Bravo Pier One!
What an adventure we experienced in the Sherwood Forest behind the Pratt Museum last Saturday night. Robin Hood and his merry group entertained us with this timeless and encouraging legend of helping the poor and oppressed. The small cast, or rather the merry characters, of this Pier One comedy performance were a blast! Excellent!
We are so fortunate to have the thespian, director and stage crew talents of Pier One Theater in our own Sherwood Forest!
Therese Lewandowski and Jeff Cundiff
Keeping Allah in the mosque
I went to see the documentary “2000 Mules” Sunday night only to learn that I had not absorbed Rep. Sarah Vance’s agenda.
The documentary about the “stolen” election was on Monday. But I stayed for the presentation Ms. Vance gave — getting God in government. I’ve no problem with either, though I think Sikhs and Buddhists might feel misrepresented.
I did feel awkward as Ms. Vance led the Pledge to the Christian Church, akin to the Pledge of Allegiance, but with the promise of salvation at the end. I’m not ready to go on a crusade to prove my fealty. Besides, it was an off-pitch, as it misses the understanding of why we separate God and government.
When we talk God, is it the same God for Seventh Day Adventists as it is for the Baptist Church of Christ? Is it the same God for Catholics as it is for Quakers? Is it the same God for Muslims as it is for Christians? When the Ayatollah is praying in Iran, is it to the same Allah that Ms. Vance is praying to in Homer?
And that is why we keep Allah in the mosque and don’t let him interfere with government. It’s too messy because God exists in people’s minds. People are sure their God is the right God and their God’s edicts are the way to go. In the United States we don’t believe in voting my God to rule your life.
Gordy Vernon
Alternative facts?
Week after week I open the paper and am greeted with yet another letter from a Homer resident spewing innuendo or conspiracy theories. These letters typically refer to a current event and include the opposite version of the facts. When I originally heard Kelly Conway utter the words “alternative facts,” I thought to myself, there is no such thing, but Mr. Sarber continues to spew them in almost every letter he writes, and then he has the audacity to end each with “Respectfully.”
There is nothing respectable about spreading false statements. However, he did get one thing right a couple weeks ago. He said that a former president had never been subjected to an FBI search. Now, of course, this is because fortunately we have never had a former president that corrupted the office to a point that a search was necessary. But at least he did get one thing right when he referred to Trump as a FORMER president. Finally, a real fact.
Respectfully,
Suzanne Singer
Celebrate Kachemak City Park
The Kachemak City Park rejuvenation committee would like to invite the community to celebrate the Grand Opening of our park renovation on Saturday, Sept. 17, from noon to 3 p.m. We will have special performances by Silas Luke Jones on acoustic guitar and the Pipeline Vocal Project, Alaska’s first professional vocal trio from Anchorage. There will be hot dogs for all, along with a bouncy house, book mobile, fire truck and exhibition by Pickle Ball members and our bike park designer.
It’s not too late to get your tax deductible contribution through our partnership with the Homer Foundation as we still have a few projects to finish up.
Plan to join us as we honor Alice Witte and “Play Like Crazy!”
Connie Isenhour, Co-chairman of Kachemak Park Committee
Louie gets things done
Louie Flora worked for me when I was your representative to the Alaska Legislature. He was my chief committee aide when I chaired Fisheries, Resources, Education and State Affairs committees. As my chief committee staff, he knows how to get things done. He worked closely with every member of the committee, regardless of party affiliation.
Here are some things that he helped do for this district: legislation included repealing the nuisance tax on sand and gravel operations, a bill creating a day to honor Jay Hammond, and liability protection for landowners who offer recreational trail use of their land. Louie helped bring natural gas to Anchor Point and Homer and gravel and road maintenance to the villages at the end of East End Road.
Louie worked to prohibit wastewater pollution in salmon spawning habitat. He also helped get the blinking safety light and the 45 mph curve sign at Baycrest bluff installed. In his time working for this district, Louie has fielded hundreds of calls on local issues and helped constituents through the maze of bureaucracy.
I am voting to send Louie to Juneau this November. He is a great fit for this district. He grew up here and knows the district well. He knows how to work for compromises to gain support and pass legislation. I encourage you to vote for Louie too.
