We Can Do Better. We Must Do Better.
April 6, 2020 at 6:48 p.m.
By -
To be perfectly frank, I am utterly bewildered. In this unprecedented season of trial and uncertainty, the citizens of our community are hearing next to nothing from local leaders concerning our preparedness (or lack thereof) for the pandemic, which is sweeping across our nation and our state. Kosciusko County has been my home for the whole of my 50 years. There are lots of reasons for that. One of those is that I have considered it a privilege to raise my family in a place filled with folks of resilient, gracious, proactive backbone. We’ll get through this, I’m sure.
But we all have questions that matter. And those questions don’t just matter because we’re a bunch of rubber-necking curiosity seekers, but because we want to be prepared – not only for ourselves and our families, but for those in need around us. Kosciusko County is a place with people who will rise to any challenge, bear tremendous sacrifice and shoulder whatever burden that may come. But to those very people, information is power. And that’s why this community would gladly suspend any interest in “who got busted for pot last Friday” for news and information that can help us prepare for what might be coming. Everybody’s glued to the national news. But, regrettably, that tends to come off as something that’s happening “somewhere else.” Our fine area residents want and need to get more invested right here at home. We care.
Therefore, it is a matter of upmost urgency that we begin hearing from our community leaders from various quarters – governmental, civic, healthcare, welfare, FEMA (aren’t we supposed to have a FEMA presence here?), and others, about ways we can begin to act together to stave off the potential approaching avalanche. Dr. Remington’s thoughtful and articulate contributions have been among the few welcome advisement, as well as the update from KCH, which unfortunately was buried in the opinion page when it should have been a headliner. Otherwise, however, we’re reading little or nothing about many pressing questions which affect us locally.
Perhaps a month from now, this all will have passed with just a little whimper. Great. I hope so. But perhaps it won’t.
So, to our city, town and county officials, to our community, civic and healthcare leaders, I implore you to diligently bend the ears of our local news outlets in an earnest and sustained effort to keep us informed. To our newspapers and online forums, do your part and go get the news that matters to us locally. If you must, continue to satisfy the public’s prurient interest with “who’s in trouble now.” But please add a great deal more news which reflects the dawning reality that “we might all be in trouble now.” We can do better. We must do better.
Doug Lemon
Partner with the law firm of Miner & Lemon
Warsaw, via email
Editor’s Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit as stated in our letter’s policy.
To be perfectly frank, I am utterly bewildered. In this unprecedented season of trial and uncertainty, the citizens of our community are hearing next to nothing from local leaders concerning our preparedness (or lack thereof) for the pandemic, which is sweeping across our nation and our state. Kosciusko County has been my home for the whole of my 50 years. There are lots of reasons for that. One of those is that I have considered it a privilege to raise my family in a place filled with folks of resilient, gracious, proactive backbone. We’ll get through this, I’m sure.
But we all have questions that matter. And those questions don’t just matter because we’re a bunch of rubber-necking curiosity seekers, but because we want to be prepared – not only for ourselves and our families, but for those in need around us. Kosciusko County is a place with people who will rise to any challenge, bear tremendous sacrifice and shoulder whatever burden that may come. But to those very people, information is power. And that’s why this community would gladly suspend any interest in “who got busted for pot last Friday” for news and information that can help us prepare for what might be coming. Everybody’s glued to the national news. But, regrettably, that tends to come off as something that’s happening “somewhere else.” Our fine area residents want and need to get more invested right here at home. We care.
Therefore, it is a matter of upmost urgency that we begin hearing from our community leaders from various quarters – governmental, civic, healthcare, welfare, FEMA (aren’t we supposed to have a FEMA presence here?), and others, about ways we can begin to act together to stave off the potential approaching avalanche. Dr. Remington’s thoughtful and articulate contributions have been among the few welcome advisement, as well as the update from KCH, which unfortunately was buried in the opinion page when it should have been a headliner. Otherwise, however, we’re reading little or nothing about many pressing questions which affect us locally.
Perhaps a month from now, this all will have passed with just a little whimper. Great. I hope so. But perhaps it won’t.
So, to our city, town and county officials, to our community, civic and healthcare leaders, I implore you to diligently bend the ears of our local news outlets in an earnest and sustained effort to keep us informed. To our newspapers and online forums, do your part and go get the news that matters to us locally. If you must, continue to satisfy the public’s prurient interest with “who’s in trouble now.” But please add a great deal more news which reflects the dawning reality that “we might all be in trouble now.” We can do better. We must do better.
Doug Lemon
Partner with the law firm of Miner & Lemon
Warsaw, via email
Editor’s Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit as stated in our letter’s policy.
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