LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 29, 2020

Dear Editor:

THANK YOU!!!

 It is not often that a problem arises which impacts the health and well being of a sector of citizens so profoundly. Unfortunately, such an issue came forward approximately a year ago concerning the possible loss of ambulance service for the Farmer City Fire Protection District. 

When the issue was presented to the County, all involved stood up and took notice. It was understood by everyone that failure to correct this loss of service was not an option, if at all possible. 

 After researching many different answers to solve this problem, and finding out this hill was going to be a tough one to climb, a dedicated and driven group of individuals rose to the occasion! Without a sense of cooperation, optimistic attitude, and a desire to rectify a bad situation, the outcome could have been catastrophic.

 
2,000 plus residents would have been left without adequate ambulance service. It would have meant longer response times, or possible diminished services, and a realistic chance that a life could be lost.

 
 Because of this group's efforts, the citizens within the Farmer City Fire Protection District have ambulance service for the next 8 years and won't reach the maximum levy during the term of this agreement. It is possible that the levy could even go down. Additionally, the levy for service within the existing area will not change. This means no increase in levies for any DeWitt County citizen!
 DeWitt County is now unified and all citizens are under the same ambulance service.

 FCFPD will now have a new Advanced Life Support ambulance stationed in Farmer City 24/7 manned with 6 newly hired licensed personnel consisting of Paramedics and EMT's. Response time within the district is anticipated to be 4-6 minutes. Also, the response time to the towns of DeWitt and Weldon will be improved, as responses for emergencies could be dispatched out of Farmer City. 

 I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who worked so relentlessly to assure this loss of service was prevented and the residents were protected:

 The Counties Public Safety Committee for their patience while working through the process and input in trying to find solutions. 
 

County Board Chairman David Newberg, Vice-Chairman Camille Redman, and County Administrator DeeDee Rentmeister for their help in negotiations with Paramedic Services Inc. to arrive at an agreement that was much better than we expected. 

To Christy Prusser for stepping up as a member of the ad hoc committee.

States Attorney Dan Markwell as he kept us on stable legal ground and assured the language in our agreement and addendum covered all of the legalities needed to ensure they were on a solid base.

 
The Trustees for FCFPD for working in concert with the County, Mike Hammer, Kurt Wells, and Dale Whisman.

Moe Winstead and his part acting as a liaison with the Committee. 

Dan Warren, Farmer City Fire Chief for his valuable insight. 

FCFPD Attorney, Jim Sinclair who worked so well with the States Attorneys office in getting the 
Inter-Governmental Agreement written so both entities were protected. 

Last but not least, Larry Robbins and Mike Hansen with PSI. Without their willingness to negotiate and commitment to help, none of this would have come to fruition, and we all would have been in a much darker place! They were the key in resolving such a critical care problem. 

Thanks to all, you are greatly appreciated!

 Lance M. Reece
 DeWitt County Board Dist "A"
 Chairman, Public Safety Committee 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 27, 2020

Dear Editor:

When our mother's dementia progressed, our family began to research and visit local care facilities. Good references, a personal visit and related experience with the Ingham County Medical Care Facility's ("Dobie Road", Okemos), helped us choose the Golden Pond, Memory Care Unit.

When Covid-19 struck Dobie Road was no exception; everything changed regarding our ability to provide direct family care, love, and comfort to our loved one. Phone calls, Skype and window visits helped, but proved difficult and did not nearly come close to personal visits for me and my siblings.

The latest "end of life" restrictions were too much to accept for our family, only allowing two designated family members to visit one hour per day until she passed. That, combined with an additional life-threatening health event and our intent to have her home in her final days regardless, we decided to bring our mother home to spend time with loved ones.

Dementia is a horrible disease, and Covid-19 only made it worse for our mother. The Golden Pond caregivers were outstanding; the services at Dobie Road were and remain exceptional. But with the new restrictions, (given "end of life" process), we made the right decision to take our mother home.  We now provide necessary services through Hospice, and equally important, family care, love and comfort that only a family care provide.

Our mother and family are among Michigan's 190,000 persons living with dementia and its 518,000 unpaid caregivers navigating an already isolating and emotional journey - and COVID has made life even more challenging. COVID has put added stress on dementia patients and their caregivers, in and out of long-term care facilities.

Fortunately, the Alzheimer's Association Michigan Chapter is ready to assist persons with dementia and their caregivers 24/7. I personally have benefited and feel so grateful for their help. Monthly Support Group meetings held at Dobie Road, I listened to the stories of other families and found acceptance. 

The Association - which is available 24/7 via its Helpline at 800.272.3900 or alz.org/gmc - is offering more virtual education programs, caregiver tips, support groups and services to help individuals, caregivers, practitioners, and facilities navigate dementia during COVID. Unfortunately, many affected individuals and families are unaware of the resources that could help them.

 Dementia can quickly zap a person's memory and caregiver's ability and intent to care for their loved one. It is important for any caregiver to seek and get personal support. Surrounded by family we are creating new memories with our mother. 

The Alzheimer's Association can help. Reach out today.

Michael E. Botke

DeWitt, MI 48820

(Family of Marguerite I. Botke)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 10, 2020

Dear Editor:

Communities much like ours throughout Illinois are benefitting from wind farm development and the jobs and tax dollars they bring with them. Nearby communities have improved their schools and are actually keeping some of their kids in the community because for the first time in a long time there are good-paying jobs available to them.

We have the same opportunity here in DeWitt County. Following years of obstructionist behavior from a small handful of our neighbors, our County Board has an opportunity on July 14 to move our county forward and approve Tradewind Energy’s Alta Farms application.

