Letters to the Editor 04-03-2002
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Judge Huffer - Senator Adams - Rural Landscape - School Board - Gun Control
Judge Huffer
Editor, Times-Union:County taxpayers, once again our judicial system has failed us.
It has not only failed us but also our children.
I was in shock when I read the Saturday edition of the Times-Union Court Briefs. But then I was not surprised to see the ruling came out of Superior Court 1 (Judge Huffer).
For those of you that missed it, a 30-year-old man was given a one and one-half year suspended sentence for repeatedly striking an 11-year-old with a hockey stick because she had taken a toy away from his son and made him cry.
While I do not know the dynamics of this case, I do know that I find this unacceptable. What kind of message is this sending out to these children? Plus there is a possibility that if this man completes the terms of his probation that they will reduce the conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor! There are no decent printable words to describe this travesty of justice! Let's think about the future of these children ... are we forever in this one incident going to have a girl that was abused (yes, that is what this is) now always be a victim because the system failed her? And/or are we always going to have a possible offender because this boy grew up in a household where this was acceptable and basically acceptable to the courts?
Who does Judge Huffer think he is helping by doing this? Does he realize that he is not making this a safer community, but one in which, in this day and age, these types of crimes and offenders are slapped on the wrist? How does he sleep at night knowing all of offenders he has given "probation" are out there? In a previous letter I had promised that I would keep an eye on this matter and this is exactly why. I urge every taxpayer that is, by the way, paying his salary, to vote this year. I encourage every taxpayer to do the right thing and vote for a judge that will do his job effectively and make this a safer community for our families. It's not going to get any better with haphazard judges like this. I want my streets safe for my children.
Oh, one more thing, if these letters are upsetting, there is only one person to blame. If it were not for the actions he has taken, these letters would not exist, he needs to look no further than the bathroom mirror.
Vic Andrews
Warsaw
Senator Adams
Editor, Times-Union:Thank you, Senator Adams, for your open letter to us Hoosiers as to what is actually going on in Indianapolis.
Mr. Ruppel in his letters to us, his constituents, has printed some other actual facts. It is sad when our own people take advantage of others to gratify their own wants.
Sure, Gov. O'Bannon gained some nice notes when he took the sales tax off gasoline before the last election, but where did it leave Indiana?
Just good common sense is still the best rule of the day.
Our God gave us a very workable formula for getting along - "Loving God, loving others."
Naomi Floor
Silver Lake
Rural Landscape
Editor, Times-Union:Have you driven through the county lately? The once-beautiful scenic environment is changing fast. A clean woods bordered by healthy crops, a lush green field in the early spring, a sunset casting a long shadow across a clean field, deer grazing in the morning dew of an alfalfa field. Once it's gone, it's gone.
A recent letter by Kip Tom regarding the danger posed to our county's rural landscape should not be taken lightly. Quick action by our county officials is needed to prevent a loss that will impact us all. We can no longer allow prime agricultural property to be eaten away with a hodge podge of pop-up homes and unwise building decisions. We need growth and expansion but it has to be planned then controlled.
A recent auction ad details the problem exactly ... 166 acres of property broken up into eight tracts and sold at auction. The 20-acre minimum sell-off size no longer protects the property as it was intended to do from buyers who want to build one home or attempt to further break the acreage down for multiple homes. It also makes it difficult for a productive farm to remain a productive farm. It's got to be hard for a farmer to go to auction and buy 166 more acres to farm when you have 10 other people trying to pick it off a parcel at a time, with no intention of trying to farm it and make it pay. Once it's gone, it's gone.
The minimum sell-off size has to be increased. Mr. Tom proposed 60 acres and that's probably a good start. If action is not taken we will continue to lose hundreds upon hundreds of acres each year as we have in the past. Then when you want to take a drive through our beautiful county you may as well drive through downtown. Going, going, gone!
Greg White
North Webster
via e-mail
School Board
Editor, Times-Union:I hope Warsaw School Board members would want to carve on their head stones, "We spent an extra $30 million to educate your child."
Fourth-grade boy or girl would know weight and wrestling rooms, football field and stadium would not help your education. I hope St. Peter doesn't ask what you used the money for.
Kenneth Parks
Warsaw
Gun Control
Editor, Times-Union:Do we want to take guns from all American citizens? Are Americans to be forced to forfeit their Second Amendment rights to bear arms? Were our forefathers so brutal that they were blind to the dangers this law could create? I tend to think of our long- ago leaders as far-seeing and understanding a person's right to protect their family and homes. Do we as Americans as "free people" have restricted rights under law, or do we have "free choice" to bear arms?
The majority of gun owners have legal permits or permission to own guns. Criminals do not need permits to purchase guns or weapons on the black market. All they need is a dishonest and greedy gun dealer.
Suppose Sept. 11, 2001, is a sample of terrorism to come to our country. Do we need to tell our enemies if we can protect our families and homes, or do we surrender all our weapons and become "animals or infidels for slaughter"?
I can understand the concern of people who fear the illegal use of these weapons by our schoolchildren. Maybe there are more important concerns of American children's behavior we need to focus our attention toward. There are other matters here to think about besides gun control.
Let us place the blame where it belongs for gun control. Greed and dishonesty.
