September 3, 2009
Packers vs. parade is a tough choice for fans
I love the community pride and tradition of the annual Harvest Days Parade, I just wish it didn't conflict with the biggest Packers regular season game in NFL history.
Instead of having the parade and trick-or-treating on the afternoon on November 1, couldn't we (the city of Medford) move the parade and trick-or-treating to Saturday afternoon, October 31?
— Jason Borman, Medford
Asks Jack Nikolay where his reasoning is
I quote this from the letter from Jack Nikolay of August 27:
“[Y]ou are not an expert on politics. That can be said for the people of Taylor County also because if they were, they wouldn't be voting Republican. The reason people want to enter our country is so they can jump on the money wagon like the health insurance people, the pharmaceutical industry and, of course, the bankers.”
“However, we can't have a decent health care system in this country now because the health care industries, including the pharmaceutical industries own Congress. The profits of the pharmaceutical and health care industries is inexcusable. My god, greed knows no bounds when it comes to that.”
Mr. Nikolay where is your reasoning? You talk about the Republicans but in the next quote you say the Congress is greedy, that the pharmaceutical industries own them.
Now I agree with you, they are, but you are also including your buddies the Democrats. Why don't you and everyone else vote new people into our Congress, maybe for the first few years they won't be as greedy, they seem to get this way after the first four years.
— Wayne Smith, White Stone, Va.
Rather than complaining, how about helping
In response to Debbie Georg (with the burned out house) that is such an eyesore on North Park Ave.
Well, I was one helping clean up the few personal belongings and the military medals and discharge papers that belong to an Army war veteran and a Marine.
The Army veteran who lived in this house has been hospitalized numerous times since the fire and the Marine is still suffering from a stroke he had a year ago this August.
As a U.S. citizen, I applaud all the people that did help these veterans and family in their time of need. After seeing so many cars and neighbors stopping and gawking, only one was nice enough to help out, so if you say it's still an eyesore, well, where were you when we were helping get these people's stuff out so they can start to relive their lives again.
These people have to have the insulation tested before they can remove this house on their own and this is taking time, but after they get it checked out and it's safe to start getting it all cleaned up I will have a shovel and wheelbarrow with your name on it.
— Jeff White, Medford
House fire victims need help not people complaining
This is a response to Debbie Goerg's Vox Pop where she is asking when the burned house will be cleaned up. Yes, it has been over 2-1/2 months and that is a long time. But what do you expect people to do with how the economy is?
In the last year or so, the family has had a lot of stuff happen to them. Things I'm sure the family would like to keep in the family instead of sharing with the whole town. As for "not having owner's insurance to cover the cost of demolition and clean up is irresponsible," that's not totally the truth!
There are plenty of people around this town that don't have house insurance. Nowadays with everything that's going higher with prices and everybody not being able to work, a lot of people have to give up a lot of things they need and house and car insurance are some of the things.
As for the city's part in all this, I have no idea, but if it bothers you and other neighbors so bad, then why don't you have a fundraiser to help them instead of complaining about it.
I have known this family for over 18 years. They are willing to help the next person. So how about helping them? So if you really want some action with getting the house torn down and cleaned up, then maybe a little bit of help would be appreciated from all of you instead of complaining about it.
— Karen Jensen, Medford
TDS seeking stimulus money for broadband expansion
After months of anticipation and preparation, TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS) submitted 13 applications in nine states for broadband funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in mid-August.
When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act first passed, TDS originally hoped to apply for broadband stimulus funds to connect the limited number of customers in our Midway Telephone Company exchange who don’t currently have access to a high-speed connection. Then, in late-June the guidelines were released. The U.S. government defined an unserved area as “a community located [at least] 50 miles from a populated area of 20,000 or more.” This definition meant very few of TDS’ unserved areas were eligible for full grant funding under the program, including your community.
All hope is not lost, though. We’re optimistic the guidelines will be adjusted before the next round of funding begins, thereby making our Midway Telephone Company exchange potentially eligible under the grant program. If that happens, we expect to apply for funds to make broadband services accessible to all our customers in the area.
I would like to extend my personal appreciation to our customers and to community leaders who willingly shared their thoughts on the positive impact a broadband connection would have. Rest assured, TDS will hold all this information to use in the next round of applications, should the guidelines change.
We understand you’re likely disappointed in this news, so are we, but please know TDS is hopeful the future will present us with additional opportunities to connect more businesses and consumers in our unserved areas of your community to a high-speed broadband connection.
— Dave Wittwer, president and CEO, TDS Telecommunications Corp.
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