A Christmas Letter:
You know what I enjoy most? All the people under one roof. Don’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done because you’re family.
For a moment we find a way to get together. Some of us find a way to forgiveness, acceptance of weakness, encouragement, love.
Merry Christmas,
Rick Adsit
Merrill
Fiscal Cliff solutions:
President Obama appointed a bipartisan panel called the Simpson/Bowles Commission. The group spent many hours and effort to develop a plan to get our deficit and economy under control. This plan was looked at by the Obama administration and quickly tabled for some unknown reason.
A few months later we were facing a serious problem with our debt ceiling. Obama called for a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to look into and find ways to do much the same thing the Simpson/Bowles group did. They pondered the challenge and presented a plan to do what was needed. The result was much the same was what happened to the Simpson/Bowles plan. We all know that with that many folks working on much the same issues there had to be items in the report that should have been worked as solutions to the problem.
On July 3, 2008 while Obama campaigned in Fargo, ND, he made this statement, “The problem is that the way Bush has done it over the last 8 years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving our national debt from $5 Trillion for the first 42 presidents, the 43rd adding $4 Trillion all by his lonesome, so we now are at $9 Trillion in debt. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.”
When announcing a “fiscal responsibility summit” in February, 2009, Obama stated, “I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.”
Obama took an annual deficit of about $420 Billion and grew it to over twice the size of what he inherited to $1.2 Trillion per year. National Debt went from $10.6 Trillion to $16.3 Trillion in less than 4 years. Grossly “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” based on his words in Fargo 2008.
He now wants approval to be allowed to increase the debt ceiling without congressional approval. His proposal adds trillions to the national debt. The house minority leader Pelosi stated this week, “We cannot cut our way to deficit reduction.” I have to ask is this fiscally responsible? They sure didn’t teach this sort of math in the schools I attended.
Thanks for your time,
Regards,
Chuck Bolder
Merrill
Letter to the Editor:
The organizers, volunteers, families and boy scouts of Troop 599 in Merrill would like to thank all of the guests and sponsors who helped make the Second Annual Haunted Sawmill another tremendous hit. We are extremely proud to be able to give Merrill a fun and exciting event that draws customers from all over the state. This year over 6,000 people came to the Haunted Sawmill. We had guests come from Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, the U.P. and everywhere in-between.
Part of the Haunted Sawmill event included a fundraiser where people were asked to bring non-perishable food items for the local food pantry and the Lincoln County Humane Society. This year we collected nearly 2,000 food items. Those items were then donated to the food pantry in Merrill. A separate donation will be made to the Lincoln County Humane Society.
The Haunted Sawmill is the primary fundraiser for Troop 599. The proceeds raised from the event are used to help pay for the scouts summer camp and other events. This helps to minimize the cost of scouting for the families of the boys who are part of Troop 599. Our event also allows the scouts and their families to experience and enjoy even more exciting trips and adventures.
Planning and building for the 2nd Annual Haunted Sawmill began in April. This year’s preparations including the design and shooting of our own video documentary starring Vincent Mudgett, the main ghoul whose restless soul prowls the twisted corridors and narrow passages of the Haunted Sawmill. It also included the creation of our own website; the redesign of the rooms and passages inside the building; and a special focus on making the children’s matinees a fun-filled family event. The Haunted Sawmill Committee made it our goal to put on the best Halloween attraction in Wisconsin. We believe that the hard work and dedication of all of our wonderful volunteers paid off with the number of guests, extremely positive comments and success that we had. The enthusiasm for Merrill’s own haunted house was also shown when the Haunted Sawmill was independently ranked as the best haunted house attraction in Wisconsin on a popular haunted house website.
The success of the Haunted Sawmill would not be possible without the limitless donations that were received from our incredible sponsors. Please help support these businesses and let them know how much you enjoy Merrill’s own haunted house and want to see it keep going. We are already planning on how we can make the 3rd Annual Haunted Sawmill even more terrifying, scary and spooktacular!
We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their support of the Haunted Sawmill.
Gerald Hersil
Derek Krzanowski
And the Haunted Sawmill Committee
Editor:
As can be expected, the cry for gun control wages after the horrible disaster in Connecticut. The answer is not to take away a freedom that over 100 million law abiding Americans enjoy and have a constitutional right to bear arms and out of those 100 million 99.9% will never commit any form of violence.
We live in a world that throughout time has been marred with tragedies and unfortunately for as long as time goes on we will continue to have tragedies that will be caused by a variety of circumstances. People need to realize we live in a world that is basically safe but there always has and always will be faces of evil in the world that comes in many forms.
This year alone in the first 11 months of 2012 there has been 2,570 shootings in the city of Chicago – that’s 233 per month or 7+ shootings per day. Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation. The truth is we can’t legislate evil out of society – it was always and will always be among us, it is one of the drawbacks of being part of the human race. The answer is never to punish the good law abiding citizens.
I wish I knew the answer to this problem, but unfortunately I do not believe there is an end all be all solution. I do know that taking away any freedoms that millions of Americans have fought for is not the answer to any of our problems.
My heart goes out to the victims and their loved ones, I have 2 children but can’t even begin to imagine the pain of the parents. Maybe even if you are not a religious person it wouldn’t hurt to say a little prayer for the families and the community of Newtown.
Andrew Mondeik
Gleason
Letter to the Editor-
I read with interest the Lincoln County Humane Society initiative that is going to take place in Merrill.
I am happy to hear that people care about their pets, and want to see that animals are watched over humanely.
By law, it is required that some dogs need 20 square feet of kennel room. How many children don’t have 20 square feet to themselves in the place where they reside?
In 2010-11, 18 students were identified by the Department of Public Instruct as homeless in Merrill and 49 were in Tomahawk (includes those displaced by a tornado that year), and the numbers are growing.
Thankfully, there are free and reduced lunches in our schools, which provide children with nutritious meals. From the latest DPS statistics, 45.9% of Merrill students and 39.5% of Tomahawk students qualify.
Thankfully we also have wonderful churches, nonprofit organizations and individuals who watch out for children in our area.
For those of you who are planning to give to the million dollar animal shelter, by all means do so – but give yourselves a challenge as they do in fund raising – match your giving dollar for dollar toward those organizations that help human beings.
Sincerely,
Jill Schmunk
Merrill
Letter to Editor:
We are offering a $200 reward for the safe return of a 5-foot wooden Christmas soldier. The decoration was taken from our front door step at 1212 7th St. on Dec. 9 or 10.
Please return it and get $200 for an extra Merry Christmas.
Steve & Jolene Weix
Merrill