Paul Seaton
Vote no on Constitutional Convention
Dear Editor,
The District 6 Republican Party held its monthly meeting at Regent Life Church last Sunday night and invited Loren Leman to speak to them about his reasons to support a Constitutional Convention. He (and Gov. Dunleavy) want to change how we choose judges in this state because they don’t like having to choose from the three nonpartisan judge candidates put forth by the Judicial Council, an independent citizens commission. This commission evaluates judicial qualifications and performance and makes recommendations to voters and to the Governor.
Their mission is to improve the impartial administration of justice. The governor is required to choose from among the three candidates. Without this independent citizens commission, the choosing of justices would become very political. This is a really bad idea! Vote no on Ballot measure One – a Constitutional Convention.
Tina Seaton
Pickleball Club is great, but they need new courts
My husband and I participated in the Labor Day weekend Cosmic Hamlet Open Pickleball tournament the Homer Pickleball Club sponsored. We would like to pass along our great appreciation for the warm welcome we received from the tournament directors, fellow players, and their family and friends. Special thanks go out to Janie Leask, Lin Reid, Christopher Mullikin, and the community recreation manager, Mike Illg, for providing such a professionally run weekend. With only three courts available, timelines could have been very difficult to adhere to, but they did it.
Our only comment is that the HERC was large enough only to accommodate the players, but made it difficult for spectators to cheer. We could imagine that the HERC was great for its time, but being 70 years old, appeared to be past its prime due to its size and wear. Many players in Anchorage had considered participating in the tournament, but decided against it due to the tightly spaced courts.
It would be nice to see the city of Homer provide a facility to accommodate the space needed for the more currant demand of the fast growing sport of pickleball. By hosting such tournaments, it would attract many visitors who would bring money to your local economy.
The bottom line is that we were so impressed with the Homer Pickleball Club and its people that we felt they deserved a facility that equaled their efforts and energy they put into the weekend.
Sincerely,
Mike and Lara Wayt, Anchorage
Flora has her vote
Dear Editor:
I support Louie Flora for many reasons, but foremost is his clear support of reproductive choice. By contrast, his opponent, Sarah Vance, not only supports the government’s violation of a pregnant person’s rights to privacy and bodily autonomy, she does so while making no exceptions for rape or incest. (See, for example, Vance’s House Bill 302 from 2020.)
On Aug. 23, 2022 Vance told the City Council that she wants the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to put flyers in our airport restrooms to help victims of trafficking. The hypocrisy is stunning when a politician espouses support for victims of sex trafficking, but would deny those victims reproductive justice in the event they become pregnant.
This is especially galling when one considers the heightened pregnancy rates among adolescent girls impacted by commercial sexual exploitation (see Barnert ES, GodoySM, Hammond I, et al., “Pregnancy outcomes among girls impacted by commercial sexual exploitation,” Acad Pediatr., 2020.) If Vance succeeds in posting informational flyers in our airports, will the resources listed on those flyers include family planning? I doubt it.
I trust Louie Flora to truly protect the most marginalized among us. He has my vote.
Ginny Espenshade
More COVID-19 news not covered by MSNBC
Dear Editor,
When Rachel Walensky said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed the country and needed a complete reorganization, it made one wonder if she was trying to get ahead of some bad news. Well, here are three possibilities. First, the British Government quietly changed its position this week and now recommends against Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant or breastfeeding women, admitting that they can’t assure the vaccine is safe at the present time. That government has also started giving cash settlements of up to $150,000 to those injured by the COVID-19 vaccines. Maybe the shots aren’t as safe as the CDC says.
Second, the CDC just approved new versions of the COVID-19 vax for the Omicron variant, although they admitted these new vaccines have never been tested on humans, only mice. Never tested on humans, just mice? What the heck are they thinking? Maybe the CDC should talk to their peers in Britain to find out what could go wrong.
Third, 10 weeks after the FDA and CDC approved a COVID-19 vax for children as young as 6 months, few parents are giving their kids the clot shot. Only about 5% of the children in this age group have been vaccinated. The reason might be that, according to the CDC’s V-safe tracker, over 55% of the babies who have received this shot have had an undesirable systemic reaction to it.
By now most critical thinkers know the CDC is about as trustworthy with COVID-19 as the FBI was with Hunter Biden’s laptop. You’d have to be pretty gullible to trust either organization.
Respectfully,
Greg Sarber
