Editor, Times-Union: This is in response to Edd Habegger's "call to action" Sept. 15 letter to the editor.
In reading your letter I would gather that you think anyone within view or walking distance of a public lake should be granted access privileges. If I misunderstood your letter, please accept my apology. I would like to tell you that I live on a lake and I took offense at some of your comments, one of them being that lakefront owners accuse non-lakefront owners as being polluters. Let me tell you about polluters.
I live near the Pike Lake dam and we get some real losers down there to fish. They do leave trash, not limited to but including fish bait containers, fish hooks and worst of all, fishline. On any given day we see seagulls, ducks and geese with their feet, legs - and even one had his mouth tied shut - with it! One seagull had it wrapped so tight around his leg that his foot was dead and dangling. One young goose had swallowed some line, the rest of it was wrapped around his wing and leg. He couldn't walk without his head jerking from pulling the line. Luckily that one we could rescue, simply because he couldn't get away. Maybe you don't value wildlife. I do and that is one of the reasons I love this lake.
Have you ever seen a heron flying with a fish stringer blowing behind him because he ate the fish at the other end of it? Well, I have and it is heartbreaking.
You also made a comment about we "waterfront homeowners having numerous boats docked at our piers." Do you have any idea the amount of taxes we pay to enjoy this waterfront or the lake enhancement fees charged to title these boats that "sit at our piers?" If you don't, call me, I'll give you an idea, or look it up yourself on the kc.gov Web site. People who don't own waterfront property but choose to haul their boats here to enjoy the water and the fishing are the ones who throw their bottles and cans overboard when they are done or speed past the buoys that say "idle speed only," washing their waves over the seawalls and destroying the lawns behind them.
You claim to have "a better way" and have posted it to the commissioners. Why didn't you post it in your letter for everyone to see?
You want waterfront property? Come to the end of Pike Lake, there are three brand new homes for sale that have been sitting empty for nearly two years. Maybe you can get a good deal.
Linda Berger, via e-mail Warsaw
Move To Iraq
Editor, Times-Union: After reading Steven A. Hite's letter, I just had to respond.
Using the excuse of Wal-Mart marketing to expound your personal views is rather petty, don't you think?
All retail businesses have marketing plans. They market to the senior citizens, men, women, children, teens, the handicapped, the different income brackets, the different ethnic groups, the different religions, travelers, special interests, etc.
Your theory of sodomite and lesbian products is ridiculous. Do gays use anything different in their daily lives than you do? Are gays trying to force their lifestyle and choices on you?
The workplace is a place to do your job and get paid, and if you're lucky, make some friends. The retail store (of any kind) is where you go to buy the things you need and want for your family and home.
But my USA is not the place for people to force their extremist religious interpretations and lifestyles onto others. My USA has freedom of choice!
Maybe you should move to a country that forces religious views and behaviors onto its people - you know, like Iraq. You'd fit right in.
(And because you will assume - no I'm not gay, I've been married for 32 years to the love of my life and have children and grandchildren. I just get infuriated at (intolerance!)
Dawn E. Kramer, via e-mail
Leesburg
Reduced Sentence
Editor, Times-Union: I read in the paper for 9/13 about the reduced sentence for Jeffery Reed's DUI offense.
I am outraged at the sentence given to a person who gets drunk, runs a stop sign, kills someone, left the scene of the accident, and was trying to cover his crime by abandoning is car.
Jeffrey will do his reduced prison time, perhaps even getting out early for good behavior, while that poor teenager remains dead, and will forever.
Imprisoned forever should be the sentence handed down by our legal system to Jeffrey.
And to allow an appeal is appalling.
I would image that a garage full of marijuana plants would generate a sentence much more severe than this tragedy.
My sincere sympathy for the family of the victim, their lives have been devastated forever.
The offender of this hideous crime will possibly be freed within 15 years. Again, the victim will remain dead, missing all the opportunities of his life he had to look forward to, as his life had just begun.
It breaks my heart and sickens me.
Dan Casinger, via e-mail Leesburg
Misleading Statements
Editor, Times-Union: Regarding Mr. Edd Habegger's letter published Sept. 15, I see that Mr. Habegger is at it again, making it seem like he is giving facts regarding the "anti-funneling" amendment when he is actually being much less than truthful, and he knows it.
In his letter of Friday he states (again) that there's no lake access to numerous lakes where there is public access available. For sake of providing factual information, following is a portion of a letter (edited only for compliance with Times-Union policy) which was sent to the Area Planning Commission prior to their Sept. 6 meeting where Mr. Habegger's statements were found to be false.
"There are those who suggest that the amendment will benefit only the current residents of the Kosciusko County lakes, but such statements are patently false and only made by those who have a vested interest and are not embarrassed to use untrue scare tactics to attempt to influence you and the media. Such examples of these false statements are:
"If the amendment passes it would mean that only residents would have lake access." This is false on the very face of it, for to believe this statement would mean that one also believes that only current residents of the lakes can access the lakes today - which you know to be completely false.
"Lake Tippecanoe only has one point of public access and that's on Grassy Creek and not appropriate for larger boats." While the DNR-maintained boat ramp on Grassy Creek is the only non-fee boat access to Tippecanoe, it is heavily used during the boating and fishing seasons by boats up to 20 feet in length and with more than 200 HP, in addition to jetskis. Many fishing clubs from all over Indiana even use this boat ramp for their numerous tournaments. (This same site serves all of the Barbee chain of lakes) From my experience boats larger than this size (and potentially unable to pass through the culvert under Armstrong Road) are very rarely trailered in to the lakes of our county. If a boat that is unable to pass under Armstrong Road were to be desired to be trailered to Lake Tippecanoe for lake access purposes, the owner need only go to one of the boat ramps that allow public access for a nominal fee. There are currently at least four such publicly available ramps (just on Lake Tippecanoe, plus more on others), and the fee for a boat launching is $5, hardly an onerous fee, especially when taken in the context of the cost of the boat or even the cost of the gasoline that is necessary to transport the boat to the lake and the cost of the gasoline for the use of the boat.
While I could go longer with the examples of misleading statements being made by Mr. Habegger, it should not be necessary, as it has already been shown that all of his statements regarding this issue are suspect, as the APC vote was unanimous.
