Letters to the Editor 10-31-2000
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Congratulations, Tigers - Gas Tax - Pee Wee Football - Child Support - Tribute To Youth - Irresponsible Hunters - Religious Drama - Protective Orders - Middle East - The Royal Family
Congratulations, Tigers
Editor, Times Union:To the Warsaw Tigers football team of the year 2000:
Congratulations on a tremendous year. You should all be proud of the part that you played in this winning season. We challenge you to come back next year and set new records, make more history and gain even more respect from those that still doubt that Warsaw football is "the real deal."
To the seniors: What a ride. Thank you for the honor and privilege to have been there with you through it all. We grew with you each week as you overcame loss after loss to take the field one more time. We celebrated with you in your first win and first winning season as a freshman team.
We saw you sharpen your skills each year and watched in disbelief each summer as you grew into young men in the weight room. We saw your heart and determination grow as you had to step out of the shadows of those who paved the way before you to claim your role as leaders. You lifted your heads proudly as you donned the pads and the orange and black. You looked adversity in the eye and chose to believe in yourselves and in each other.
We watched you become more than just a team. We saw you shrug off the words of those that doubted. Our hearts broke with yours when it seemed as though all you had worked for since the moment you fell in love with the game was over with just one kick of the ball. But it will never really be over. You added another great year to a beginning tradition and you silently challenge those who will return to set new records and exceed the high standards you have set. You gained the admiration and respect of people who thought they may have been wasting their four bucks. You raised the bar a little higher. You have done so many things over these past few years in football that you will remember for the rest of your lives, and that we as your parents will treasure for the rest of ours.
To the coaching staff: Thank you for working with our sons, for encouraging them and for making sure there heads would still fit in their helmets each week, and for believing in them as we have always believed in them. Thanks for a great year!
Kristine Hueber and the Senior Football Moms
Warsaw
via e-mail
Gas Tax
Editor, Times-Union:The gas tax is back on now and the gas dealers immediately increased their prices. Do you remember, when Gov. O'Bannon removed the tax, the oil companies said he should give them a week's grace before they lowered the price of gas as they had already paid the tax on the gas that was in the system? The governor complied and granted them the week's grace period. Doesn't it only seem proper that the price to the consumer should not have been raised until one week after the tax was re-imposed as there was no tax paid by the oil companies for the gas in the system? This is just another example of how the big oil companies shaft the consumer. If you think they are taking advantage of you now in Indiana, just wait and see what they will do if the big oil cohorts, Bush and Cheney, are elected this November.
John Bell
Leesburg
Pee Wee Football
Editor, Times-Union:It is so good to hear positive comments about Pee Wee Football. There are many coaches who have dedicated their time and love to the Koscuisko Pee Wee Football program. I appreciate the time these coaches have given to our kids.
It is my hope that this program continues to be a positive, honest place for kids to learn the game of football. Coaches and parents, it is our job to be positive and encouraging to the kids even when our team is not winning. Good sportsmanship and uplifting words should be our No. 1 goal. Although this season was a rough one for the Dolphins, the boys played their hearts out and never gave up. The Dolphins learned a lot about team work and positive thinking this year. They learned that even when you're one of the smallest and youngest you can still play like you're the big guys. Thank you to all the families of the Dolphins for all your support. Great job boys! I would also like to say thank you to Cox Studio, who sponsored the jerseys for the Dolphins this year. All of our community businesses who sponsored a team deserve a hand for their help this season.
Stacy Leeper
Warsaw
via e-mail
Child Support
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing this letter to maybe get a point across, and see if anyone else is having the same problem. My twins are 11 years old. Their father is over $19,000 behind in child-support. He was last ordered to pay $50 a week, and $5 a week on his arreage, about three years ago. Since then, a month or two will go by, and I will get a check about every week, for $50, then he stops again. He stops for three weeks, maybe a month or so, it's never easy to predict. But I never receive that $5 on the back support. I have never seen his picture on a "deadbeat dad" poster, nor has he been in jail for all this back support. I have been doing everything possible to communicate with "our child-support" office and prosecutor Daniel Nelson.
