The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor:
I would like to voice my view on Mr. Mark Lumbeck, Henderson County Sheriff, not wanting state troopers in his town. Yes, he has a reason not to want them there.
The people get by with everything. I live in a small town in Henderson County. When we get a deputy down for some reason it is usually a good hour or two.
By that time everything is over. "Just file a complaint", is what they say.
I was told by a deputy that kids were okay to ride in the back of a pickup truck.
So, with some checking, with Illinois State Troopers, I found out it is not so. All children are to be in a child restraint or seat belt. I would say this deputy needs to study the law a little more.
Also ATV's are real bad in our town. They know the law won't be down to our town.
A deputy was down to try to catch some of these people who ride on the roadways. He caught a person and they bragged about how easy it was to talk their way out of a ticket.
That tells me we don't have any law in our town or county. I know people who have had their buildings paint balled and auto's egged.
Oh, they came to town and took pictures, but that was all that was done.
So, when elections come around again I will remember this and tell everyone I see, we have no law.
Irene Smith
Lomax
Senator Putting Spotlight on Governor's Fee Increases
Dear Editor:
Governor Rod Blagojevich raised over 300 fees on businesses and consumers in the FY 04 Budget, money meant for dedicated purposes and use.
In this year's Budget the Governor took $166 million from those accounts, calling it "excess' money, and put it towards other spending, according to State Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac).
"There is something wrong with taking money from an account that a business or individual paid into, for a specific purpose and then divert it to another. Raising fees and later saying those accounts have "surplus' funds is disingenuous to the public. It is a simple "rob Peter to pay Paul' approach," said Rutherford.
The Senator has produced a website listing all of the Fees that were raised, the funds that were swept and the amounts taken from each. The site is sponsored by the Committee For Legislative Action and found at www.CommitteeForLegislativeAction.org.
Some of the funds the Administration wanted to "sweep' are Agriculture Premium Fund, Fund for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Cemetery Consumer Protection Fund, Domestic Violence Shelters Fund, Long Term Care Fund, Mammogram Fund, Military Affairs Trust Fund, Open Space Lands Acquisition Fund, Pet Overpopulation Control Fund, Police Memorial Fund, School Technology Revolving Loan Fund, Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis Cure Research Trust Fund, and Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Fund; to name a few.
Senator Dan Rutherford
The website also posts the names of cities and the amount each was charged because of a new fee for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The new fee was created and assessed for a town's sewer and wastewater discharge. The site also shows how much the new fee is per capita for the community.
In addition, the website provides a Petition for people to register their opposition to the Fee Increases and Sweeps.
While Rutherford insists on a balanced state budget he maintains that increased spending for new programs, paid for by increasing fees and using the money for other purposes, is not appropriate.
The citizens of Ilinois really don't know half of what happened to them in this budget. Posting the fee increases and sweeps on the internet adds sunlight to the process," stated Rutherford.
Positioning For Today's World and Beyond
Dear Editor:
It is hard to figure when Coach Martz and some players talk about Macomb being the premier training camp in the nation and then after nine years of W.I.U. and city officials providing everything first class, they leave and indicate it was actually the opposite.
If memory is correct Coach Vermeil and W.I.U. officials instigated this relationship. Coach Vermeil also seemed to think that everything was fine when he was here and he had too much class to say derogatory comments when he left.
With Vermeil's Chiefs training up in Wisconsin, it would seem that Macomb would be a better match for the Chiefs in the future (if we show we really want them). Remember Vermeil's last year in Macomb resulted in Super Bowl victory!
Speaking of people positioning themselves for the future, it is interesting to see politicians positioning themselves for the 08 presidential election. Hillary is already almost in the middle.
Bill Frist, who at this stage seems like the most likely Republican presidential candidate, has shifted on his view on stem cell research to get closer to the middle. He now puts science first and breaks with the White House and the religious right.
Scientists say embryonic cells COULD yield new ways to treat devastating spinal-cord injuries, Alzheimer's and Parkinson diseases, diabetes and other ailments.
The religious right regards the research as the taking of life because living embryos are destroyed in the process and would likely lead to cloning. Basically, everyone in America wants these devastating diseases to be cured.
However, not a single treatment has been developed from embryonic stem cells while more than 60 treatments have been developed from stem cells in umbilical cord blood and adult tissues.
Other sources of stem cells include bone marrow, liver, skin, and brain. Another recent example, where the majority favored ending a life was the Terri Schaivo case. If parents and close relatives want to devote their lives to their daughter's life and take complete responsibility for her care, why would a spouse and court system deny it?
Say what you might about Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush but they followed certain basic Christian principles, which didn't change according to polls.
Liberal democrats seem to regard the Christian Right as dirty words, while Conservative Republicans regard the A.C.L.U. as dirty initials. Fortunately most of us are in the middle of extremes, and that is why politicians tend to go toward the middle.
The majority of U.S. citizens want such things as the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance, display the 10 Commandments, or pray for the safety of players at a game to remain as our forefathers intended. So why not let such issues be decided by the American people in the voting booths?
When one thinks of the Liberal left he might think of the Hollywood crowd. Also you have people like Hugh Heffner (PlayBoy) exploiting women and sex. Of course you have those like Jerry Springer seeking to stir up violence with people.
On the religious right you have people like Billy Graham and others telling us that an over emphasis on sex and violence is the last thing our country needs, whereas having Jesus Christ in our lives is what our country really needs. Who do you think is the closest to the solution?
Our most important positioning is to position ourselves for our eternal lives.
Weyman George
Macomb, IL