Dear editor,
Homer is a COVID-19 caring community. We care about our people and our seniors and want them to be vaccinated.
So what happened when one of our seniors — someone known to me — fell in one of the busiest parking lots in town and no one came to this person’s aid? The fall was severe and the person was bleeding from their ears. The senior told me no one helped — not the store owners, not the employees, not the people patronizing the businesses.
I’m ashamed to say I live in Homer.
Lori Franco
Dear editor,
A recent letter set forth a mix of accusations and flogged the antifa dead horse. With the assertion that things were going so well before the coronavirus, it excoriated the newly elected administration for shutting down the wall construction, for inviting illegals and drugs in, for shutting down the petroleum industry and thousands of jobs — an amazing accomplishment for a mere couple of weeks in the face of right-wing mob violence and treason.
The letter observes that “they” have encircled the Capitol with razor wire and Nat’l Guard troops patrolling, but no mention of the reasons for having to do that. A further accusation is that teachers’ unions have been allowed to deny classroom study at terrible cost, an odd declaration considering there’s no mention of the coronavirus impact and the actions of Betsy DeVos and others. Additionally, “they” allow “ANTIFA to burn our cities,” and that “It’s a real bad dream.” A right-wing nightmare birthed in the shadows?
Traditional children’s nursery rhymes were to entertain and, with some tongue-in-cheek, to scare small children into behaving, thus ghosts, the bogeyman, and James W. Riley’s Little Orphant Annie: “…the Gobble-uns’ll git you/Ef you/Don’t/Watch/Out!”
People dramatically recited these rhymes, including William H. Mearns’ Antigonish on occasion in the 1950s: “Last night I saw upon the stair/A little man who wasn’t there/He wasn’t there again today/Oh, how I wish he’d go away…”
Antifa: now you see it, now you don’t?
George Harbeson
Censure for Sen. Murkowski
Dear Editor,
I have written the Alaska Senate and the Alaska Republican party to request that they censure United States Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski. I urge voters in Homer to also write letters to our legislators in support of this action. Her censure would be for actions Sen. Murkowski has taken during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which are as follows:
1 – Sen. Murkowski voted to find the impeachment of a private citizen constitutional, despite the clear wording in the constitution that states that a “Bill of Attainder,” which prohibits impeachment of a private citizen, is forbidden by the United States Constitution (as found in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution).
2 – Sen. Murkowski voted to find President Donald Trump guilty in the impeachment trial. The State of Alaska voted overwhelmingly for President Trump in the last election. The majority of people in Alaska support the former President. No clear evidence was presented to convict the president. It is unacceptable that one of our U.S. senators would go against the will of the people in Alaska and the evidence presented, to find the president guilty of such a manufactured and feeble charge.
By committing these two grievous errors, Sen. Murkowski has demonstrated an inability to properly serve the State of Alaska in her role as Senator. We shouldn’t dislike Sen. Murkowski, but we should have contempt for her ignorance of the law and willingness to abandon the wishes of the Alaska voters. For these reasons she must be censured today and removed from office in her next election in 2022. I encourage likeminded readers to also write letters supporting her censure.
Respectfully,
Greg Sarber
Dear Friends and Customers,
Our business and the Dufour building is now under new ownership. We want to thank all of our loyal customers, many who have become good friends, for helping us make our fundamental business such a success over the many years. Homer is our home and we plan to stay here in our retirement except for some well deserved trips here and there. Time for us to start a new chapter. We will miss all the great conversations and good laughs. I’m sure we will be seeing you around town.
Thank you again for everything.
Mark Vial and Connie Cavasos, VBS Heating Products and Specialty Stoves of Alaska
Many thanks
Faith Lutheran Church wants to send a big thank you to the community for their generosity with our Winter Carnival Chilly Day Chili To Go Fundraiser on Feb. 13. We also want to send a special word of thanks to Space Pop and Dog for their donation of the delicious vegetarian chili. We also want to thank Loopy Lupin and Safeway for donations of supplies. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Gregory Heidorn, Pastor, Faith Lutheran Church
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire”
This old idiom should actually read, “Where there’s smoke, there’s a dirty fire.” When a fire is burned efficiently, there is no smoke.
I would like to call to question the practice of turning valuable resources into pollution as an accepted way to develop acreage. Hiking home with my eyes and lungs burning many days recently has me disturbed witnessing huge amounts of bio-fuels (namely alder, birch and spruce, which could be burned efficiently to heat homes) inefficiently burning and creating unhealthy smoky air for all life forms that breathe in the area in exchange for a few people’s private gain.
I am not saying the owners and contractors don’t have the lawful “right” to do this, but I can’t help wondering if we in our stewardship of the land can afford to be so disrespectful of our fellow people as well as local and worldwide ecosystems in the name of quick profit. Perhaps we can rethink the costs involved from a broader perspective and show the true affordability of efficiently clearing land for development through honoring the abundance of natural resources by harvesting and distributing that real wealth. I’m talking about wood for heating, construction, mulching, composting/soil building etc. instead of having it all go up in wasted heat and smoke.
In addition, should we not consider the current epidemic situation with a virus that attacks the respiratory system? I am not familiar with who the people responsible for this are, but I can’t imagine that they live here as most animals don’t defecate where they sleep. I realize that it is difficult to change how banks and business operate and we live in a system of private property ownership and rights. However, the wildlife and air know nothing of these things.
What if we rewrite the equations of profit to include the health of all? What about future generations? There is great long term strength and value in considering a bigger picture of how we develop and what that process of growth looks like.
Lasse Holmes, Fritz Creek
Thank you, Lisa
I want to publicly thank Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting Saturday to defend the Constitution and the freedom of all Americans.
Like many Republicans, I was still believing that there needed to be more investigation into the allegations of voter fraud all the way into early January.
During the capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, it became obvious to me that it was a mistake to vote for the former president. I will not give another dime to the Republican Party until Donald is off the dole.
In 1933, a fire destroyed the Reichstag, the German capitol building. Newly elected Chancellor Hitler blamed and destroyed his political opponents so he could become dictator. The dictatorship could only be ended with force and the sacrifice of 73 million lives.
In 1937, Stalin’s thugs went into the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR, now Russia, and murdered all his political opponents. I have heard estimates of 20 million deaths in the Russian Revolution, 20 million in the Hologolod, the forced famine and purges, and 20 million due to World War II. Russian freedom is still just a dream.
Once a nation submits to a dictator, the decision is irreversible. Make no mistake. Dictatorship can still happen in America. Only 50 yards separated the rioters from their targets on Jan. 6.
Thanks for standing against tyranny, Lisa.
Bruce Hendrickson
