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Letters to the Editor

County board off base on public comment plans

As a former Dickinson County Commissioner who helped draft the board’s bylaws, I’m alarmed by the proposal to amend them to dictate what visitors wear, how they address commissioners and how long they may speak. Bylaws exist to govern the conduct of the board — not to control the public. The people who attend meetings aren’t intruders; they are owners of the government and commissioners conduct business in their name. Faith communities welcome people as they are; our county meetings should, too. The right to access, address or petition county government should never be qualified ...

Escalating medical insurance costs

The open enrollment period for Medicare policies started Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7. So my spouse and I went to the Medicare site to review our Medigap and drug insurance policies. We started with the drug plan and saw a nice surprise. The monthly cost was going down by $2, a reduction of 2%. Not a huge amount. I would have been satisfied with a 2% increase. Inflation is always present, moving costs up. Our attention then turned to the Medigap policy. All I can say is ouch. It went from $117/month to $181. This is a 54% increase in the monthly cost, or $64. The Federal Government ...

Let’s reclaim our voice, vote as founders intended

Sept. 17 was Constitution Day, a day meant to celebrate the founding of the highest law of our country. It’s worth remembering that our founders gave us a republic grounded in self-government, where, through our elected representatives, We The People decide the laws that govern us, including our election laws. But today, thanks to a series of misguided Supreme Court decisions, Congress and the states are prohibited from setting limits on campaign spending. Now billionaires and special interest groups flood our elections with unlimited money while the rest of us are drowned out. This ...

‘Just the facts’ on gun violence

Sgt. Joe Friday’s line in television show "Dragnet" was “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts.” So here are some facts. More Americans, 482,413, died by guns between 2014 and 2025 than U.S. military who died in the Viet Nam War, 58,209, and World War II, 405,349 (Sources, Statista & Defense Casualty Analysis System). In 2019, the U.S. gun homicide rate was 18 times the average rate in other developed countries (Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation). For the third straight year, firearms killed more children and teens, ages 1 to 17, than any other cause, ...

Policy change affects cancer loan closet

The Dickinson County Cancer Loan Closet would like to thank all those who have faithfully saved their sales receipts from Super One Foods for us. However, Super One has recently revised its “Community Dollars” policy, making it virtually impossible for the cancer loan closet to adhere to their program with the sales receipt amounts we receive. Therefore, we would like to ask our friends within the community to pass your grocery sales receipts on to another worthy organization. This was a wonderful small “hand-up” provided by Super One Foods to so many non-profit charities. ...

Letters welcome

Letters should be kept as brief as possible — ideally no more than 250 words — but can be up to about 500 words. The letter must include the writer’s full, legal name, address and telephone number. Letters are to be signed with a single name. Potentially libelous statements and personal attacks will not be published. The Daily News reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar and questionable statements, or to refuse to publish questionable letters. Names of writers will not be withheld except in the “Speak Out” section that runs on Saturdays. Items for “Speak ...