I've gotten nowhere. At first I would call the office on Fridays, no, no calls, because that is their court day. Then it went to Mondays, no calls. Then I called today, on Tuesday, and got a machine that tells me I need to write. I have also called there for advice on what I might do, or who I might talk to, if you do this, a person might give a first name, but they are not required to give you their last name. In case they give you the wrong information or advice, you don't know who you have even spoken to.
In my opinion, our tax money pays their wages, and they don't seem to care or be able to help at all. Maybe we don't need them at all! Then we would bring more money home on our paychecks every week. Or maybe all of us single parents should quit our jobs, sign up for welfare and have the state (taxpayers) support us and our children, then maybe by some odd chance they could finally locate the absent parent, so the state could get some of their money back.
I have tried to reach people in "higher" places about my problems. I can never seem to reach anyone. Does anyone we "elect" ever go to work?
Charlotte Allen
Warsaw
via e-mail
Tribute To Youth
Editor, Times-Union:This letter is to make a positive statement about today's youth. I live on Robson Road in Winona Lake and a group of teens from a local church were going house-to-house raking leaves for people at no charge. When I offered to pay, they said, "No, thank you." I said why not take donations. They said, "We're doing it because we love Christ."
Enough said! What a tribute to this community.
Sharon Morrow
Winona Lake
Irresponsible Hunters
Editor, Times-Union:To all hunters, is it very intelligent to point a gun or other hunting items in the direction of a residence or close to the land of a building or home? Around my lake we have more year-round residents and they could be out in their own yards as I could have been, thinking we are safe, especially since our homes are not next or sitting within a few feet from the water.
My home was shot last Saturday with at least 10 holes! What would have happened if a child or I had been outside in our own yard or I had a window open? Are ducks worth that much to you? It's dangerous to point toward the homes.
I was quite disturbed last Sunday when I was outside and discovered the damage to my newer siding. This is the second time in three to four years I'll have to replace siding on my recently remodeled home due to "hunters."
Isn't it the sport when you are way out in the lake and shoot them in the air? My siding had damage from the third panel from the ground and up to the gable. I don't think you are a sporting hunter when you shoot ducks close to the ground. That is really poor and, I believe, is illegal. True, not all hunters are bad or poor in judgment.
Signed, a concerned, irate and fearful lake resident,
Eleanore Armontrout
Warsaw
Religious Drama
Editor, Times-Union:Sunday evening I attended, with some curiosity, one of those big "imported" religious dramas at a Warsaw church. In fairness, I want to say I was impressed, to say the least. I felt that it was soundly true to the holy Scriptures in its interpretation and very well done, even with many of the lesser parts being done by local people. The main characters were played very professionally by the actors.
Many scenes did deal with eschatology, or teachings on the "last things," like death and accountability. But it did not lead one into "far-out speculations." Just truths most of us have read many times in the Bible and tend to overlook or forget. It was realistic in the portrayal of life as we see and hear it all around us every day, often couched in good doses of humor that gave reprieves of hearty laughter that surprised us, given the serious subject matter at hand.
We who have been United Methodists all our lives need to occasionally take a look at the feelings and viewpoints of other Christians in our community. It might make for a little more broadmindedness and real ecumenicity we like to think of ourselves as possessing.
The drama I speak of is "GLORY And The FIRE," at the New Life Christian Church, at 325E, just off U.S. 30E. I think the showings run through Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
J. Robert Boggs
Retired United Methodist Pastor
Winona Lake
Protective Orders
Editor, Times-Union:I read, with great interest, your article titled "Indiana May Have to Drop Fees for Protective Orders" (October 18). I feel a more important issue than the fees is how easy it is to get a protective or restraining order. I realize that there are some instances where such an order is appropriate, however, I believe that in the majority of cases it is some vindictive woman carrying out some spiteful, malicious action against an ex-husband trying to further agitate him. No proof has to be presented that there is any basis for their allegations. Any lie and $75 will do. Your article addressed the issue of who should pay. The woman who is making the allegation should definitely pay. Doing away with the fees will just encourage vengeful accusers to file more false reports. Let them pay for their prevarications.
Further, a woman can go and file a statement with the police that she fears harm by an ex-husband - again no investigation is done or any proof required. The accused is arrested and surety bond is required, which is not refundable. Such a claim was made against my son - there was no proof of such a threat - it was all based on a lie. When I went to the police department and the prosecutor's office inquiring why this was done and they said that the accusation was signed as "true under the penalty of perjury." But what is the "penalty of perjury"? Nothing is done nor is any penalty inflicted upon the accuser when the accusation is proven to be a lie. When one files a falsification against another and it is proven untrue, why aren't they punished?
