Letters to the Editor 10-12-2005
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- WPD And WFD Questions - 'No' To Barbee Sewer - Truth About Police - Desperation - Defining Pro-Life
WPD And WFD Questions
Editor, Times-Union:Three questions:
1. Why is the sheriff allowed to take their children in county vehicles? Because to me, it just isn't right we all pay county taxes for the cars they drive.
2. Why do the city police units get to take the city taxpayers' cars home with them when their shift has ended? One city officer lives in Pierceton, why is that allowed?
3. Warsaw Fire Department - If there is an accident or fire on the east side of town, why is the WFD called? Same goes with west side? Why are the fire trucks always running up and down the streets, most of the time when there is no fire?
Thanks.
Arthur Clark
Warsaw
'No' To Barbee Sewer
Editor, Times-Union:Vote no!
Please vote "no" to a sewer system on the Barbee chain of lakes. Also, vote "no" for the Barbee Lakes Conservancy District. Our tax dollars are being spent without the homeowners' approval: $10,000 for laptop computers, $70,212 for PVC pipe, which would connect into a sewer line from North Webster. Why didn't the homeowners get a chance to say "yes" or "no" to these two items? The vote is not unanimous. I would have said "no." Talk about things being ramrodded down your throat. The tax money collected from the people belongs to the people. Not to the whim of the board members.
I do not have lake access. I have enough acreage to have my own septic system. I've never had a problem with my septic system, either. Plus, I sit way back off the road, but yet the District Board thinks I need to help pay for their sewer system. I think it would be most and outrageously unfair. My neighbors feel the same way. None of us can afford to make the monthly payments that the engineers of the potential sewer system say we will have to make. It's downright unfair. Seniors, please be careful in thinking that in voting "yes" that your kids will benefit. They will inherit your debt and not want it.
Sincerely,
Sheryl A. Wallace
Pierceton
Truth About Police
Editor, Times-Union:This letter is in response to Kevin Paxton's letter regarding our local law enforcement, and I was compelled to give him a better idea on how our local law enforcement operates. Your critical opinions are truly off-base and it's very apparent that you really don't have a clue about much. Let me share some facts with you instead of my opinion. Our sheriff's department received around 23,000 service calls last year. We have 22 officers assigned to patrol. That's around 1,045 calls per officer for one year. In addition to these service calls, our officers assist in maintaining the courts and jail, promote programs such as DARE, conduct paper service, provide school resource officers and traffic patrol to name a few. There are three investigators to handle cases like those you mentioned and one certified fingerprint technician for the county outside of our investigators. In this county, a large majority of our crimes aren't even solved by fingerprints. This is not "CSI: Miami" nor do we live in a large city where we have the funds to purchase the high tech lab equipment that you see on TV. Feel free to move to a larger city if this is your expectation or turn your television off. As far as the sarcastic officer you mentioned, I guarantee no sarcasm was meant nor did these officers find humor in anyone's misfortune.
Let me take this to a more personal level and focus on your comment about officers doing what they're paid to do instead of what is easy. If we based their responsibilities on their pay, then they would not be required to do much, but that is another topic for another day. I have office personnel where I work making more money than our officers who risk their lives everyday. I'll share with you what it is like in my home, as a cop's wife. Do you worry that your loved one will return home safely from just a normal day at work? Do you think that getting shot at is easy? You'd say no if you'd seen the hole in the windshield of my husband's patrol car that was made by a shotgun. Do you think missing out on your kid's birthdays, holidays and all the other irreplaceable family time is easy for these officers? They do it not for the pay, not because it's easy, but because they want to. Who is watching out for my family when my husband is watching out for you and yours? If you want to complain or improve our local law enforcement, then don't write an uneducated letter to the paper, address your county council because those are the people that can help make a difference. It's not a lack of caring that is the problem, it's a lack of funds and resources. For clarification, my husband wasn't one of the officers that took any of the calls you mentioned. To our local officers, thank you for what you do everyday!
Andrea McKeand
Warsaw, via e-mail
Desperation
Editor, Times-Union:To make a long story short, the welfare system is screwed up and the legal system doesn't know what they are doing.
People who haven't walked in my shoes don't know life. People actually think that you choose to be poor. Instead of life choosing for you, such as me, I have had Multiple Sclerosis for 14 years, I can't work, I can't get disability and my husband divorced me. How was that my choice?
You can't survive in this world without two incomes, just ask my new husband. Medicine is sky-high priced, no insurance, no money, no car, no phone and finally no home, and this is my choice, too? Not!
What is a person to do if they are not a minority or single with 10 kids? Nobody will help you at all. I am surprised suicides are not higher, it's the only way out for an honest white girl who just happened to get sick, and it wasn't because of sex. The world turns their back on you. If I'm wrong, show me where and how because I can't find out how to survive. If you really care, contact me back. But you better hurry, I am being evicted.
