Opinion

To our many readers:  Greetings and Salutations. I wish to announce openly and without reservation – I am not a strict Republican – I was once a voter for Democrats as well as Republicans, but in the ’80s or thereabouts I realized the Democrat Platform was way out there from my political thought.  That is; the Democrat Party left me not that I left them.

Editor:Hmmm!  I have to bring this up.  History is important to our present - most would agree with that right?  We have been told repeatedly that - we can't change history, but we can learn from it.  Truism right?  Well, Well read further  ---  This is our Joe!    Thus:"WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden wants credit for nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Editor:According to Stephen Moore the tally for how much the federal government spent to combat Covid-19 is $5 trillion more or less; more than the cost of WW1 plus WWII.  How successful was this effort and was it well spent?  Two years later what is the honest assessment?  Could things have been worse if the government had spent nothing and done nothing?  What would have happened if we had not shut down businesses, churches, schools, restaurants, parks, basketball courts, and playgrounds?  Would we as a free people have been better at protecting ourselves with the proper knowledge – without government interference?  We will never know the answer, but the left believes that it was government intervention that saved millions of lives.

Editor:Russia 100,000 + soldiers and heavy equipment on the border of Ukraine.Hmmm!  One wonders is an insertion into Turkey next and would Greece make it easier?  Good Grief!  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.Regards,John Stiegelmeyer

The upside to getting older is getting older. The downside is the many, many goodbyes that you say. Part of my job is reporting the obituaries that come in. Each time you realize this was someone's father, mother, sister, brother, daughter, or son. Then at some point, it hits you. Eventually, you'll find me on this page. You begin to realize just how short life is.

Did you miss me?? Apparently, when I need to get a new debit card ordered because the last one had been through the mill, I forgot that it would stop all of the emails going out!Had my poor tech guy looking for technical issues that weren't there, ooops, aren't I embarrassed!  But it was nice to hear that you all missed your email!Here's a lat

Editor: Communication. There were two things at a Trans World Airline Cockpit we did not discuss religion and politics, but we could tell jokes.  This brings me to one I remember. What one says is interpreted differently from what one hears.  There were many Ole and Lena stories that included no disparages on their religion or their origin – they just gave you a laugh.

Closing in on 12 years of online reporting gives one pause to reflect a bit. This week gave me the perfect opportunity. I received a job offer from the only other online-only news source in the state. The town is larger, the income would be greater, so it was a no-brainer for me, Vinton is home. As much as I think I could probably do both jobs, thank you to the internet, I declined.

After writing half of a book on the topic of elected county official's pay raises, I thought maybe it would be better to break this down. As part of the discussion, you have to first know how they work and who created this ingenious plan.Every year the county must hold the annual Compensation Board meeting. Now this affects only the elected officials (and 2 or 3 people under them).

Ah, the Opinion Page. Where people can share an opinion. I have two thoughts about the Opinion Page. One is that it's fun to read the thoughts of others in the community. Sometimes they bring up something I had never thought about, and other times I might cock my head a bit and wonder where that thought came from. My second thought concerns "monitoring" the comments on said articles.