The issue of "men's rights" needs to be seriously addressed. We hear a constant cry about the "poor single mother" but men are being discriminated against and treated unjustly on a far greater scale than the women. I have written the governor and all elected government officials, but they show little concern since the problem has not been theirs. They advise you to get an attorney. My son has the best attorney in Warsaw, Amber Blackford. But this just costs unnecessary expense for defending himself against another's lies.
It was also interesting how the fees from restraining orders are used. Does that have any bearing on how easily these "order" are obtained?
Naomi Durik
Leesburg
Middle East
Editor, Times-Union:The recent terrorist attack on the USS Cole is one of many incidents since 1980 that have cost America the following: 692 military personnel dead; 3,895 military personnel injured; two naval vessels damaged; two helicopters destroyed; and at least 500 Cruise missiles have been fired. (Sources of information: Associated Press; "Facts on File"; "Iran: A Country Study"; and a Department of Defense document, "Conduct of the Persian Gulf War.")
Americans should expect this toll to keep rising as we remain dependent on Middle Eastern oil, attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and keep Saddam Hussein contained in Iraq.
Alex Houze
Leesburg
The Royal Family
Editor, Times-Union:We have the royal family in England and in the United States we used to have the Kennedys, now we have the Bush family - former President George Bush, two state governors and now George W. Bush running for president. They call Texas home but have their summer home in Maine, have gone to elite schools in the East and don't know how the working class lives. How can Bush call himself a "compassionate" conservative when the state of Texas has executed so many people while he was governor? He said they were all guilty, but I have heard authorities who should know dispute that. The governor of Illinois stopped all executions, Bush could have done that, too. Putting Social Security in the stock market is a gamble. Will he help the retired people if that money is lost? George Bush doesn't know how the common people that work for a paycheck live. He is not one of us.
I know there are people in Kosciusko County that wouldn't vote for Jesus Christ unless he ran on the Republican ticket.
Mrs. J.C. Campbell
Atwood
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- Congratulations, Tigers - Gas Tax - Pee Wee Football - Child Support - Tribute To Youth - Irresponsible Hunters - Religious Drama - Protective Orders - Middle East - The Royal Family
Congratulations, Tigers
Editor, Times Union:To the Warsaw Tigers football team of the year 2000:
Congratulations on a tremendous year. You should all be proud of the part that you played in this winning season. We challenge you to come back next year and set new records, make more history and gain even more respect from those that still doubt that Warsaw football is "the real deal."
To the seniors: What a ride. Thank you for the honor and privilege to have been there with you through it all. We grew with you each week as you overcame loss after loss to take the field one more time. We celebrated with you in your first win and first winning season as a freshman team.
We saw you sharpen your skills each year and watched in disbelief each summer as you grew into young men in the weight room. We saw your heart and determination grow as you had to step out of the shadows of those who paved the way before you to claim your role as leaders. You lifted your heads proudly as you donned the pads and the orange and black. You looked adversity in the eye and chose to believe in yourselves and in each other.
We watched you become more than just a team. We saw you shrug off the words of those that doubted. Our hearts broke with yours when it seemed as though all you had worked for since the moment you fell in love with the game was over with just one kick of the ball. But it will never really be over. You added another great year to a beginning tradition and you silently challenge those who will return to set new records and exceed the high standards you have set. You gained the admiration and respect of people who thought they may have been wasting their four bucks. You raised the bar a little higher. You have done so many things over these past few years in football that you will remember for the rest of your lives, and that we as your parents will treasure for the rest of ours.
To the coaching staff: Thank you for working with our sons, for encouraging them and for making sure there heads would still fit in their helmets each week, and for believing in them as we have always believed in them. Thanks for a great year!
Kristine Hueber and the Senior Football Moms
Warsaw
via e-mail
Gas Tax
Editor, Times-Union:The gas tax is back on now and the gas dealers immediately increased their prices. Do you remember, when Gov. O'Bannon removed the tax, the oil companies said he should give them a week's grace before they lowered the price of gas as they had already paid the tax on the gas that was in the system? The governor complied and granted them the week's grace period. Doesn't it only seem proper that the price to the consumer should not have been raised until one week after the tax was re-imposed as there was no tax paid by the oil companies for the gas in the system? This is just another example of how the big oil companies shaft the consumer. If you think they are taking advantage of you now in Indiana, just wait and see what they will do if the big oil cohorts, Bush and Cheney, are elected this November.