Larry A. Huffer
Leesburg
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- Judge Huffer - Senator Adams - Rural Landscape - School Board - Gun Control
Judge Huffer
Editor, Times-Union:County taxpayers, once again our judicial system has failed us.
It has not only failed us but also our children.
I was in shock when I read the Saturday edition of the Times-Union Court Briefs. But then I was not surprised to see the ruling came out of Superior Court 1 (Judge Huffer).
For those of you that missed it, a 30-year-old man was given a one and one-half year suspended sentence for repeatedly striking an 11-year-old with a hockey stick because she had taken a toy away from his son and made him cry.
While I do not know the dynamics of this case, I do know that I find this unacceptable. What kind of message is this sending out to these children? Plus there is a possibility that if this man completes the terms of his probation that they will reduce the conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor! There are no decent printable words to describe this travesty of justice! Let's think about the future of these children ... are we forever in this one incident going to have a girl that was abused (yes, that is what this is) now always be a victim because the system failed her? And/or are we always going to have a possible offender because this boy grew up in a household where this was acceptable and basically acceptable to the courts?
Who does Judge Huffer think he is helping by doing this? Does he realize that he is not making this a safer community, but one in which, in this day and age, these types of crimes and offenders are slapped on the wrist? How does he sleep at night knowing all of offenders he has given "probation" are out there? In a previous letter I had promised that I would keep an eye on this matter and this is exactly why. I urge every taxpayer that is, by the way, paying his salary, to vote this year. I encourage every taxpayer to do the right thing and vote for a judge that will do his job effectively and make this a safer community for our families. It's not going to get any better with haphazard judges like this. I want my streets safe for my children.
Oh, one more thing, if these letters are upsetting, there is only one person to blame. If it were not for the actions he has taken, these letters would not exist, he needs to look no further than the bathroom mirror.
Vic Andrews
Warsaw
Senator Adams
Editor, Times-Union:Thank you, Senator Adams, for your open letter to us Hoosiers as to what is actually going on in Indianapolis.
Mr. Ruppel in his letters to us, his constituents, has printed some other actual facts. It is sad when our own people take advantage of others to gratify their own wants.
Sure, Gov. O'Bannon gained some nice notes when he took the sales tax off gasoline before the last election, but where did it leave Indiana?
Just good common sense is still the best rule of the day.
Our God gave us a very workable formula for getting along - "Loving God, loving others."
Naomi Floor
Silver Lake
Rural Landscape
Editor, Times-Union:Have you driven through the county lately? The once-beautiful scenic environment is changing fast. A clean woods bordered by healthy crops, a lush green field in the early spring, a sunset casting a long shadow across a clean field, deer grazing in the morning dew of an alfalfa field. Once it's gone, it's gone.
A recent letter by Kip Tom regarding the danger posed to our county's rural landscape should not be taken lightly. Quick action by our county officials is needed to prevent a loss that will impact us all. We can no longer allow prime agricultural property to be eaten away with a hodge podge of pop-up homes and unwise building decisions. We need growth and expansion but it has to be planned then controlled.
A recent auction ad details the problem exactly ... 166 acres of property broken up into eight tracts and sold at auction. The 20-acre minimum sell-off size no longer protects the property as it was intended to do from buyers who want to build one home or attempt to further break the acreage down for multiple homes. It also makes it difficult for a productive farm to remain a productive farm. It's got to be hard for a farmer to go to auction and buy 166 more acres to farm when you have 10 other people trying to pick it off a parcel at a time, with no intention of trying to farm it and make it pay. Once it's gone, it's gone.
The minimum sell-off size has to be increased. Mr. Tom proposed 60 acres and that's probably a good start. If action is not taken we will continue to lose hundreds upon hundreds of acres each year as we have in the past. Then when you want to take a drive through our beautiful county you may as well drive through downtown. Going, going, gone!
Greg White
North Webster
via e-mail
School Board
Editor, Times-Union:I hope Warsaw School Board members would want to carve on their head stones, "We spent an extra $30 million to educate your child."
Fourth-grade boy or girl would know weight and wrestling rooms, football field and stadium would not help your education. I hope St. Peter doesn't ask what you used the money for.
Kenneth Parks
Warsaw
Gun Control
Editor, Times-Union:Do we want to take guns from all American citizens? Are Americans to be forced to forfeit their Second Amendment rights to bear arms? Were our forefathers so brutal that they were blind to the dangers this law could create? I tend to think of our long- ago leaders as far-seeing and understanding a person's right to protect their family and homes. Do we as Americans as "free people" have restricted rights under law, or do we have "free choice" to bear arms?
The majority of gun owners have legal permits or permission to own guns. Criminals do not need permits to purchase guns or weapons on the black market. All they need is a dishonest and greedy gun dealer.
Suppose Sept. 11, 2001, is a sample of terrorism to come to our country. Do we need to tell our enemies if we can protect our families and homes, or do we surrender all our weapons and become "animals or infidels for slaughter"?
I can understand the concern of people who fear the illegal use of these weapons by our schoolchildren. Maybe there are more important concerns of American children's behavior we need to focus our attention toward. There are other matters here to think about besides gun control.
Let us place the blame where it belongs for gun control. Greed and dishonesty.
Larry A. Huffer
Leesburg
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