Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Recently several volunteers were asked if the Allamakee County Food Shelf is federally funded. We would like to say we are not funded by the federal government or by the state in any way. We are completely funded by our community churches, 4-H clubs, area Boy Scouts and many other organizations, local businesses and residents of Allamakee County among our donors.

Your generosity is amazing. This summer, we announced that if people had extra garden produce, we would gladly take it. The response was great. We express our appreciation to everyone for all they do to help the food shelf. Without all of you, we wouldn’t have the Allamakee County Food Shelf.

Julie Rotach and Ann Roed
Allamakee County Food Shelf Organizers

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that one of the adages I have found helpful in life is the one that says to always expect the worst, because that way you will never be disappointed.

So a week ago today, just after my printer turned out a rather unsatisfactory print of my column, my attempt at ordering a reprint was rejected, with a rather puzzling message which I did not understand at all. But then, I don’t speak computerese.

When I turned in that messy column to the editor, I said not to be surprised if I did not have a column the next week, because I did not know where to go to seek professional help, which appears to be very scarce if it exists at all in Waukon.

My call for help to a cousin who is sort of my unofficial techie for the laptop brought the suggestion that maybe all I needed was to replace the color toner unit.

For your meditation: Deuteronomy 6: 2-6, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 12:28-34

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.”

The words come from Moses, the greatest of all the Old Testament leaders. It’s the main point of the reading from Deuteronomy.

Take a look at the gospel by Mark. One of the scribes (apparently one of the few sincere ones) came to Jesus and asked Him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “This is the first,” and he quotes from Moses, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” And Jesus adds that this is the second, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

To the Editor:

Senator John McCain was a true patriot and hero. What he endured during his five years of imprisonment and torture is beyond what any of us can imagine.

Hearing Donald Trump degrade McCain because he had gotten captured degraded not only John McCain but also all prisoners of war.  Through his torture, McCain emerged with a broken body but an extremely strong moral compass.

As senator, John McCain had the courage to do what was right and decent for his fellow countrymen/countrywomen. This was on full display when his one vote stopped his party from repealing the Affordable Care Act. McCain understood that millions have been provided health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. He understood the importance of insurance companies not being allowed to deny coverage to people who have pre-existing health conditions and the importance of women not being charged more for insurance just because of their gender.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that there is an old witticism, so old it probably precedes vaudeville. It’s the one about the guy who is telling his friend about the awful setback he has experienced.

The friend says that while that’s bad, his friend should cheer up, because things could be a lot worse. So the guy cheers up and sure enough, things got worse!

I thought about that when I lost telephone land line service and was told it would be a week before a service call could be scheduled. I have a cell phone, but I am enough of a Luddite to miss the comfort of the land line, and my name in a phone book. I have yet to see a listing of cell phone numbers, so those not listed cannot be contacted.

To the Editor:

Per Iowa Administrative Rules, only Certified Public Accountants (CPA) operating within a CPA firm can provide attest (audit) services. Iowans have a choice this November between an auditor who can audit per these rules and one who cannot. Please ensure this office continues to be led by a qualified CPA. Please vote November 6 for the only CPA running for State Auditor.

Christina Drahos, CPA
Postville
 

To the Editor:

In many countries people fight, and even die, for the right to vote, as did our ancestors not so many years ago. Today, some politicians and others in power are trying to make it more difficult for many of us to vote. We cannot let them take away one of our most important rights as citizens in a democracy.

If we’re unhappy with the way current office-holders are running our city, county, state or nation, we need to vote! We must read newspapers, listen to public debates, attend candidate forums and decide which candidates best represent our hopes for better care of our environment, our health, our education, our jobs and our childrens’ future.

Register to vote. Go to our courthouse and vote early or ask for an absentee ballot. Or vote at your precinct polling place November 6. It’s our privilege, right and duty to do so!

Jill Stephenson
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

When the State of Iowa administered the Medicaid program, our most vulnerable Iowans received the care they needed. Then Governor Branstad turned over the Medicaid program to for-profit insurance companies, a move which has been supported by our current governor. Since then, our seniors, people with disabilities, children, and people with mental illness have not received the health care services they need.

The State Osbudsman reports that denial of in-home care which allows seniors and people with disabilities to stay in their own homes has been denied or cut. It was recently reported that a man who is a quadriplegic has had in-home care reduced by 71% resulting in a move to a nursing home which costs far more than the in-home care he had once received.

Another man, paralyzed by a wrestling accident 29 years ago, had his in-home care drastically reduced.

To the Editor:

What is happening to Iowa’s public schools? Each year, the governor and state lawmakers cut the amount of funding to schools and now drastic changes may soon have to be made. The tax breaks given to large corporations recently mean there’s less money available to the state, but do our schoolchildren have to pay for those losses?

Schools have received funding increases of only 1.1 and 1 percent over the past two years - far below the four percent cost of living index! How will they be forced to make up the difference? Cutting staff? Consolidating even more?

To the Editor:

I often wonder what has become of the officers and staff who worked at Luster Heights. Have they found equal jobs elsewhere?

How is our county coping with the loss of cost-effective labor that the inmates provided? Luster Heights had work agreements with Lansing, Harpers Ferry, Eastern Allamakee schools, Allamakee County Conservation and the DNR. Inmates helped maintain Lansing’s Mt. Hosmer Park, Waukon’s City Park, and our County’s secondary roads.

They also did community service projects, building shelves for libraries and the county fair, growing plants for the Allamakee County Master Gardeners, and a nativity scene for St. Ann’s Parish in Harpers Ferry. The inmates’ contributions to our county were enormous and appreciated by many.