Viewpoints

To the Editor:
I am a bit late in getting around to writing this but I would like to echo the sentiments that Jim Magner expressed in a letter printed a couple weeks ago. Bravo to everyone involved in this year’s Corn Days celebration.  It was great to see something happening in town, it was great to see people from all around town enjoying themselves, and it was great to see people from other towns coming to Waukon.  
My schedule did not allow me to attend all of the festivities but I enjoyed the events I could and I felt as if I was really missing out on something when I could not. The 5K walk/run Saturday morning is a breathtaking way to start the day and get people into town and the car show was a great place to refuel on ice cream and curds.
All the experience gained this year by expanding to a thee-day festival should pay off as time goes on and we should all be looking out for more opportunities to make something fun happen right here in town.

To the Editor:
Football is a tough contact sport. We expect the players to inflict a lot of hurt on the guy across the line. We also expect them to leave it on the field. When a player is in the community, with their family and friends, or on a date, we expect them to be gentle giants.
Many of these weekend warriors are just that. Some are not and recent media coverage of Ray Rice and his violence toward his wife, Janay, causes many to wonder how this could happen. But it does happen often, quietly and locally. You probably know people who experience it behind the closed doors of their home - out of sight and not heard.
Last year our Domestic Abuse Resource Center served 367 of your neighbors whose experience was not flashed across your TV screen, and which was not dissected by “talking heads” and instant experts.

To the Editor:
I am going to vote no on the jail bond issue. Why? Because over the 75-year life, the location will add a tremendous operating cost.
One could build a on pillars on the west side of the courthouse that would create a garage and access to the courthouse in inclement weather (no snow removal either).
At the County Home, the following would be constant operating expenses:
1. Additional deputy and car, probably part time.
2. Additional standby generator.
3. Additional heat, higher priced LP than natural gas.
4. Additional janitor and groundskeeper.
The transportation of inmates for court appearances and trial would be a constant expense.
At the parking lot you’d have an easier handicapped entrance at the side door (currently kept locked?).

by Deb Winke
Allamakee County Recorder

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

To the Editor:
Recently The Standard newspaper of Waukon presented lines of print concerning my grandsons, Dolan and Aidan Jones, replicating their grandfather’s remembrance of Killed In Action shipmates of the USS Quincy CA-39, names being orally recalled. I am so very proud of my Waukon grandsons that volunteered to take over the responsibility of this remembrance that I am not physically capable of doing any more.
Dolan’s name is actually the surname of his grandmother, my first wife. Aidan’s name is a recall of the Catholic church where I repaired the chimes in the steeple.
There has been a 70th anniversary commemoration recently held by the city of Quincy, MA in memory of its namesake ship, USS Quincy CA-39. There were many speakers recalling the ship being constructed in the Fore River Shipyard, so this particular ship was aptly named and I was certainly proud to have been assigned to this ship that had been constructed locally.

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

by Fr. Jim Dubert
St. Patrick Catholic Church, Waukon

To The Editor:
We have probably all noticed all of the political ads showing up all over by signs in yards, newspapers, radio and television. It may be overwhelming, but this is a necessary part of our elective system. We must use as much of this information as possible to help us form an opinion on who best qualifies for the office position in question.
We must make good use of our right to vote in all elections, because, if we don’t, there may be a day when we no longer have that right. And besides, do we really want people on the state and national level making decisions for us when they don’t have the same values and/or beliefs that we do?
So, listen, watch and even take notes if necessary, then when election time arrives, we can feel confident that we are voting for the “best” person.

Kathy Kruse
Dorchester

To the Editor:
I find myself writing this after the tragic loss of a Hollywood icon. It’s not an easy subject to talk about, but it’s one that just cannot be ignored. Chances are, your life has been affected by suicide. You may have had a relative, a friend, co-worker, an acquaintance, or spouse take their life. Often times people ask, “Why?” “What could be so bad that they would want to end their life?” “How could they be so selfish?” It is questions like these that show just how uneducated society is about mental illness.