Letters To Editor
Enough of this stalemate
As an engineer by mindset and education (MIZZOU ’63) I see problem solving as an important pursuit. Success requires both accuracy and precision in identifying the problem, forming a solution from available alternatives and implementing the results for enduring results. Today’s political America has drifted away from developing successful changes which satisfy our Constitutional premise…
Read MoreNegativity is toxic for everyone
This week Matt Pearl asked an important question, “When will it end?” While his focus centered on the Olympics and some of the negativity surrounding it, there is more worthy of ending. Smoking. Drinking in excess. Abuse, spousal, child, employee, LGBTQ, political. Bullying. And more. He has made an important point. Negativity can be toxic,…
Read MoreFinding vaccination facts is possible
It is disappointing to see how few Missourians have been vaccinated for Covid. The vaccine averse not only place themselves at risk – more than 99 percent of the new deaths and a large majority of the hospitalized from Covid are unvaccinated — but others, too. One would think this might be convincing for residents…
Read MoreEncouraging open primaries
The subtle humor hiding in the news and opinions circulating today can be entertaining. For instance, much is said about Republicans and Democrats. What they are doing to help or harm America’s premise of forming a more perfect Union? Of all the problems with these pronouncements is a simple fact: Saying you are a Democrat…
Read MoreClimate science
Suppose you built a time machine and travelled thirty years into the future, and saw the consequences of some present-day decisions later causing great strain on society. You’re surprised that those decisions felt so safe; normal. Acceptable. Your curiosity is piqued now, so you dial the time machine another fifty years into the future, and…
Read MoreCommunity member offers support to R-I board member
Dear Editor, I have never known a superintendent to air his dirty laundry in a newspaper. (It) should have been taken care of in the board meeting. Hang in their Eric Jones. – Gary Parshall, Clearmont Editor’s Note: The information in the referenced story, was received by the reporter during a West Nodaway R-I Board…
Read MoreResponse to Senior Center article
It was good to see the article concerning funding for Nodaway County Senior Center. The article made citizens curious about services provided for older adults in the county. I checked on several items in the green column on page A7. One item was an attempt to explain the meaning of the acronyms NOH and NOC…
Read MoreResponse to Sam Graves’ column
My initial interest in Congressman Graves’s column “What the president should have said” waned when he, being a Republican, criticized President Biden’s views and actions to date. That’s what my 1962 electrostatics professor would label “intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer.” I had hoped the congressman was going to offer a clarification of…
Read MoreSchools create large impact
A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams. Ronald McDonald House is reinforced by gazillions of pop-tabs! In a world turned upside-down, gratitude changes stressful days into thanksgivings. Thanks for your, “stick-to-it-tive-ness,” collecting pop-tabs. Pop-tabs teach an important lesson: even little things make a big difference. Thanks…
Read MoreResponse to Sam Graves
This week Congressman Sam Graves focused on the Second Amendment’s core phrase, “shall not be abridged,” as seeming absolute. Is it? Maybe not. Our Constitution, as amended must be interpreted as the Supreme Court, its final arbiter, shows by rendering few unanimous decisions. Ratified in 1789, the Bill of Rights provided additional clarification to the…
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