Letters to the Editor 05-17-2004
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Relay For Life - Seat Belts - Traffic - Ashamed - Foster Care - Candidate For IU Trustee
Relay For Life
Editor, Times-Union:The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Kosciusko County is coming to Warsaw Central Park at 6 p.m. Friday, May 21 through 9 a.m. Saturday, May 22 . The public is invited to come and join us in this battle against cancer.
This year marks a milestone for us as the largest Relay For Life in Kosciusko County to date, due to the hard work of both the committee and the volunteers. We have raised over $36,000 this year in donations for our fight against cancer with the teams raising the lions' share. This year they have had an extra motivator as I have volunteered to let a guest shave my head the night of Relay for Life if they achieve a goal of $50,000. Little did I know how this would work out. All donations received this week and at the event will help qualify toward this goal.
To help with the fight against cancer, please send donations to: American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 1386, Warsaw, IN 46580.
We have many activities going on this year that include: silent auctions of gift baskets at each campsite, massages, pictures, palm reading, live music until 10 p.m. and food by several vendors. In addition, there is a health screening being done by Kosciusko Community Hospital and cancer education during the evening.
At 6 p.m. Friday, we will be kicking off the event with a proclamation by Mayor Wiggins. At 9 p.m. there will be a Luminaria Ceremony to honor those that have fallen to cancer and those who have triumphed over this deadly disease. It is a very moving ceremony to behold. Closing ceremonies will be at 9 a.m.
The participating teams will have activities going all night including a wheelchair race at 3 a.m. This is something that always draws a crowd.
If you've never experienced a Relay For Life or maybe it's been a while since you've been, please join us at this year's Relay For Life!
Rick and Kelsa Enyart
Co-Chairmen
Kosciusko County Relay For Life
Seat Belts
Editor, Times-Union:Regarding the letter from Lance Grubbs, who gives total credit for declining auto fatalities to seat belt enforcement. If you are to follow his logic, then Mr. Grubbs forgot to mention that in 2003, a year of heavy seat belt enforcement, traffic fatalities were up 5 percent - up to 832 from 792 in 2002. Since he gives total credit when fatalities decline to seat belt enforcement then it only follows that seat belt enforcement is to blame for a 5 percent increase in 2003!
He then goes on to make the case that unbelted occupants are crushing one another in accidents in alarming numbers. If this is the case, Officer Grubbs, then I assume you are also pushing for legislation to outlaw groceries, briefcases, tools, umbrellas and other objects from passenger compartments. Imagine being in an accident and a gallon of milk hitting you in the head! Let's set up the roadblocks tomorrow and catch those dangerous criminals to protect them from themselves! Get the patrol cars out and station them in front of Owen's and protect the community!
Now my point. Twenty or 30 years ago I would have never imagined that we would be setting up blockades, checkpoints or pulling over and harassing people for seatbelt usage. It smacks of a police state where the government thinks it knows what is best for you and one way or another you will conform.
Jim Martin
Leesburg
via e-mail
Traffic
Editor, Times-Union:A letter to Mayor Ernie Wiggins:
Thank you for bringing Wal-Mart and Lowe's to our great city. I am happy that both stores are within two miles of my home.
Through town, traffic on highway 15 has increased dramatically over the last 12 months, a result of the positive expansion. During this time I have witnessed several near accidents (close calls) as motorists exit, enter or wait in Hwy. 15's center lane to access the Rolling Hills subdivision. Earlier this month we had another close call. My 2-year-old daughter and I were waiting northbound in Hwy. 15's center lane. As we waited to turn, I watched a motorist come over the hill and drift into our lane. I braced for rear-end impact and remember thinking, "We just took our last trip together." Just then the motorist corrected, buffeted our car and went whizzing past. I believe that motorist missed us by less than one inch and was exceeding the speed limit. I feel like a sitting duck out there.
