Letters to the Editor 07-11-2001
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Thanks To Animal Hospital - Campaign Finance
Thanks To Animal Hospital
Editor, Times-Union:My family and I wanted to write this letter to thank the staff at Lake City Animal Hospital. Our dog Max had allergies all his life. We changed our vet to Lake City when we were told Max probably had cancer by another vet who didn't offer us the compassion and support we were going to need.
Dr. Pam Brickley at Lake City was extremely understanding and supportive. She took samples and told us that day that Max probably only had 3-6 months to live. As we struggled to keep our emotions in check, Dr. Brickley answered all our questions. She told us we would most likely have to put Max to sleep when his quality of life started suffering.
We took Max home, gave him lots of love and the medication the doctor prescribed. We openly discussed Max's condition with our 10-year-old and she of course was devastated, but knowing what was going to happen allowed us to prepare ourselves.
Friday, July 6 was to be Max's last day with us. His quality of life had plummeted overnight so there was no other choice. My husband, 10-year-old, 5-year-old and I took Max to Lake City for the last time. We were all an emotional mess and the entire staff was terrific. They gave us plenty of time to say our goodbyes. They also apologized for our loss. Dr. Bickley wasn't available that afternoon, so we met Dr. Scott Emch for the first time. He also apologized for having to meet us under such terrible circumstances. He addressed our 10-year-old the same way he addressed my husband and me, which meant a lot to us since Max was "her" dog. We stayed in the room with Max and held him until the very end, and as painful as that was, comforting him was very important. The doctor and the technician quietly slipped out of the room after Max was gone and allowed us more time to grieve in private.
The doctor then came back in and offered to carry Max to the car for us. We took him home and buried him in the shade of his favorite bush. From the bottom of our broken hearts, we thank the entire staff at the Lake City Animal Hospital for sharing our pain.
Beau, Kelly, Alexis and Jon Howard
Warsaw
via e-mail
Campaign Finance
Editor, Times Union:The House of Representatives will be voting as early as July 12 or 13 on a bill (Shays-Meehan "campaign finance reform") that would greatly restrict the ability of the ordinary citizen to affect legislation and elections.
Most of us do not have the wealth necessary to run television, newspaper or radio ads to inform others regarding legislation that concerns us or positions that our representatives take on a given issue. Because of this, many people give small donations to national organizations that can publicize information about legislation that is being considered by the House or Senate. Obviously, as executive director of Kosciusko County Right to Life, I am concerned about pro-life legislation. However, the Shays-Meehan bill will impact all organizations, liberal and conservative.
The Senate has already passed a similar bill called the McCain-Feingold bill.
The provisions in the Shays-Meehan bill would prevent advocacy groups from funding TV or radio ads that even mention the name of a local member of Congress for 30 days before a state's congressional primary, and for another 60 days before the general election. If Congress is considering a particular piece of legislation, organizations concerned about that legislation would not be able to run radio ads urging people to call their congressman and ask him to vote for or against the bill.
Many independent analysts are beginning to see the truth behind the Shays-Meehan bill. David Broder, Washington Post columnist, wrote, "The authors of the Senate bill have gone way too far in restricting freedom of speech." Syndicated columnist Mike Kelly called the bill "a reeking mess; an unsupportable, unconstitutional assault on the rights to speak and associate freely." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 24) editorialized: "What many well-meaning supporters don't realize, however, is that the McCain-Feingold bill that passed the Senate is deeply flawed and a serious threat to free speech. Does the nation need campaign finance reform? Yes it does - but not at the risk of censoring the speech that is the lifeblood of a democratic election campaign. When the House takes up campaign finance reform after the July 4 recess, it should make sure it removes the blatantly unconstitutional provisions in the Senate version of the bill. ... That broad ban on electioneering amounts to a twin-pronged attack on the First Amendment and the democratic process. We don't want to destroy our system of free elections in order to save them."
An alternative bill will be considered this week drafted by Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio). Please call your congressman and request that he not vote for the Shays-Meehan bill, but instead for the Ney bill. The Ney bill is even beginning to attract support from some Democrats who had previously supported the Shays-Meehan bill. Rep. Tim Roemer (D), call (202) 225-3915 e-mail: [email protected]; Rep. Steve Buyer (R), call (202) 225-5037.