John Bell
Leesburg
Pee Wee Football
Editor, Times-Union:It is so good to hear positive comments about Pee Wee Football. There are many coaches who have dedicated their time and love to the Koscuisko Pee Wee Football program. I appreciate the time these coaches have given to our kids.
It is my hope that this program continues to be a positive, honest place for kids to learn the game of football. Coaches and parents, it is our job to be positive and encouraging to the kids even when our team is not winning. Good sportsmanship and uplifting words should be our No. 1 goal. Although this season was a rough one for the Dolphins, the boys played their hearts out and never gave up. The Dolphins learned a lot about team work and positive thinking this year. They learned that even when you're one of the smallest and youngest you can still play like you're the big guys. Thank you to all the families of the Dolphins for all your support. Great job boys! I would also like to say thank you to Cox Studio, who sponsored the jerseys for the Dolphins this year. All of our community businesses who sponsored a team deserve a hand for their help this season.
Stacy Leeper
Warsaw
via e-mail
Child Support
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing this letter to maybe get a point across, and see if anyone else is having the same problem. My twins are 11 years old. Their father is over $19,000 behind in child-support. He was last ordered to pay $50 a week, and $5 a week on his arreage, about three years ago. Since then, a month or two will go by, and I will get a check about every week, for $50, then he stops again. He stops for three weeks, maybe a month or so, it's never easy to predict. But I never receive that $5 on the back support. I have never seen his picture on a "deadbeat dad" poster, nor has he been in jail for all this back support. I have been doing everything possible to communicate with "our child-support" office and prosecutor Daniel Nelson.
I've gotten nowhere. At first I would call the office on Fridays, no, no calls, because that is their court day. Then it went to Mondays, no calls. Then I called today, on Tuesday, and got a machine that tells me I need to write. I have also called there for advice on what I might do, or who I might talk to, if you do this, a person might give a first name, but they are not required to give you their last name. In case they give you the wrong information or advice, you don't know who you have even spoken to.
In my opinion, our tax money pays their wages, and they don't seem to care or be able to help at all. Maybe we don't need them at all! Then we would bring more money home on our paychecks every week. Or maybe all of us single parents should quit our jobs, sign up for welfare and have the state (taxpayers) support us and our children, then maybe by some odd chance they could finally locate the absent parent, so the state could get some of their money back.
I have tried to reach people in "higher" places about my problems. I can never seem to reach anyone. Does anyone we "elect" ever go to work?
Charlotte Allen
Warsaw
via e-mail
Tribute To Youth
Editor, Times-Union:This letter is to make a positive statement about today's youth. I live on Robson Road in Winona Lake and a group of teens from a local church were going house-to-house raking leaves for people at no charge. When I offered to pay, they said, "No, thank you." I said why not take donations. They said, "We're doing it because we love Christ."
Enough said! What a tribute to this community.
Sharon Morrow
Winona Lake
Irresponsible Hunters
Editor, Times-Union:To all hunters, is it very intelligent to point a gun or other hunting items in the direction of a residence or close to the land of a building or home? Around my lake we have more year-round residents and they could be out in their own yards as I could have been, thinking we are safe, especially since our homes are not next or sitting within a few feet from the water.
My home was shot last Saturday with at least 10 holes! What would have happened if a child or I had been outside in our own yard or I had a window open? Are ducks worth that much to you? It's dangerous to point toward the homes.
I was quite disturbed last Sunday when I was outside and discovered the damage to my newer siding. This is the second time in three to four years I'll have to replace siding on my recently remodeled home due to "hunters."
Isn't it the sport when you are way out in the lake and shoot them in the air? My siding had damage from the third panel from the ground and up to the gable. I don't think you are a sporting hunter when you shoot ducks close to the ground. That is really poor and, I believe, is illegal. True, not all hunters are bad or poor in judgment.