Talking with my neighbors, we share similar experiences and are concerned about the safety complications that this T-section presents. Andersons, Gilliam Lanes, Warsaw Family Dentistry, Scott Financial Services, Sus Amigos and Rolling Hills access the thoroughfare here. I am certain it is only a matter of time until a loss of life or major injury occurs at this T-section. It is a four-lane highway, supports a lot of traffic and many motorists speed.
Southward traffic near Central Park, Pizza Hut and the gas station will benefit too. Exiting the gas station northbound can be impossible at times and I can't tell you how many close calls I've seen at Pizza Hut. A traffic light at Gilliam Drive and Hwy. 15 will improve safety all along the thoroughfare. A proactive response outweighs a reaction to this matter.
Thank you graciously for your time and please consider my request.
Troy A. Turley family
Warsaw, via e-mail
Ashamed
Editor, Times-Union:It has been a long time since I could claim to be proud to be an American. To be in a foreign country today, I would be ashamed and fearful to be an American. I would feel compelled to apologize for the atrocities my country of origin has committed.
I am grieved for the innocent young man who was beheaded in retaliation for what his countrymen and women did. I am grieved for his family and for all the good soldiers who will also die needlessly in the days, weeks and months to follow because of what their fellow Americans have done. Court martial is not enough punishment for those involved in these crimes. Their citizenship should be revoked.
I don't believe the Americans should be waging war, we have reached a level of degradation and immorality that makes it impossible to help someone else. Wherever the American go, additional corruption follows. This nation holds very little resemblance to that which our fore-fathers fought and dies for.
I thank my father-in-heaven for the privilege of being born to and raised by Christian parents in what was once a Christian, God-fearing nation. I am grieved continually by what this nation has become. There is no honor in a nation who turns away from God. And God will turn away from them also and he will no longer bless that nation.
The WMD was a lie from the very start. I have never understood how anyone could believe this lie. Saddam may have been a very evil man but he wasn't stupid. He would never have allowed his country to fall to the U.S. if he had the WMD to stop us. So then to redeem our position we used the excuse of liberating the Iraqis' from their evil leader but then certain deviated Americans totally destroyed our credibility, which doesn't surprise me at all. It is the ugly American syndrome, those who think we are superior and have the right to liberate the world when in fact we are no better.
Deanna Newton
Warsaw
Foster Care
Editor, Times-Union:Every child deserves a loving, stable home. Unfortunately, sometimes children can't find that safe environment with their own parents. More than 5,300 Indiana children began this year in foster care. While thousands of dedicated Hoosier foster parents provide a safe, loving home where those children can thrive, there is always a need for more and more diverse sets of foster parents willing to care for children and serve as mentors to abused and neglected kids.
That's why the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association are teaming up to recruit more foster parents and focus positive attention on the importance of foster parenting. The more people who are willing to open their homes, whether as foster parents or adoptive parents, the better chance children have to succeed.
May is Foster Care Month, a time to celebrate and honor foster families and raise awareness about the need for additional families to provide comfort and care to children in crisis. For more information about becoming a foster parent, call 800-468-4228.
Peggy A. Shively, Director
Kosciusko County Office of Family and Children
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
Candidate For IU Trustee
Editor, Times-Union:Doug McKinney, Indiana University election coordinator, informed me that my name will be place on the ballot for Indiana University Board of Trustees. I am taking a very serious approach to this candidacy and run a very aggressive campaign. I would like to thank the many people who signed my petition. I plan to use my past business experiences both failures and successes to try and help my alma mater turn the $1,800,000 sports deficit into a profit. A new football coach would be brought in to build our program back to the prominence we had when we went to the Rose Bowl in 1969.
Tuition costs for students have been increasing the past several years. Perhaps these costs could be held down with help from the Hoosier Lottery. I would also suggest that all graduates of Indiana high school be given free tuition for their first two years of college.
It would be nice if other graduates of Indiana University would write to the editor in support of my campaign and urge their friends to vote for me in the June election.
