Viewpoints

A Year of New Beginnings

Thanks be to God for the life he gives to us every day and for every good thing he has given us in the past year. God is good all the time. God told Moses that he would walk before him and show him the way. As we begin this new year, time can be different for us if we put God first in our lives. Forget the old things. (Isaiah 43-18)  We want to remember that God loves us and wants the best for us. Read I Corinthians 13:1-13. Every day God provides good things for us.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that this is being written on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and I don’t know where he is buried, but watch for some grave spinning.

Because his dream has not been realized. In fact, in some respects, it seems things have gotten worse in the racial relations arena.

Just the week before the MLK anniversary, the president was accused of using intemperate language in reference to some African and Hispanic nations from which individuals are migrating to the United States.

And about that same time, Nancy Peiosi of the U.S. House of Representatives displayed racial bias in referring to the makeup of a group of elected officials, calling them “white” almost a pejorative.

For your meditation: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 – 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 – Mark 1: 14-20

In the first reading, Jonah the Prophet goes to the basically pagan city. He tells them they’d better shape up, and soon, or else terrible things will occur. And you heard what happened. Miracle of miracles, they all shaped up, right now.

n the second reading Paul gives us a kind of sober, somber warning. He says, “The time is short – those who are making use of this world should conduct themselves as if they were not using it because the world as we know it is passing away.”

In the gospel, Jesus is hard at work. After John’s arrest, and John is his cousin, mentor, precursor and forerunner, Jesus runs right out to preach God’s news. He says, “This is the time! The reign of God is at hand. Reform your lives and believe in the good news.”

There seems to be this rush on. We’ve got to get going, now!

To the Editor:

Zip-a-de-do-da, what a wonderful 2017!

My granddaughter was singing this the other day and I thought to myself, “what a fitting way to describe our year with Holiday Lights.” This is a year that will be hard to beat.

We had 450-plus volunteers helping with the lights, from setting up displays to happily greeting visitors. The popular Walk-Through Night attracted 700 people - the donated soup, cookies and hot chocolate were once again a big hit.

We broke the all-time record by 1,070 cars, and our first year ever to break 300 cars in a night (not only once, but twice)! Free-will donations were up by 34%.

We credit good weather and the public’s enthusiasm for such a remarkable season. Much appreciation goes out to all who helped make this event possible; thank you for helping us help others.

Dennis (Oz) Osmundson
Development Coordinator
Helping Services for Youth & Families
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I have not watched any of the award shows on television for years, and this week’s Golden Globes was not an exception.

But listening to or reading reports next morning mentioned some things worth comment.

As with so many things these days, the media are guilty of yet another case of overkill. It appeared that most of the nominated performances dealt with strong women overcoming someone or something. I am not familiar with any of them and don’t plan to become so. The sole exception might be Gary Oldham’s portrayal of Winston Churchill, a strong man!

Photos show most women wore black, no doubt in mourning for the millions of extra dollars they earned or will earn as a result of the current mania to draw attention to predatory males in Hollywood, politics and business. Not that that isn’t a story and a problem. But it isn’t the only topic worth discussion.

To the Editor:

The future of IPERS continues to be in the news and as Chair of the joint House-Senate Public Retirement Systems Committee. I’d like to put to rest any concerns or fears about rumored changes during this year’s legislative session.

IPERS members and other public pension beneficiaries have nothing to worry about.  There will be no changes to IPERS or any of the other Iowa pension systems in the upcoming session.

Over the last several decades, thousands of Iowans have counted on the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS) for their retirement security once they’ve left public service.  They spent years contributing to the system and have earned their pensions.

To the Editor:

Mid-December, our rural electric company installed a smart meter. We were never directly informed of this. We the customer should have received a written notice in the mail that the company was going to do this type of change. That did not happen. We were never personally informed or given the written opportunity to decline this. It may have been in the newsletter or another public form of media, but not everyone has the time to read the newsletter or other forms of media. Plus, my check is not written out to the other media or to the media department of the electric company.

Ultimately, it was done without us knowing it, which is what the utility companies are doing. They want to get this accomplished as quickly and discreetly as possible. That is the norm for the wireless industry.

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

... that with the extreme and prolonged cold weather spell, some of us are happy indeed that there is a lot of action in the field of sports at this time of the year.
And happier yet that both Iowa and Iowa State won their football bowl games.

As I am typing this, the Big Ten (14!) has won all seven of its post-season games, with Michigan right now trying to make it eight. But even it’s only 7-1, it would seem to be evidence that the level of football in the league is pretty high.

The Iowa wrestlers won the Midlands championship again, and a team of unattached wrestlers from Iowa came in ninth!

Plus, the Iowa women beat a ranked Michigan basketball team despite having two starters and two-thirds of the team’s top scorers benched by injuries.

by Hugh E. Conway

Season’s Greetings

To the Editor:

I would like to express my appreciation to the citizens of Waukon for allowing me to have served as the Assistant Waukon City Attorney over the past thirty years. A big thank you to the Waukon Police Department and its officers, present and past, for your hard work and devotion to duty. It has been my experience that they are very conscientious and attempt to uphold the motto of “To Protect and Serve”.

I further extend my appreciation to prior city councils for their repeated reappointments. On my first day as a practicing attorney, July 7, 1986, I was appointed as the Assistant Waukon City Attorney. I was reappointed annually thereafter. It has been a wonderful experience both professionally and personally.

Respectfully,
Attorney Jeffrey L. Swartz
Waukon