensions from state income tax is moving quickly through the Senate, ...

To the editor:It?s a mistake, to me, for Fairfield Parks and Recreation to turn an excellent recreational facility, the racquetball courts, into ? a lobby.Those courts were actually very busy when they were built ? tournaments included.I think the problem was the past administration?s mentality that said, ?Here?s a money-maker. Let?s raise the price like that other town did.?Thus, when the cost soared to $10 ...

To the editor:What are members of our national government trying to pull over on us now?Did you know that Senators Max Baucus, Orrin Hatch, and Representative David Camp have just conspired among themselves to make a back room deal, just the three of them, to put a fast track bill for the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership up for the direct vote of Congress?The Trans-Pacific Partnership, usually designated ...