David Dan Welker
Roanoke
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- Relay For Life - Seat Belts - Traffic - Ashamed - Foster Care - Candidate For IU Trustee
Relay For Life
Editor, Times-Union:The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Kosciusko County is coming to Warsaw Central Park at 6 p.m. Friday, May 21 through 9 a.m. Saturday, May 22 . The public is invited to come and join us in this battle against cancer.
This year marks a milestone for us as the largest Relay For Life in Kosciusko County to date, due to the hard work of both the committee and the volunteers. We have raised over $36,000 this year in donations for our fight against cancer with the teams raising the lions' share. This year they have had an extra motivator as I have volunteered to let a guest shave my head the night of Relay for Life if they achieve a goal of $50,000. Little did I know how this would work out. All donations received this week and at the event will help qualify toward this goal.
To help with the fight against cancer, please send donations to: American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 1386, Warsaw, IN 46580.
We have many activities going on this year that include: silent auctions of gift baskets at each campsite, massages, pictures, palm reading, live music until 10 p.m. and food by several vendors. In addition, there is a health screening being done by Kosciusko Community Hospital and cancer education during the evening.
At 6 p.m. Friday, we will be kicking off the event with a proclamation by Mayor Wiggins. At 9 p.m. there will be a Luminaria Ceremony to honor those that have fallen to cancer and those who have triumphed over this deadly disease. It is a very moving ceremony to behold. Closing ceremonies will be at 9 a.m.
The participating teams will have activities going all night including a wheelchair race at 3 a.m. This is something that always draws a crowd.
If you've never experienced a Relay For Life or maybe it's been a while since you've been, please join us at this year's Relay For Life!
Rick and Kelsa Enyart
Co-Chairmen
Kosciusko County Relay For Life
Seat Belts
Editor, Times-Union:Regarding the letter from Lance Grubbs, who gives total credit for declining auto fatalities to seat belt enforcement. If you are to follow his logic, then Mr. Grubbs forgot to mention that in 2003, a year of heavy seat belt enforcement, traffic fatalities were up 5 percent - up to 832 from 792 in 2002. Since he gives total credit when fatalities decline to seat belt enforcement then it only follows that seat belt enforcement is to blame for a 5 percent increase in 2003!
He then goes on to make the case that unbelted occupants are crushing one another in accidents in alarming numbers. If this is the case, Officer Grubbs, then I assume you are also pushing for legislation to outlaw groceries, briefcases, tools, umbrellas and other objects from passenger compartments. Imagine being in an accident and a gallon of milk hitting you in the head! Let's set up the roadblocks tomorrow and catch those dangerous criminals to protect them from themselves! Get the patrol cars out and station them in front of Owen's and protect the community!
Now my point. Twenty or 30 years ago I would have never imagined that we would be setting up blockades, checkpoints or pulling over and harassing people for seatbelt usage. It smacks of a police state where the government thinks it knows what is best for you and one way or another you will conform.
Jim Martin
Leesburg
via e-mail
Traffic
Editor, Times-Union:A letter to Mayor Ernie Wiggins:
Thank you for bringing Wal-Mart and Lowe's to our great city. I am happy that both stores are within two miles of my home.
Through town, traffic on highway 15 has increased dramatically over the last 12 months, a result of the positive expansion. During this time I have witnessed several near accidents (close calls) as motorists exit, enter or wait in Hwy. 15's center lane to access the Rolling Hills subdivision. Earlier this month we had another close call. My 2-year-old daughter and I were waiting northbound in Hwy. 15's center lane. As we waited to turn, I watched a motorist come over the hill and drift into our lane. I braced for rear-end impact and remember thinking, "We just took our last trip together." Just then the motorist corrected, buffeted our car and went whizzing past. I believe that motorist missed us by less than one inch and was exceeding the speed limit. I feel like a sitting duck out there.
