Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Pollinators need our help! Bees, butterflies, moths, other insects and hummingbirds all pollinate the plants which produce so many of the flowers, fruits and vegetables we need and enjoy. These crucial parts of our natural ecosystem are disappearing. Last summer our pole beans produced hundreds of blossoms before finally growing beans. Not enough pollinators was all we could figure out.

Many insects have evolved to emerge when the plants they feed on are flowering. Many of these are native plants. As we plant more exotic trees, shrubs and flowers that crowd out native species, we make it harder for many of our pollinators to survive. Global climate change, along with deforestation, increased pavement and buildings, chemicalized and manicured lawns and over-use of pesticides and herbicides, all contribute to declining populations of many animal and plant species.

To the Editor:

Dear elder community members of Waukon,

As an elder of Waukon and being at the present time having to stay at home, I would like to suggest something each of us can do for our families. You might say my children know all this but everyone forgets so write it down (names in particular). I have been doing some of this for years. Now I must finish it up.

1. Write Your Obituary - Who really knows what you have done or when you did it. We all get born, grow up, go to school and college, get special recognition, get baptized, confirmed, marry, have children and die. What was special about yourself?

To the Editor:

It’s Spring and many of us are feeling a bit confined. You might want to think about putting a bird feeder in your yard. They can be quite entertaining and even more entertaining is watching the squirrels try to figure out a way to get at the feed.

Kids actually enjoy trying to figure out what kind of bird is at the feeder. Keeping track or a list of what you see can be fun. I’ve seen 17 different kinds of birds from my back porch this week. I’ve also twice received pictures of birds from our grandchildren with a “what’s this bird in my yard” question.

Spring migration is just beginning so you should see quite a variety of birds the next six weeks. Get some sunflower seed and a feeder and you’re in store for some cheap entertainment.

Frankly, my wife is the better parent.

Julie is far more attentive than I when it comes to holding our three children to task for things like homework, household chores, getting enough sleep, eating their vegetables, and taking their vitamins.

Me? Well, while I sometimes parent with the speed and efficiency of a well-oiled machine, I’m more inclined to be the let’s-have-chocolate-cake-for-breakfast-and-binge-watch-some-Netflix kind of dad.

But then came last week Monday, the first day of what looks to be four weeks of no school here in Waukon. With Julie out the door and off to work, I was flying solo – alone on the front-lines of parenting for our two high-school-age sons and our college daughter home on spring break.

To the Editor:

John Ellingson, shame on you and the rest of the City Council. Your explanation in the March 18 edition of The Standard sounded like a bunch of naughty juveniles who had skipped school.

Do you really care about how many people you upset by your decision to cancel the parade? First of all, many people worked hard to get ready for this. Then all the people  that were going to be there to watch a parade, not a gathering in a building. There was a large bake sale to raise money for the Waukon High School Prom. And I mean a large amount of great baked goods. I know because I stopped in after church.

I also have watched all the talk from the Governor and many others on the coronavirus.

We didn’t see any reason for the council to take this action and to do it right before parade time. This has upset a lot of Waukon citizens and we will remember this.

To the Editor:

Pay attention friends, your Social Security and Medicare are at risk. Our country’s current administrative leadership’s proposed budget for 2021 includes cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Once again, they insist upon going after working families and vulnerable Americans.

They have shown us who they are. I don’t believe we want leaders of our nation with this line of thinking about Medicare and Social Security.

Very sincerely,

Ann L. Hart
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

The 2020 Census is fast approaching and its success relies on our participation. The Census is conducted every ten years by the US government and is intended to count every person living in the USA. It will include ten questions and will take ten minutes to complete.

When all of us take the ten minutes to complete our Census, we make a significant contribution and impact to our communities. Federal money and congressional representation are determined by total population size, so your Census response assists your community to get its fair share of more than $750 billion per year in federal programs. In addition, Census numbers determine the number of seats our state will have in the US House of Representatives and state allocations for legislative and school districts.

To the Editor:

March is National Social Work Month, a time to reflect on the invaluable efforts made by social work professionals and the positive impact they have made on our society for generations.

The Iowa Child Advocacy Board (ICAB), the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs of Northeast Iowa, would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge them for the important roles they fill. Social workers deal with some of the most challenging issues facing individuals, families and communities.

Those of us at ICAB most often encounter social workers while we are advocating for children who have been removed from their homes and are under the care of the Department of Human Services. In these cases, social workers strive to protect children who have been abused and neglected, set up services for families trying to reunify, and help children find a safe, permanent home where they can thrive.

For your meditation: Matthew 5:17-37

This reading comes from “The Sermon on the Mount.” In today’s section, Jesus begins by saying that He has not come to change the law that Moses gave to them on Mt. Sinai. He has not come to do away with it or even to change it. His purpose, He says, is to bring it to its fulfillment. He also points out that the Scribes and Pharisees who are tough, strict, law and order types of people are wrong.

After this introduction, Jesus goes on to give four examples of what he is talking about. They are murder, adultery, divorce and false witness. In each of the four examples, Jesus pushes us back behind the deeds themselves to their motives, and the attitudes that make the external sins become realities.

Behind the murder is hate and anger gone out of control. Behind the adultery is lust without any control. Behind the false witness is distrust and suspicion gone out of control.

To the Editor:

In her letter to the editor in the February 19 edition of The Standard, Ann L. Hart once again resorts to distortion and misrepresentation of the facts in an effort to discredit the current administration and our Republican senators.

She implies that the tax cuts passed by the Republican Party are responsible for the ballooning deficit and debt. She seems to have little understanding of economics and how Capitalism really works.

There has actually been an increase in revenue due to the tax cuts. That is because more private money was pumped into the economy.  Trillions of dollars that had been in offshore accounts came back into the country and much of it ended up in 401Ks and other retirement accounts held by millions of Americans.