Viewpoints

To the Editor:

We are so grateful for the Waukon Volunteer Fire Department, and the Decorah, Lansing and Waterville Fire Departments. Two fires in less than a year, and we still have our building.

The night of the February 13, there were times we didn’t know what was going to happen. With having a father, husband and brother serve as firefighters, we know first-hand what they go through - frigid temperatures and all.

We appreciate family and friends for all their phone calls, texts and concerns in helping out in any way. We are fortunate that we only suffered smoke damage and closed for two weeks.

We are also very appreciative of Servicemaster Restore for their quick service and long days. I was so glad I was able to celebrate my 38 years this February. It may be safe to say we have the luck of the Irish, and on March 17 our Irish eyes will definitely be smiling.

To the Editor:

The political party in control of the Iowa Legislature is proposing decreasing Iowa income taxes, exempting all retirement income from Iowa taxes, eliminating capital gain state tax, and decreasing corporate taxes. I have one question: If Iowa has less tax revenue, what services will be cut?

As every household knows, if income is cut, households have less money to spend. If a family’s income is reduced, it means expenses must be cut. In order to have a balanced budget, less income means expenses have to be cut.

The State is the same. If the State reduces its income, then expenses will have to be cut.

According to the governor’s proposed budget, in 2022 Iowa’s income will be $9,065 million. According to the Legislative Services Agency, the tax cuts proposed will subtract $500 million in 2024 and when fully implemented will subtract $1,625 million from Iowa’s income, which means almost 20% less income.

To the Editor:

As part of National Social Work Month recognition, we want to show our appreciation for the social workers who devote their careers to bettering the lives of others.

Social workers strive to build a stronger community for all people, and the Iowa Child Advocacy Board (ICAB) is a grateful partner in the collaborative work done alongside those who serve the vulnerable children and families in our child welfare system. Many social workers embody the values embraced throughout the profession’s history. Those values include service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence.

Strength in Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

How can I be strong, if I am weak? Isn’t this an oxymoron? What in the world is Paul talking about? How can my weakness be a strength? How can the troubles I am going through possibly be good?

To the Editor:

In the January 26 edition of the newspaper you had an item about the book, The Worry Knot, by Mary Evanson Bleckwehl. I read that book and I was so engrossed that I feel like everyone in middle school needs to read it. It is an exceptionally well  written book about kids with differences. We had a special needs child and put a lot of responsibility on our other children also. Sometimes I wonder if all we did was enough but then in the end it all has turned out the way it should. Our daughter lives independently in her own apartment. We had to rely on several agencies to help us and as the book indicates there are many differences in all of us.

To the Editor:

Iowa’s governor and most of the state legislators whose political party controls all three branches of Iowa’s government are advocating to take tax dollars from public schools and give them to private schools, including for-profit schools (Senate Study Bill 3080).  They cloak this legislation as school choice, vouchers and scholarships.

Don’t be fooled. Iowa already has school choice through open enrollment. This is about giving a blank check to private schools without requiring any oversight, accountability or financial disclosure. Taking money away from public schools is wrong, bad for our children, bad for public education, and bad for our communities.

To the Editor:

I enjoy reading the Word for Word column each week. It is interesting and enlightening to glean insights from area ministers, pastors and priests.

Rev. VanderVelden’s entry in the February 9, 2022 edition of The Standard gave me a new perspective on the Big Bang theory. While I hold to a more conservative, six-day account of creation, I respect and appreciate Rev. VanderVelden’s view and how he arrived at it. What I do find unsettling in his article, however, is when he questions whether the stories in Genesis “entirely represent fact”.

To the Editor:

I am writing this letter to encourage those young or old to attend the Barn Dance being held at the Fairgrounds this Friday, February 25 from 7-11 p.m. The Allamakee County Fair Board is having this Barn Dance, and this is a great chance to learn how to dance, how to learn to step to the beat of music.

Line dancing does not require a partner, so if you have no partner feel free to have others help teach you to dance. I have taught ballroom dancing since 1962 (when I came to Waukon to teach) in Adult Education through NICC. I taught the two-step, polka and waltz in Adult Education Dance classes in Lansing, Postville, Decorah, Calmar, Guttenberg, West Union, and many times in Waukon.

This Barn Dance is a perfect opportunity to begin to learn to dance; come give it a try. The exercise and joy of dancing is great. It can become a great lifetime hobby and an enjoyable exercise.

To the Editor:

I have always been an advocate of wind and solar energy. However, the conversion to a carbon free energy economy means the replacement of fossil fuels with electricity. This represents many issues that are beyond partisan politics. It seems that reality differs from conventional wisdom.

First of all, this will require an estimated increase in the production of electricity in the U.S. by a factor of two to four times it is today. Electricity is hard and expensive to transport over long distances. It is also difficult to stockpile in cases of emergency. Then, there are hard to electrify economic sectors such as fueling trucks, ships, airplanes, and heavy vehicles.

The Geo-political ramifications are also enormous. There are approximately 800 million people in the world who do not have access to any energy services. If developing countries focus on the need for growth, it is set to clash with the idea of net zero carbon production.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” (John 1:1-3)

Some years ago, on a family vacation to Chicago, we visited the Field Museum of National History. Most captivating for me during our visit was a detailed, special exhibit on the Big Bang Theory, science’s leading hypothesis for how the universe began.

Simply put, the Big Bang Theory suggests that the universe as we know it started at an infinitely hot, dense, single point that exploded in a nanosecond some 13.8 billion years ago. That enormous blast created all the chemical elements now composing the universe. The conflagration also triggered a warp-speed cosmic expansion that continues today.