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Letters to the Editor

The school board member with the attendance problem

A couple months ago, a community member speaking to the school board during Community Comment time, referred to Sarah Costain as the school board member with the “attendance problem.” The community member never said Costain’s name, but everyone knew exactly who he was referencing. In Costain’s first year on the school board she missed over 30% of all school board meetings. If this was Costain’s employment she wouldn’t have a job by now. If she were a student she would be in a truancy program. It’s impossible to do any job when you simply do not show up. School board ...

Thank you Alpena school board!

I wanted to take a moment to thank the Alpena school board for what they’ve been accomplishing. Over the past several months, there has been no shortage of criticism and negative commentary, much of it louder than it is helpful. Through it all, this board has stayed focused and kept working. The focus sure shows! At the most recent meeting, the board approved moving forward with a new PE classroom and weight room. Anyone who has seen the current space—often called “the dungeon”—knows just how overdue this is. For years, it was talked about, but nothing changed. Now, it ...

Specifics on the recall issues and my supposed “political agenda”

I had unanswered concerns about the Rain Garden's construction, maintenance and long-range effectiveness. Others thought that it would not drain properly in floods and storms. Is it political to want to avoid a project that could become a liability? The paving project: I had concerns about the new product. Plus, the product we purchased was a proven one used at the junior high. Not inferior. Proven. Is pavement political? And regarding that bid policy, I brought it back before the board for reconsideration once I became board president, but they probably didn’t tell you ...

Lawson’s ‘ode to self’

Oh my. The editorial column School Board President Eric Lawson wrote about himself, and was in last Saturday’s News, was so self-aggrandizing. An “Ode to Himself” that could only have been written by himself, and a grand work of fiction with hardly a whiff of reality. Lawson used a lot of words but said very little of substance. He made vague references to the things he has accomplished without saying what those “accomplishments” are. Nothing he said aligns with the reality of what he has done, or has tried to do. For example: – Lawson made our school board a state-wide ...

Thank you to Society of St. Vincent de Paul

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank the Alpena Community for all the support of the warming shelter that was located at the merchants building this past winter. Special thanks to the Alpena County, City of Alpena, Christine Kihn, from the Center of Charity, and Larry LaCross of Catholic Human Services. And to all of those who donated money, material items, food and to all the staff and volunteers. We could not have done it without your prayers and support. Thanks again. Thomas C. LaCross President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Overwhelming prosperity

I do not think that we need more republican members in Congress. They have shown that they can not govern, when they seem to take away from the people. When the current president came into office he said everything would get better. Everything seems to me, everything got worse. When this term started he said he would be a leader of peace. He started with making Canada the 51st state, then he wanted to take Greenland. Since that did go well for him, the Secretary of Defense started bombing boats in the Caribbean, then kidnapped the leader of Venezuela, then talked about taking ...