Talking with my neighbors, we share similar experiences and are concerned about the safety complications that this T-section presents. Andersons, Gilliam Lanes, Warsaw Family Dentistry, Scott Financial Services, Sus Amigos and Rolling Hills access the thoroughfare here. I am certain it is only a matter of time until a loss of life or major injury occurs at this T-section. It is a four-lane highway, supports a lot of traffic and many motorists speed.
Southward traffic near Central Park, Pizza Hut and the gas station will benefit too. Exiting the gas station northbound can be impossible at times and I can't tell you how many close calls I've seen at Pizza Hut. A traffic light at Gilliam Drive and Hwy. 15 will improve safety all along the thoroughfare. A proactive response outweighs a reaction to this matter.
Thank you graciously for your time and please consider my request.
Troy A. Turley family
Warsaw, via e-mail
Ashamed
Editor, Times-Union:It has been a long time since I could claim to be proud to be an American. To be in a foreign country today, I would be ashamed and fearful to be an American. I would feel compelled to apologize for the atrocities my country of origin has committed.
I am grieved for the innocent young man who was beheaded in retaliation for what his countrymen and women did. I am grieved for his family and for all the good soldiers who will also die needlessly in the days, weeks and months to follow because of what their fellow Americans have done. Court martial is not enough punishment for those involved in these crimes. Their citizenship should be revoked.
I don't believe the Americans should be waging war, we have reached a level of degradation and immorality that makes it impossible to help someone else. Wherever the American go, additional corruption follows. This nation holds very little resemblance to that which our fore-fathers fought and dies for.
I thank my father-in-heaven for the privilege of being born to and raised by Christian parents in what was once a Christian, God-fearing nation. I am grieved continually by what this nation has become. There is no honor in a nation who turns away from God. And God will turn away from them also and he will no longer bless that nation.
The WMD was a lie from the very start. I have never understood how anyone could believe this lie. Saddam may have been a very evil man but he wasn't stupid. He would never have allowed his country to fall to the U.S. if he had the WMD to stop us. So then to redeem our position we used the excuse of liberating the Iraqis' from their evil leader but then certain deviated Americans totally destroyed our credibility, which doesn't surprise me at all. It is the ugly American syndrome, those who think we are superior and have the right to liberate the world when in fact we are no better.
Deanna Newton
Warsaw
Foster Care
Editor, Times-Union:Every child deserves a loving, stable home. Unfortunately, sometimes children can't find that safe environment with their own parents. More than 5,300 Indiana children began this year in foster care. While thousands of dedicated Hoosier foster parents provide a safe, loving home where those children can thrive, there is always a need for more and more diverse sets of foster parents willing to care for children and serve as mentors to abused and neglected kids.
That's why the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association are teaming up to recruit more foster parents and focus positive attention on the importance of foster parenting. The more people who are willing to open their homes, whether as foster parents or adoptive parents, the better chance children have to succeed.
May is Foster Care Month, a time to celebrate and honor foster families and raise awareness about the need for additional families to provide comfort and care to children in crisis. For more information about becoming a foster parent, call 800-468-4228.
Peggy A. Shively, Director
Kosciusko County Office of Family and Children
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
Candidate For IU Trustee
Editor, Times-Union:Doug McKinney, Indiana University election coordinator, informed me that my name will be place on the ballot for Indiana University Board of Trustees. I am taking a very serious approach to this candidacy and run a very aggressive campaign. I would like to thank the many people who signed my petition. I plan to use my past business experiences both failures and successes to try and help my alma mater turn the $1,800,000 sports deficit into a profit. A new football coach would be brought in to build our program back to the prominence we had when we went to the Rose Bowl in 1969.
Tuition costs for students have been increasing the past several years. Perhaps these costs could be held down with help from the Hoosier Lottery. I would also suggest that all graduates of Indiana high school be given free tuition for their first two years of college.
It would be nice if other graduates of Indiana University would write to the editor in support of my campaign and urge their friends to vote for me in the June election.
David Dan Welker
Roanoke
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