Letter to the Editor:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has designated September as Juror Appreciation Month.
The Lincoln County Circuit Judges, Clerk of Circuit Court and court staff would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to past, present and future jurors. Your contributions are greatly appreciated by the Court. Jury service has been a vital aspect of our government for over 200 years. Jury duty, along with voting, is one of the primary means by which citizens participate in the work of our government. We value your time and commitment to our justice system.
In 2012, a total of approximately 1,700 jurors were summoned for jury duty in Lincoln County. In 2013, to date, approximately 1,150 jurors have been summoned to serve.
We would also like to thank the many private companies, government agencies, small businesses, school districts and all those who encouraged and support their employees when they are called to jury service. In honoring the excellent service and commitment of citizens who perform jury duty, we hope to reinforce public confidence in the jury system, improve communication with jurors and employers and disseminate an important and positive message about jury service.
Your local courts depend on your service. Thank you for your service!
With sincere gratitude,
Jay R. Tlusty
Lincoln County Circuit Court Presidig Judge
Cindy L. Kimmons
Lincoln County Clerk of Circuit Court
To Editor,
Where is the public outcry? The world’s atmosphere now contains 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2, according to recent reports in the media. This is a HUGE disaster. The new level of CO2 is 120 ppm higher than the normal level of 280 ppm, and is a major cause of our atmosphere warming, resulting in more loading of moisture in our air. The moisture itself traps heat – and the predicted floods, hurricanes, dry spells, and storms of increased severity are now taking place. The news of these terrible storms is in every newspaper and TV news report. As our human race pumps more CO2 into the atmosphere, the climate will become increasingly worse.
For those who want to learn more about the climate crisis, please check out these recent articles in the National Geographic:
1. “As the Planet Warms, the Sea Rises,” Sept. 2013, pp. 30-57. “A profoundly altered planet is what our fossil fuel driven civilization is creating.”
2. “Good Gas, Bad Gas,” Dec. 2012, pp. 90-109. As the Arctic seas warm, huge quantities of methane gas bubble up. Methane gas traps 25 times more heat than CO2.
3. “Weather Going Wild,” Sept. 2012, pp. 30-55. Our extremes in weather cannot be explained by referring to natural cycles in climate.
4. “World Without Ice,” Oct. 2011, pp. 90-109. We are “playing with our atmosphere” as we add greenhouse gases to it.
My main point is, THERE CAN’T BE BUSINESS AS USUAL. All of us must cut back on our use of gasoline and electricity. We must also call on our government to strictly regulate emission of greenhouse gases. And our government must take leadership among the nations in this growing crisis.
If we do not act now, people living in the future will wonder why we did not act, as they inherit a climate-damaged world.
With much hope,
James A. Lewis
Town of Maine
To the Wonderful Community of Merrill,
Last summer and again this summer, our children, along with many classmates and friends, have held a lemonade stand in our front yard on the corner of West Main St. and State St. to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Over the past two years, they have donated a combined total of over $2,300 to this charity. We wanted to take a moment to recognize the motivated children who have participated in the stand and thank the amazing Merrill community whose support made their effort possible.
Our daughter Lily and her good friend Anna Melder came up with the idea for the stand in the spring of 2012 after learning about several local children who were currently undergoing treatment for cancer or had done so in the past. They wanted to spend their free time in the summer doing something fun that really made a difference; a lemonade stand for St Jude fit the bill. This year, they again decided to hold the lemonade stand and again dedicate the contributions to St. Jude. Their effort drew the attention of the local news this summer, resulting in stories in this newspaper and on two local TV news stations. Not only was this fun for the children, but it substantially increased sales and donations.
Thank you to all the children who participated: Lily and Jake Diagostine, Noah Parrot, Anna Melder, Mackenah Krause, Kamryn and Konnor Beyer, McKenna and Reese Meunier, Megan Schroeder, Ian Springborn, David, Caleb, Josh, Sarah and Rachel Gustafson, Xandra and Alexan Bienfang and any others that I may have inadvertently omitted. Thank you as well to their parents and to Kylie Beyer for the assistance and donations they provided. Even more importantly, thank you to the Merrill community for your kindness and support of their endeavor. Many of you made substantial donations or visited the stand on a regular basis. This community provided a wonderful example of what it means to “give back” and for that we give you our deepest thanks.
Ginger and Dean Diagostine
Merrill