Jeanenne Wright
Milford, via e-mail
Defining Pro-Life
Editor, Times-Union:This column has often reflected the strong convictions of persons in the community opposed to abortion. In fact I am one of those persons. It has been my compelling conviction over the last several years, however, that there is a big difference between being anti-abortion and truly pro-life. A political program which opposes abortion but which ignores or rejects the greater issues of social justice is not truly pro-life. In this sense there are many pro-life issues: War, taxes, immigration, poverty, international relations and the list goes on and on. Let me give some examples.
If we truly embrace a pro-life position we must confront the presence and abuse of the undocumented immigrants in our midst. It is unlawful to enter this country without permission, but throughout the country and even here corporations employ these people at lesser wages. If they become injured they are sometimes fired without medical treatment or benefits. If it is "discovered" such a person is undocumented he or she may be deported, but we rarely see any penalties imposed on the corporations for employing undocumented immigrants. Isn't abuse of aliens in our midst a pro-life issue?
The tax structure is very much a pro-life question. How we distribute our assets and whether we favor the rich over the poor touches on the sanctity of life. By way of example, we have long been hearing that we should repeal the "death tax." It was called this several years ago as a propaganda tool to persuade you and me that it was bad and should be ended. We were told that its repeal will save the family farm. This tax affects the top 5 percent of the people in the country, that is, the wealthiest. There is a current $2,000,000 exemption before the tax kicks in. So what exactly does this family farm look like? If you want to see what a culture looks like that has no estate tax, look at some of the central and south American countries where the conquistadores and their descendants have held the wealth for 500 years. I contend such a system of vested wealth is anti-American and anti-democratic as the hoarding of wealth deprives others the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Furthermore, from whom did all this wealth come? Perhaps these questions plagued Bill Gates at one time, since, as I understand, he is one of many people opposed to ending the federal estate tax.
War is a pro-life issue. In my view we have engaged in an unjust war in Iraq that has costs the lives of our fine and honorable soldiers as well as somewhere around 25,000 Iraqi casualties. We were sold this war on mistaken or false premises and now find ourselves in a deathtrap quagmire. Pursuing war unjustly and foolishly denigrates the sanctity of life in every respect.
Placing our country in huge debt is a pro-life issue. It seems to me our "conservative" government is passing out money like candy for pork-barrel projects, debit cards for hurricane victims, billions of dollars a day for Iraq, et cetera. Who is going to pay for this? Our kids and their kids - this debt will affect the quality of their lives greatly.
There is not enough space in this column to address all the pro-life issues in one letter. There are many more and I hope my thoughts inspire others to engage in this discussion. If we are more than anti-abortion and are truly pro-life, this is long past due.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail
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- WPD And WFD Questions - 'No' To Barbee Sewer - Truth About Police - Desperation - Defining Pro-Life
WPD And WFD Questions
Editor, Times-Union:Three questions:
1. Why is the sheriff allowed to take their children in county vehicles? Because to me, it just isn't right we all pay county taxes for the cars they drive.
2. Why do the city police units get to take the city taxpayers' cars home with them when their shift has ended? One city officer lives in Pierceton, why is that allowed?
3. Warsaw Fire Department - If there is an accident or fire on the east side of town, why is the WFD called? Same goes with west side? Why are the fire trucks always running up and down the streets, most of the time when there is no fire?
Thanks.
Arthur Clark
Warsaw
'No' To Barbee Sewer
Editor, Times-Union:Vote no!
Please vote "no" to a sewer system on the Barbee chain of lakes. Also, vote "no" for the Barbee Lakes Conservancy District. Our tax dollars are being spent without the homeowners' approval: $10,000 for laptop computers, $70,212 for PVC pipe, which would connect into a sewer line from North Webster. Why didn't the homeowners get a chance to say "yes" or "no" to these two items? The vote is not unanimous. I would have said "no." Talk about things being ramrodded down your throat. The tax money collected from the people belongs to the people. Not to the whim of the board members.
I do not have lake access. I have enough acreage to have my own septic system. I've never had a problem with my septic system, either. Plus, I sit way back off the road, but yet the District Board thinks I need to help pay for their sewer system. I think it would be most and outrageously unfair. My neighbors feel the same way. None of us can afford to make the monthly payments that the engineers of the potential sewer system say we will have to make. It's downright unfair. Seniors, please be careful in thinking that in voting "yes" that your kids will benefit. They will inherit your debt and not want it.
Sincerely,
Sheryl A. Wallace
Pierceton
Truth About Police
Editor, Times-Union:This letter is in response to Kevin Paxton's letter regarding our local law enforcement, and I was compelled to give him a better idea on how our local law enforcement operates. Your critical opinions are truly off-base and it's very apparent that you really don't have a clue about much. Let me share some facts with you instead of my opinion. Our sheriff's department received around 23,000 service calls last year. We have 22 officers assigned to patrol. That's around 1,045 calls per officer for one year. In addition to these service calls, our officers assist in maintaining the courts and jail, promote programs such as DARE, conduct paper service, provide school resource officers and traffic patrol to name a few. There are three investigators to handle cases like those you mentioned and one certified fingerprint technician for the county outside of our investigators. In this county, a large majority of our crimes aren't even solved by fingerprints. This is not "CSI: Miami" nor do we live in a large city where we have the funds to purchase the high tech lab equipment that you see on TV. Feel free to move to a larger city if this is your expectation or turn your television off. As far as the sarcastic officer you mentioned, I guarantee no sarcasm was meant nor did these officers find humor in anyone's misfortune.
