Thanks for Elks Scholarship
I would like to thank the Homer Elks Club for its generous contribution to my education. I am very grateful to be a recipient of the 2018 Continuing Education Scholarship from the Elks, and I am glad that there are members of the community who care about the lives and education of high school graduates like myself.
I have grown up in Homer, and this community is always so supportive of young people. This fall, I will attend the University of Montana in Missoula to study forestry and climate change science, and this scholarship will help me accomplish this.
Thank you,
Andie Sonnen
Tyrants start small
Children taken from their parents and locked in cages inside an old Walmart; in kennels; in tents; Children beaten and drugged.
Children told not to hug their terrified siblings and forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance — in English.
An officer mocking the crying of traumatized children by commenting “we need a conductor.”
Toddlers — toddlers — brought before court hearings, without a parent.
Is this America?
I don’t think so.
After the Trump administration was given a deadline to return the children to their parents by the courts, he tried to dissemble a law that prevents holding children indefinitely, in order to keep undocumented families in detention until they’re given court hearings.
And so yes, reunite children with their parents, but imprison the whole caboodle indefinitely; Court hearings can take months and years.
You know what a concentration camp is? The next step up from a detention center, once the weeks grind into an eternity.
Is this America?
No.
Do you care?
Unlike Mrs. Trump, who wore a coat with the words “I don’t care, do you?”
You should. Don’t forget this is your tax dollars at work supporting the private prison industry, instead of feeding and educating your kids. And do you think an administration that’s this tyrannical towards immigrant parents and children is going to stop there?
Trump doesn’t like women (well, as sexual objects) he doesn’t like Muslims, African Americans, the LGBQ rainbow assortment, and the press; anyone who disagrees with him.
Are they next?
If you don’t fit any of these pigeon holes, you should still care.
Because tyrants start small. And then they go big.
People lined up and shot, buried in mass graves.
This is not America.
Recommended read/watch: “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, and the movie “Children of Men.”
Katie Dawson
In response to Slone letters
What are “conservatives” conserving? Discrimination? Slavery? Bigotry? Is that what’s held our country together for 200 years? Is that the soil from which liberals grow? I guess so. When something’s wrong there are those who try to make it right. Respect for all people needs to win.
Whatever the Party was trying to conserve before certainly isn’t being “conserved” now. Now it’s an ideology of skewed morals (WWJD? would be good), and monetary gain at the cost of our environment and health. Certainly not conservation. Certainly not conserving our monuments and sacred places, nor leaving spaces pristine for future generations. Nothing is sacred in the name of the Money God. All’s open for our use and abuse. We can’t live without our environment. If we pollute our environment…reach your own conclusions, “conservatives.”
Conservatives are offended by people with different life styles. Is their existence offensive? These people have been killed for being who they are. When you tout your position of disapproval, that’s what happens.
The proclamation was a motion to help them not live in fear in our Cosmic Hamlet by the Sea. By accepting them you’re helping people in your community live in peace. We’re all human beings after all.
Lela Ryterski
Thanks to anonymous quilter
The Kachemak Bay Quilters wish to thank the anonymous donor for her generous gift of quilts this past week. She graciously handed us three finished quilts, and 17 completed quilt tops. These are beautifully constructed, using lovely fabric, patterns and workmanship. They are various sizes and fit multiple uses. The quilters will finish the work, and all will be distributed as Service Quilts within the community. Whoever created these was dedicated to quality. From the quilters, thank you.
Jan Mosher
Keep the Mary Lane Trail alive
I live on Kilcher Road. In case you missed it, we have celebrities around these parts. To be honest, all of our neighbors are friendly and kind. And with the popularity of the Kilchers, our traffic has heightened. Motorhomes and packed tourist vans roll in and out. While I’m out walking, visitors in rental cars stop and ask me “Do you know if Otto and Char are home?” I laugh.
Fortunately, my husband selected a house site down a long winding driveway about 48 years ago that affords us privacy.
This letter is about another reportedly busy borough road, Dorothy Drive, up off of Skyline Drive. Toward the end of it is another celebrity, a country western singer, Zac Brown, building his new house. Recently, he and his neighbors submitted a petition to the borough to vacate the public right-of-way of Dorothy Drive and privatize it.
Unfortunately, the four petitioners (a couple who are seasonal residents) didn’t think about a long driveway that would afford them privacy. They built their homes within 100 feet of the borough road. Whoops.
I’m opposed to their petition. Retaining the public right-of-way on Dorothy Drive is crucial. For starters, the burden of privacy for homeowners need not be the public’s responsibility.
More importantly, the lack of a public right-of-way chokes off the historic Mary Lane Trail that connects East End Road and Skyline. This trail has allowed passage and enjoyment for pedestrians, equestrians, skiers and bicyclists for more than 75 years.
Because the upper portion of the Mary Lane Trail is closed with Mr. Brown’s “no trespassing” signs (his legal right), a new workaround trail has been created on the legal easement of the section line to Dorothy Drive. My friend and I were able to hike from East End Road to Skyline this past weekend. Again.
I encourage you to let the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission members (Franco Venuti, Rick Foster, (and) Syverine Abrahamson-Bentz from the southern peninsula) know you want to retain the public access of Dorothy Drive.
Keep the Mary Lane Trail alive.
Susie Amundson