Dave Koontz
Executive Director
Kosciusko County Right to Life
[[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
- Thanks To Animal Hospital - Campaign Finance
Thanks To Animal Hospital
Editor, Times-Union:My family and I wanted to write this letter to thank the staff at Lake City Animal Hospital. Our dog Max had allergies all his life. We changed our vet to Lake City when we were told Max probably had cancer by another vet who didn't offer us the compassion and support we were going to need.
Dr. Pam Brickley at Lake City was extremely understanding and supportive. She took samples and told us that day that Max probably only had 3-6 months to live. As we struggled to keep our emotions in check, Dr. Brickley answered all our questions. She told us we would most likely have to put Max to sleep when his quality of life started suffering.
We took Max home, gave him lots of love and the medication the doctor prescribed. We openly discussed Max's condition with our 10-year-old and she of course was devastated, but knowing what was going to happen allowed us to prepare ourselves.
Friday, July 6 was to be Max's last day with us. His quality of life had plummeted overnight so there was no other choice. My husband, 10-year-old, 5-year-old and I took Max to Lake City for the last time. We were all an emotional mess and the entire staff was terrific. They gave us plenty of time to say our goodbyes. They also apologized for our loss. Dr. Bickley wasn't available that afternoon, so we met Dr. Scott Emch for the first time. He also apologized for having to meet us under such terrible circumstances. He addressed our 10-year-old the same way he addressed my husband and me, which meant a lot to us since Max was "her" dog. We stayed in the room with Max and held him until the very end, and as painful as that was, comforting him was very important. The doctor and the technician quietly slipped out of the room after Max was gone and allowed us more time to grieve in private.
The doctor then came back in and offered to carry Max to the car for us. We took him home and buried him in the shade of his favorite bush. From the bottom of our broken hearts, we thank the entire staff at the Lake City Animal Hospital for sharing our pain.
Beau, Kelly, Alexis and Jon Howard
Warsaw
via e-mail
Campaign Finance
Editor, Times Union:The House of Representatives will be voting as early as July 12 or 13 on a bill (Shays-Meehan "campaign finance reform") that would greatly restrict the ability of the ordinary citizen to affect legislation and elections.
Most of us do not have the wealth necessary to run television, newspaper or radio ads to inform others regarding legislation that concerns us or positions that our representatives take on a given issue. Because of this, many people give small donations to national organizations that can publicize information about legislation that is being considered by the House or Senate. Obviously, as executive director of Kosciusko County Right to Life, I am concerned about pro-life legislation. However, the Shays-Meehan bill will impact all organizations, liberal and conservative.
The Senate has already passed a similar bill called the McCain-Feingold bill.
The provisions in the Shays-Meehan bill would prevent advocacy groups from funding TV or radio ads that even mention the name of a local member of Congress for 30 days before a state's congressional primary, and for another 60 days before the general election. If Congress is considering a particular piece of legislation, organizations concerned about that legislation would not be able to run radio ads urging people to call their congressman and ask him to vote for or against the bill.
Many independent analysts are beginning to see the truth behind the Shays-Meehan bill. David Broder, Washington Post columnist, wrote, "The authors of the Senate bill have gone way too far in restricting freedom of speech." Syndicated columnist Mike Kelly called the bill "a reeking mess; an unsupportable, unconstitutional assault on the rights to speak and associate freely." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 24) editorialized: "What many well-meaning supporters don't realize, however, is that the McCain-Feingold bill that passed the Senate is deeply flawed and a serious threat to free speech. Does the nation need campaign finance reform? Yes it does - but not at the risk of censoring the speech that is the lifeblood of a democratic election campaign. When the House takes up campaign finance reform after the July 4 recess, it should make sure it removes the blatantly unconstitutional provisions in the Senate version of the bill. ... That broad ban on electioneering amounts to a twin-pronged attack on the First Amendment and the democratic process. We don't want to destroy our system of free elections in order to save them."
An alternative bill will be considered this week drafted by Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio). Please call your congressman and request that he not vote for the Shays-Meehan bill, but instead for the Ney bill. The Ney bill is even beginning to attract support from some Democrats who had previously supported the Shays-Meehan bill. Rep. Tim Roemer (D), call (202) 225-3915 e-mail: [email protected]; Rep. Steve Buyer (R), call (202) 225-5037.
Dave Koontz
Executive Director
Kosciusko County Right to Life
[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092