Signed, a concerned, irate and fearful lake resident,
Eleanore Armontrout
Warsaw
Religious Drama
Editor, Times-Union:Sunday evening I attended, with some curiosity, one of those big "imported" religious dramas at a Warsaw church. In fairness, I want to say I was impressed, to say the least. I felt that it was soundly true to the holy Scriptures in its interpretation and very well done, even with many of the lesser parts being done by local people. The main characters were played very professionally by the actors.
Many scenes did deal with eschatology, or teachings on the "last things," like death and accountability. But it did not lead one into "far-out speculations." Just truths most of us have read many times in the Bible and tend to overlook or forget. It was realistic in the portrayal of life as we see and hear it all around us every day, often couched in good doses of humor that gave reprieves of hearty laughter that surprised us, given the serious subject matter at hand.
We who have been United Methodists all our lives need to occasionally take a look at the feelings and viewpoints of other Christians in our community. It might make for a little more broadmindedness and real ecumenicity we like to think of ourselves as possessing.
The drama I speak of is "GLORY And The FIRE," at the New Life Christian Church, at 325E, just off U.S. 30E. I think the showings run through Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
J. Robert Boggs
Retired United Methodist Pastor
Winona Lake
Protective Orders
Editor, Times-Union:I read, with great interest, your article titled "Indiana May Have to Drop Fees for Protective Orders" (October 18). I feel a more important issue than the fees is how easy it is to get a protective or restraining order. I realize that there are some instances where such an order is appropriate, however, I believe that in the majority of cases it is some vindictive woman carrying out some spiteful, malicious action against an ex-husband trying to further agitate him. No proof has to be presented that there is any basis for their allegations. Any lie and $75 will do. Your article addressed the issue of who should pay. The woman who is making the allegation should definitely pay. Doing away with the fees will just encourage vengeful accusers to file more false reports. Let them pay for their prevarications.
Further, a woman can go and file a statement with the police that she fears harm by an ex-husband - again no investigation is done or any proof required. The accused is arrested and surety bond is required, which is not refundable. Such a claim was made against my son - there was no proof of such a threat - it was all based on a lie. When I went to the police department and the prosecutor's office inquiring why this was done and they said that the accusation was signed as "true under the penalty of perjury." But what is the "penalty of perjury"? Nothing is done nor is any penalty inflicted upon the accuser when the accusation is proven to be a lie. When one files a falsification against another and it is proven untrue, why aren't they punished?
The issue of "men's rights" needs to be seriously addressed. We hear a constant cry about the "poor single mother" but men are being discriminated against and treated unjustly on a far greater scale than the women. I have written the governor and all elected government officials, but they show little concern since the problem has not been theirs. They advise you to get an attorney. My son has the best attorney in Warsaw, Amber Blackford. But this just costs unnecessary expense for defending himself against another's lies.
It was also interesting how the fees from restraining orders are used. Does that have any bearing on how easily these "order" are obtained?
Naomi Durik
Leesburg
Middle East
Editor, Times-Union:The recent terrorist attack on the USS Cole is one of many incidents since 1980 that have cost America the following: 692 military personnel dead; 3,895 military personnel injured; two naval vessels damaged; two helicopters destroyed; and at least 500 Cruise missiles have been fired. (Sources of information: Associated Press; "Facts on File"; "Iran: A Country Study"; and a Department of Defense document, "Conduct of the Persian Gulf War.")
Americans should expect this toll to keep rising as we remain dependent on Middle Eastern oil, attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and keep Saddam Hussein contained in Iraq.
Alex Houze
Leesburg
The Royal Family
Editor, Times-Union:We have the royal family in England and in the United States we used to have the Kennedys, now we have the Bush family - former President George Bush, two state governors and now George W. Bush running for president. They call Texas home but have their summer home in Maine, have gone to elite schools in the East and don't know how the working class lives. How can Bush call himself a "compassionate" conservative when the state of Texas has executed so many people while he was governor? He said they were all guilty, but I have heard authorities who should know dispute that. The governor of Illinois stopped all executions, Bush could have done that, too. Putting Social Security in the stock market is a gamble. Will he help the retired people if that money is lost? George Bush doesn't know how the common people that work for a paycheck live. He is not one of us.
I know there are people in Kosciusko County that wouldn't vote for Jesus Christ unless he ran on the Republican ticket.
Mrs. J.C. Campbell
Atwood
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