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Letters to the Editor

We must hold Trump accountable in the fall

Dear editor, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying his company’s business records to keep information from voters that he knew would harm his 2016 presidential campaign. Lying on official business filings is a serious criminal offense and another clear example of Trump’s pattern doing anything to gain or stay in power. No one is above the law, even if the far right members of our Supreme Court are protecting Trump and any other American would be punished if they committed the same crime. Despite the guilty verdict, Trump is still very much running for ...

I will vote no on library tax on Aug. 6 ballot

Now it came to pass that many have no class, just brass. As a retired widow, I’ve dealt with many groups, including students, staff, and government over the last five decades and heard it all! No computer for me, I was hacked at Alpena Public Schools and not wasting my social security on the overpriced cable company. Don’t need fake Facebook to be informed about some vacation or the mile-high club. I did visit the public library after my spouse died of COVID-19. I asked for some help and was appalled at the negative attitude and response to some concerns. I don’t need that ...

Religious columns welcome in the newspaper

Dear Editor, I’m writing in response to the letter from Molly Stepanski that was published in your paper on July 8, 2024. She stated her opinion that The Alpena News should not include a religious column, which she says is inappropriate for a community newspaper. I’d like to know why she thinks it has anything to do with the separation of church and state (which she mentions in her letter) because the newspaper is independently owned and not a governmental entity. In my opinion the faith-based column is a welcome addition to your newspaper. I’d much rather read about religion ...

Library no vote is our only leverage on books

Our George Fletcher county library, a gem in our beautiful county and town, needs a closer look, there is more than meets the eye. The library board and administrative library staff are insisting on putting books that are explicitly sexual in content in the youth (6- to 12-year-old) and teen (13- to 17-year-old) sections of our library. Our concern is that young patrons can inadvertently be exposed to pictures, ideas, and “how to” sexual instructions! This exposure is called “grooming” and defined as “sexual abuse of children.” Starting in December 2023, groups of Alpena ...

Alpena Township firefighters’ hands are tied

Since 2021, Alpena Township Fire Chief Mark Hansen has done a tremendous job of rebuilding the Alpena Township Fire Department after the trustees failed to “contract out” fire and emergency medical services to the city. Unfortunately, the trustees continue to fail to take any action to help. They admitted they were previously aware of most issues raised in the Stone Production report. Some examples: 1) For over a year, trustees failed to fill one of six career positions, causing about $20,000 in overtime expense and “burnout” of the other five firefighters. 2) Three new ...

Local contractors do fine and important work

With all the negativity about, it’s a good time, Alpena, to be extremely proud of our Alpena workforce. Neiman’s Family Market continues to produce, at the Alpena store, our famous bagels in a frozen pre-baked state for our stores. Products are brought up and the supplier then takes them to their warehouse and delivers them to our stores when making regular deliveries. With Ollie’s coming to the store, our operation needed to make major adjustments. Our landlord has been especially kind and workable as we moved our bagel production to a more efficient area of the store. To ...