Investigator is a hero
Matt Haney, I want to thank you for your ongoing, never ending support for two and a half years. You have fed us body and soul nonstop. We have faltered many times and you have held us up. The main thing you have done is to never give up. We led the charge and you have been right beside us. I knew my daughter, Duffy, had not evaporated, and she certainly had not abandoned us willingly. You kept her plight alive; you helped us push the cause.
We were told by someone in authority, five days into the search, that she likely wouldn’t be found because she didn’t leave any clues. Is that the victim’s job — to leave clues? No, it was our job to find clues, to keep awareness up, to have as many people with Duffy’s plight foremost in their brains, always alert, always looking. It worked. Many experts joined our team, and the local press covered it all. We thank you Matt. We will be forever grateful.
To our community, Matt Haney is our lead investigator, with many more helping, tireless, methodical, still finding those hidden clues. You are passing on tips, you are cooperating, we are making progress. Matt is my hero and he should be yours, for your loved ones are far safer now.
We have one more favor to ask now — we are all getting very tired of this drama — but we’re not done yet. We have a trial coming up. It won’t be soon, perhaps in a few years. The legal process will be grueling and heart wrenching, and we ask that you stand beside us once again so we can get through it, with an outcome that assures us that no other family has to endure this horror from this person.
Sara Berg
Farmers Market is grateful for funding support
Dear Editor,
The Homer Farmers Market would like to extend a very special thank you to the Alaska Community Foundation and the State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development for supporting food security in communities on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. With funding awarded by them, we are able to provide two different services to the community this year.
First, we are once again able to match QUEST this season. QUEST card users are given double what they swipe on their cards at the Farmers Market, up to $40 each market. Second, we were able to purchase Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions from 13 local farmers on behalf of the Homer Food Pantry. These purchases will keep fresh, local foods at the Homer Food Pantry all season long.
The impact of this support is immeasurable. The Farmers Market is very grateful for being given the opportunity to promote food security on the Southern Kenai Peninsula and be part of a more equitable food system in such powerful ways.
The Homer Farmers Market is now open for our 23rd season. We’ll be on site Wednesdays from 2-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Sept. 24. To participate in our QUEST program, please come see us at the staff tent.
Sincerely,
Lauren Jerew, for the Homer Farmers Market board and staff
The desensitization of our American families
Social distancing is really not a new phenomenon brought on by COVID-19, but has actually been a part of the American culture for many decades. The cell phone has evolved into a typewriter and the computer has aided in the separation of American families by a huge proportion. Missing from our education system for decades are the once required classes that taught our children how to deal with everyday problems, within and without the family unit, such as sibling rivalry, disagreements within the family unit, such as spats, that in some cases can lead to permanent and painful break-ups between family members. These classes were required academia in U.S. junior and senior high schools titled “Social Living.”
Millions of young married women in the U.S. today cannot boil, fry nor scramble an egg correctly. The reason is two pronged in nature. One, millions of moms today are now, as during World War II, actively engaged in the work force, and have been for decades, with no extra time to instruct their daughters in the art of cooking and baking. Two, America’s board of education arbitrarily removed “Home Economics” from American school classrooms, forcing the new American housewife to hire services for things she ordinarily did by herself, but her work leaves no time for her to do these domestic duties on her own.
So she watches TV chefs or buys recipe books in order to be able to properly prepare Sunday or holiday meals for her family.
This desensitization in America has now reached the point wherein we are often not too surprised, when watching or reading, of domestic abuse, or serious injury even to the point of a family member killing one of their own blood relatives.
P.S. I am an 86-year-old retired fisherman, widower, grandfather and great-grandfather who has not heard from his family in close to a decade. I am also a member of Grandparents Anonymous.
John A. Anderson, Kenai
Are MAGA hats on too tight?
Have you noticed all the red Trump baseball caps and how popular they are with the GOP?
Apparently they are much too tight, restricting blood to the brain.
Evidence of this is supported by several factors:
1) False claims of a stolen election.
2) Denial of global warming.
3) Opposition to masks and vaccines during a pandemic.
4) Refusing to support strict background checks to purchase firearms.
5) Will not outlaw assault weapons for the general public.
6) Supporting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her latest tidbit of wisdom is that straight people will become extinct.
Are you scared yet? More reason to vote Blue while you can.
D. Stanfield
Liberal was wrong about everything
In a letter last week, a liberal writer urged people to vote for Democrats in November and compared Republicans to Nazi fascists. He tried to convince you that those on the left are the good guys in the battle between good and evil. As usual, and like all liberals most of the time, he was wrong about everything. Here is why.
• It is Democrats who have censored free speech.
• It was Democrat-supported groups that rioted and destroyed inner cities in 2020, crimes that went largely unpunished.
• It was Democrats that forced people to get a vaccination just to keep their job.
• It is Democrats that have kept people imprisoned without bail or trial since Jan. 6, 2021.
• It is Democrats that want to take away your guns.
• It is Democrats that believe there should be a drag queen and pornographic books in our schools.
• It is Democrats that are intimidating and threatening supreme court justices and their children.
• It is Democrats crushing our country with inflation.
• It is Democrats pushing us into World War III with Russia.
• It is Democrats that needed “2,000 Mules” to steal a presidential election.
The lefties are correct about only one thing. Constitutional freedoms are under attack in this country, but the threat to our freedom is those on the left and their Democrat party. I predict a huge voter turnout in November’s election, where voters are going to crush Democrats and give them the democracy suppository they deserve.
Sincerely,
Greg Sarber
Concert on the Lawn has long history
The first KBBI Concert on the Lawn took place 42 years ago, Solstice weekend, 1980. On Aug. 4, 1979, founding organizer Bev Munro signed KBBI on the air for the first broadcast, live from what was then Homer High School. Only 11 months later, Brother Asaiah began the first eight hour concert event with the Invocation, blessing KBBI, and the Kachemak Bay community. Steve Smith and Eddie Wood led a jazz ensemble, as the first group to perform. Eight hours of wonderful musical volunteers performing concluded with the crowd dancing to the tunes of The English Bay Band. Families were spread out on blankets across the lawn. Volunteers had prepared a spaghetti buffet, including a vegetarian choice.
A large tent was prepared for the JTC Sound Company of Anchorage, as the station had no equipment yet for outdoor events.
The first concert was also a celebration honoring the tremendous volunteer efforts of Larry Smith and the crew who built the first building owned by KBBI. The original location of the station was across from SBS, but within four months KBBI needed a new home. SBS traded $12,000 worth of building supplies for underwriting, and the CIRI Native Corporation leased the retired FAA site to KBBI for $1 annually. The new station was attached to the small FAA office by a window, which volunteers and station employees crawled through for years.
Many of the volunteers who helped create KBBI are still committed to its future viability and success. Although in retirement for a number of years, this Saturday promises to be a fantastic opportunity to support the station, enjoy great music and connect with friends from years past. The return of the KBBI Concert on the Lawn is at The Down East Saloon this Saturday. Take advantage of this family friendly celebration while showing support for KBBI!
Rita Turner, KBBI Concert Coordinator, 1980 and 1981
On President Trump
We had a joke for a president, and the whole world knows it.
Art Kruski