Let me take this to a more personal level and focus on your comment about officers doing what they're paid to do instead of what is easy. If we based their responsibilities on their pay, then they would not be required to do much, but that is another topic for another day. I have office personnel where I work making more money than our officers who risk their lives everyday. I'll share with you what it is like in my home, as a cop's wife. Do you worry that your loved one will return home safely from just a normal day at work? Do you think that getting shot at is easy? You'd say no if you'd seen the hole in the windshield of my husband's patrol car that was made by a shotgun. Do you think missing out on your kid's birthdays, holidays and all the other irreplaceable family time is easy for these officers? They do it not for the pay, not because it's easy, but because they want to. Who is watching out for my family when my husband is watching out for you and yours? If you want to complain or improve our local law enforcement, then don't write an uneducated letter to the paper, address your county council because those are the people that can help make a difference. It's not a lack of caring that is the problem, it's a lack of funds and resources. For clarification, my husband wasn't one of the officers that took any of the calls you mentioned. To our local officers, thank you for what you do everyday!
Andrea McKeand
Warsaw, via e-mail
Desperation
Editor, Times-Union:To make a long story short, the welfare system is screwed up and the legal system doesn't know what they are doing.
People who haven't walked in my shoes don't know life. People actually think that you choose to be poor. Instead of life choosing for you, such as me, I have had Multiple Sclerosis for 14 years, I can't work, I can't get disability and my husband divorced me. How was that my choice?
You can't survive in this world without two incomes, just ask my new husband. Medicine is sky-high priced, no insurance, no money, no car, no phone and finally no home, and this is my choice, too? Not!
What is a person to do if they are not a minority or single with 10 kids? Nobody will help you at all. I am surprised suicides are not higher, it's the only way out for an honest white girl who just happened to get sick, and it wasn't because of sex. The world turns their back on you. If I'm wrong, show me where and how because I can't find out how to survive. If you really care, contact me back. But you better hurry, I am being evicted.
Jeanenne Wright
Milford, via e-mail
Defining Pro-Life
Editor, Times-Union:This column has often reflected the strong convictions of persons in the community opposed to abortion. In fact I am one of those persons. It has been my compelling conviction over the last several years, however, that there is a big difference between being anti-abortion and truly pro-life. A political program which opposes abortion but which ignores or rejects the greater issues of social justice is not truly pro-life. In this sense there are many pro-life issues: War, taxes, immigration, poverty, international relations and the list goes on and on. Let me give some examples.
If we truly embrace a pro-life position we must confront the presence and abuse of the undocumented immigrants in our midst. It is unlawful to enter this country without permission, but throughout the country and even here corporations employ these people at lesser wages. If they become injured they are sometimes fired without medical treatment or benefits. If it is "discovered" such a person is undocumented he or she may be deported, but we rarely see any penalties imposed on the corporations for employing undocumented immigrants. Isn't abuse of aliens in our midst a pro-life issue?
The tax structure is very much a pro-life question. How we distribute our assets and whether we favor the rich over the poor touches on the sanctity of life. By way of example, we have long been hearing that we should repeal the "death tax." It was called this several years ago as a propaganda tool to persuade you and me that it was bad and should be ended. We were told that its repeal will save the family farm. This tax affects the top 5 percent of the people in the country, that is, the wealthiest. There is a current $2,000,000 exemption before the tax kicks in. So what exactly does this family farm look like? If you want to see what a culture looks like that has no estate tax, look at some of the central and south American countries where the conquistadores and their descendants have held the wealth for 500 years. I contend such a system of vested wealth is anti-American and anti-democratic as the hoarding of wealth deprives others the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Furthermore, from whom did all this wealth come? Perhaps these questions plagued Bill Gates at one time, since, as I understand, he is one of many people opposed to ending the federal estate tax.
War is a pro-life issue. In my view we have engaged in an unjust war in Iraq that has costs the lives of our fine and honorable soldiers as well as somewhere around 25,000 Iraqi casualties. We were sold this war on mistaken or false premises and now find ourselves in a deathtrap quagmire. Pursuing war unjustly and foolishly denigrates the sanctity of life in every respect.
Placing our country in huge debt is a pro-life issue. It seems to me our "conservative" government is passing out money like candy for pork-barrel projects, debit cards for hurricane victims, billions of dollars a day for Iraq, et cetera. Who is going to pay for this? Our kids and their kids - this debt will affect the quality of their lives greatly.
There is not enough space in this column to address all the pro-life issues in one letter. There are many more and I hope my thoughts inspire others to engage in this discussion. If we are more than anti-abortion and are truly pro-life, this is long past due.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail
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