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Letters to the Editor

Break the silence

To the editor: In 1991, I lost a school friend; in 2005, I lost another school friend; and in 2023, an acquaintance who was a military veteran passed away. All three of these have one common denominator: They all lost their lives due to suicide. Each September is recognized as Suicide Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness, spread hope and spark meaningful action around one of the most urgent mental health issues of our time. It’s a time to focus on listening, reaching out and building a culture of care. Help is available, hope is real and no one must face ...

Something missing from Constitution

To the editor: We’re about to commemorate one of the most pivotal moments in American history. Constitution Day will be celebrated on Wednesday. This day commemorates the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787. It recognizes the importance of the Constitution in establishing the framework of the U.S. government and the rights of its citizens. There’s just one catch — the Constitution is not a perfect document. It’s missing constitutional equality for women, likely because women were considered the property of men at the time. That is ...

Name change not a good idea

To the editor: The “Innenstadt” is the center of Vienna, Austria. It is encircled by a beautiful tree-lined boulevard, the Ringstrasse. On the southeastern segment of that boulevard is a magnificent huge building with dozens of likenesses of famous generals from the days of the monarchy. The joke in Austria in those days, since the building was named das Kriegsministerium, i.e., the ministry of war, was that if you have a ministry of war, the folks working there are obviously eager to get something to do to underscore their purpose, as in the name of their ministry — see ...

Drinking water priceless asset

To the editor: I write to thank the Jefferson County Water and Sewer District for the service it provides to residents and other users. The public would be wise to recognize the essential value of good quality drinking water. We literally can’t live without it. We take it for granted at our peril and that is not an overstatement. Jefferson County water users are spread out all over the county and this adds to the expense of maintenance and operations. As was pointed out in the Aug. 3 edition of the Herald-Star, we are the largest geographic system in the state and that ...

Will socialism prevail?

To the editor: A cultural shift in the United States of America is occurring right before our very eyes. What is it? Political dogma saturates us. Are we to be a nation abiding by the ideals stated by our Founding Fathers? That is, each person can live freely, prosper in accordance with his native abilities and thereby flourish. Some will flourish while others may not do as well. Each man should be free to pursue his own lifestyle within the boundaries of reasonable laws, so say our Founding Fathers. But new ideals have emerged, ideals that perhaps are superior to those stated ...

Careless whispers, rolling heads

To the editor: In March, I authored a letter about the Signal App debacle when a reporter was inadvertently included in what should’ve been a top-secret high-level “eyes-only” group-chat about military operations (“Don’t blame the messenger app,” March 30.) I opened that letter by writing, “Things are moving fast on this one. By the time this is published, heads may have rolled. If not, the system’s more broken than we’d feared.” Well as we all now know, no heads rolled, and it is worse than I feared. Initially, Karoline Leavitt called it a hoax, which (spoiler ...