Opinion

Dear Editor, Vinton is the place to be; to live. I speak from my position of an 85. year old male living in a local nursing home. My wife arrived in Vinton three years ago, me two.Our family learned that the Virginia Gay Hospital Rehab facility was one of the best in the area ( we lived in Hiawatha at the time). Our daughter and myself decided to move to Vinton as well; last year I joined my wife.

Part of the fun of Christmas is the build-up to the big day, December 25th. The Christmas wish lists, the smuggling gifts into the house to be wrapped and hidden or snuck under the tree. My favorite part of the holiday is seeing all of the Christmas lights. Lights in the stores. Lights in and around all of the homes. It seems that this year we have even more in town that I can remember.

Sometimes I read something that leaves me scratching my head. Like this one in the Iowa Capital Dispatch entitled, "How mosquitoes came to Hawaii."Now, the Iowa Capital Dispatch is a left-leaning publication, that I usually take a gander at in the mornings. Sometimes they have things that affect our area, and they keep an eye on what's happening Des Moines so I follow it.

Dear Editor,  It doesn't matter if you vote red or blue, this is a humanity issue & it affects every one of you.   For every hospital, doctor, nurse, health care professional, health care worker, & mortician as well, you are being called out. If you stand by & do nothing, or worse yet, continue to push this "covid vaccine", you are now complacent in the biggest crime against humanity ever seen in history.

A few weeks ago I had a note disagreeing with something I said. Then the writer ask me not to cite what was said, so I won't but there was one line that made my mouth drop open for a couple of reasons. The author referred to my love of the 1st Amendment. According to the writer, I "constantly site (sic)" it. They are right. I am kinda partial to that whole first amendment thingy.

Dear Friends and Readers,The election is over and the work has begun. The transition from one elected official to another is always challenging and it’s impossible to measure the stress of those individuals working in the office. I am pleased to share that I have had discussions with Dave Thompson and they have all been positive and directed to create the smoothest transition possible.

Dear Editor,I attended the Veterans Day Program last Friday put on by the V-S School District with my father, a 94 year-old veteran. I, and he, were really blessed!All of the students were were well behaved and the teachers were in command of their "platoon." The many patriotic songs were so good to hear. We heard "God Bless America" and "God Bless The USA" in a public school and that means so much to many of us !!!  Thank you Ms Martin and Mr Tabaka, vocal music instructors !I can't help but believe that this performance by the students will have an impact upon them.

Today, as I awoke, I realized it was that day. Yes, THE DAY. A day of grand remembrance of a day some 247 years ago when men seated amongst drunken brawlers sought to create something larger than themselves.  A singularly minded group that sought to fight.  To fight for what was right and true.  To live a life of hardship necessary to be ready to fight anytime and anywhere.

Dear Editor, Tuesday’s election results have shown that Benton County residents are fed up with the way things have gone the past two years.  All but one person elected to represent our citizens are from the GOP.All 3 Supervisors – RepublicanAttorney - RepublicanAuditor - RepublicanRecorder – RepublicanSheriff – RepublicanTreasurer – RepublicanState Representative – RepublicanState Senator – RepublicanGovernor / Lt Governor – RepublicanAttorney General – RepublicanSecretary of Agriculture – RepublicanSecretary of State – RepublicanState Auditor – The Lone DemocratState Treasurer – RepublicanAll 4 Representatives to Congress – RepublicanBoth US Senators – RepublicanBut, more important to me, was the overwhelming response to the Freedom Amendment to the Iowa Constitution.

With the final results of the 2022 election reported, Kate Wyatt, democratic candidate for Iowa House District 76, has conceded.“I want to thank everyone who encouraged me to run and helped us do the work,” said Wyatt. “Every extra effort to help us get our message to the voters, to encourage me along the way, and to support our campaign is appreciated beyond words.