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Letters to the Editor

Questionable actions by Alpena County board

Dear editor, As a resident of Alpena County, I’m dismayed by the recent actions of the county Board of Commissioners. From the cryptic wording of the “Separate Tax Limitations” they proposed on the August 2024 ballot to their quid pro quo handling of the library board, the actions of the current commissioners are not moving Alpena County toward a more perfect local governance. The county’s budget is struggling, due in large part to challenges in recovering revenue lost in the 2008-09 recession and then restricted due to the Headlee Amendment provisions, as well as new and ...

What has happened to my country these days?

What has happened to my country? I am 80 years old, and I no longer recognize it. Until a few years ago, even ONE of the things the current MAGA presidential candidate has said or done would have instantly derailed his political career ... permanently. Why do so many accept, excuse, or gloss over mocking our veterans, demeaning and sexually assaulting women, making fun of handicapped people, disdaining our captured or wounded war heroes and Gold Star parents, idealizing and praising autocrats like Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, constantly lying and spewing cruel ...

It’s not ‘just the guy who changes my oil’

The guy who worked for many prestigious NASCAR race teams and went on to own an extremely successful diesel repair for many years. The guy who “just changes your oil” is the guy who gave four kids and a wife a life where they never went without. The “guy who just changes your oil” is the guy who we call Daddy, and pop-pop. Before you minimize the guy who changes your oil, remember he just might be the one mentoring your child or grandchild and teaching them a trade that will carry them throughout the rest of their life. MIA VALLEY, Ossineke

Our future relies on inclusion, improvement

In traversing up and down the U.S.-23 corridor this year, I noted all the roadside work going on in the Oscoda area for foot paths and the downtown Painting Building Art in Alpena. As of late, the movement to include all people in community events in Alcona/Harrisville has also grown. Our country has been embroiled in so much hate and discontent that the upswing is very encouraging. The Idea of Community in Rural America is the basis of the middle class, the foundation of “We the People” in our Constitution. I especially want to give a shout out to our Future Farmers of America ...

Are NGOs registering undocumented voters?

To: Editor, The Alpena News — Federal Law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. However, according to a verifiable website, thousands of left-wing non-government organizations (NGOs) are coaching millions of migrants to register and vote absentee in key battleground states like Michigan, which can be done online or automatically when applying for driver’s license. All the applicant has to do is check “YES, I am a citizen.” There are no further citizenship verification checks that are possible or even practical. It’s a LOOPHOLE that will be ...

JD Vance wrong on teachers without children

To the editor, JD Vance’s angry, hurtful comments that teachers who don’t have children “disorient and really disturb” him are consistent with his long history of attacking families and public schools. Teachers, teacher aides, paraprofessionals, school nurses, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors, librarians, social workers, counselors, and dozens of other essential school employees work every day to help kids learn and grow. So often, they pay for supplies for children out of their own pockets to make sure they have what they need. Vance doesn’t seem to understand ...