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Letters to the Editor

Trying to live in balance with environment

To the Editor: This is in response to the article in last week’s Presque Isle Advance regarding the Materials Management Plan. I have stressed to the county board that the county does not have the staff, the expertise, or the understanding to develop its own regional management plan. They went ahead anyway. The article speaks of the state’s overflowing landfills. While that may be a statewide issue, it certainly is not a problem here in N.E. Michigan. We have a municipally-owned facility in Montmorency County that is jointly owned by Montmorency, Oscoda, and Alpena counties with ...

Each district needs representation on board

The article in the July 30 Alpena News about library supporters “fighting back” saddened me. I am proud of the fact that I listen and appreciate various sides of the coin. I believe in freedom of speech. However; this community is still reeling. Why can’t “fighting back” involve the disagreeing groups coming together to brainstorm, work out how to get along, and listen to your fellow citizens? Commissioners did not make the decision lightly, why not settle this situation peacefully without all the anger and finger-pointing? Will movements to remove and destroy commissioners you ...

Utility companies need to be held accountable

Dear Editor, As the country and the rest of the world experience another year of scorching heat waves, private for-profit utility companies — who we rely upon for our basic necessities like heating, cooling, and electricity — are keeping us reliant on climate-wrecking fossil fuels while reporting record profits. When they work well, utilities exist in the background of our lives: they power our homes, cool us down when it’s hot, and give us heat when it’s cold. But too often, they are sources of aggravation: The power goes off when it’s dangerously hot or cold out, our ...

The shocking part of the library board story

Had I not been at the Alpena County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, July 23, I would not have believed it. During the meeting’s “public comment” time, a community member, Dennis Schultz, offered to assist in removing the negative library signs posted around Alpena County in exchange for the commissioners’ vote to remove all current members of the Alpena County library board. This same person reminded the county Board of Commissioners that several individuals had already “identified themselves” to them as replacements for the existing library board. Following ...

County board acted with integrity on library

Dear editor, In defense of the Alpena County Commissioners: After my husband and I attended recent commissioners meetings, I was very impressed that each had reviewed the books in question at the library and had even attended the library’s July meeting. These men and women are sincerely concerned that Alpena has a library. By removing the present board, who seemed not to have made any progress in addressing the concerns of the citizens for the past two years, the commissioners can hope that the new library board will deal with the challenge and keep our library open for our ...

Voting is transparent thanks to citizens’ work

I voted! “We the People can vote,” unlike many in this world. I voted during the nine-day early voting period in February and then this past week in the August primary. Our county doesn’t have anywhere near the mass of voters as in other counties, who desperately need the additional time for young people who work one or two jobs or even the elderly or handicapped or transportation-challenged citizens. Our secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, and many partisan elected leaders worked hard to give us all the opportunity to cast our votes easily, safely, and with confidence that the ...