The time is now for our community to start realizing the same benefits as our neighbors.

Please support Alta Farms.

Sincerely, 
Vincent Peters 
Clinton Il 
 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 10, 2020

Dear Editor:

It is the mission of Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois (CAPCIL) to empower persons with low income and aged by creating and implementing poverty fighting initiatives for those in crisis and those that endeavor a lifetime of lasting independence.  Currently we find ourselves amid two crises that that have dramatic physical and social implications.

As we continue to battle the COVID-19 health pandemic, we are also acutely aware that the conversation of race and its role in our societal interactions and civil systems is an issue of grave importance. CAPCIL joins this conversation by uniting with local, state, and national leaders in denouncing discrimination of any kind on the basis of race.

We also join our leaders in denouncing lawlessness and campaigns for anarchy. They are equal in their destruction to the fabric of our society and counterintuitive to the CAPCIL’s objective of partnering to find solutions that raise all residents of our communities

.
The wisdom found in our rich and colorful history reminds us that at our core, we as Americans value all people, and that, “…all men/women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”(US Declaration of Independence, 1776)  While we wholly believe that these rights are absolute in nature, CAPCIL also acknowledges that our understanding of these sentiments have evolved for the better over time. These principles are not inherently or systemically racist.

These are inclusive and freeing ideals that belong to all Americans and transcend the daily news cycle. Today we are engaging in uncomfortable conversations around the dinner table, in our places of business, at the neighborhood coffee shop, in our classrooms, and within our public offices. These complicated conversations are nurturing a better understanding of how we can and must continue our traditions of celebrating both our differences and commonalities as one people. That is good for us. It is good for our communities and all those who live in them.

Community Action envisions a resilient community where we work as collaborators to raise up the marginalized and vulnerable populations. We advocate for an intentional and planned devotion of time and resources.  Helping people, changing lives is our promise.

That promise doesn’t change with skin color, zip code, educational attainment, gender, disability, or religious beliefs.  But we cannot achieve this great feat through divisiveness and disunity.  CAPCIL chooses to take this moment to lead, to love one another, to listen and to speak.

Submitted by 

Breann Titus 

Director of Agency Development

Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois (CAPCIL)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 8, 2020

Correction submitted and posted July 10, 2020

Dear Editor:

First, do no harm.

The citizens of DeWitt County, who are unlucky enough to be in the footprint of the proposed wind farm, are asked to suffer and sacrifice so Chairman of the County Board, Dave Newberg, and his group of YES votes, will have another stream of income for the County.  None of these six County Board members voting YES have homes located near proposed wind towers.

These are no ordinary wind turbines.  Some are 599 feet high, only 31 feet shorter than the St. Louis Arch, and there are lots of them.  There is only one St. Louis Arch, and it does not make noise, blink red lights at night continuously, or send giant moving shadow flickers across the countryside.  

What about the lives at risk of the people downwind from the wind farm who will be without the Doppler early warning system for tornado activity? The Doppler radar would be obscured by the wind turbine blade activity. 

Aren’t these DeWitt County residents’ lives valuable? 

One Board member told me that the wind farm project income stream was “for the greater good.” And what is “the greater good”?  Are we choosing money over public safety?

Speaking of money, we now know that the Clinton Schools will not get a very significant sum of money from the wind farm because we have been blessed for many years by the income from the power plant and the State of Illinois formula for school funding limits the wind farm subsidy to the schools.

It is just plain wrong to approve the Special Use Permit on July 14 without a mutually agreed upon decommissioning plan in place before the vote. In addition, we can’t trust Tradewind Energy to “pursue” a system that stops those never-ending blinking red lights at night (when aircraft are not in the area of the towers.)
 
We have precedence for selling out DeWitt County. Years ago, the Board sold the landfill and lost control of that.  The landfill, now operated by Area Disposal Corporation, is located over the Mahomet aquifer that supplies water to several adjoining counties, and has risen to the heights of “Mount Clinton” and keeps growing!  Garbage comes in from many states. 

We need to stop selling our County off to the highest bidder.

In the future, every time we look at these turbines built in the western part of DeWitt County, we need to remember Newberg’s Folly, and the legacy of grabbing the money instead of protecting our friends and neighbors in the footprint of this foreign-owned wind farm.  

Mary Pat Killian
Clinton, IL 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted July 8, 2020

Dear Editor:

Compassion fatigue is when we tire of hearing about people who are suffering. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey saw millions of dollars in aid sent to Houston before Hurricane Irma struck Florida. Like popular trends, disasters acquire a “flavor of the week” status until the next one arrives.

This doesn’t make us an uncaring society. Sometimes there’s more tragedy than we can process.

We overload on more than just compassion. My generation’s (baby boomer) first taste of war news coverage was Vietnam. Our only connection to both World Wars and Korea was through text books, movies and older family members. The nightly American combat death count introduced us to bad news fatigue.

When Governor Pritzker announced our lockdown in March, his tone turned solemn when he announced Illinois’ first COVID-19 death. Now, more than 7,000 deaths later, how do we comprehend such loss? My best answer is that we feel bad for those directly affected, be thankful it wasn’t us, and move on.

While Pritzker spoke, I wondered what the reaction would be if/when the U.S. approached a million COVID-19 deaths. I’m guessing we’ll react the same way we did to the Vietnam casualties report: we will have conditioned ourselves to receive bad news.

On the popular 1960s “Dragnet” TV series, with detectives Friday and Gannon at a murder scene, a fellow policeman would remark, “I guess you guys get used to this.” Friday’s grim response was “You never get USED to it.”

Except, we do.

Jim Newton

Itasca, Illinois

STATION EDITORIAL

Posted July 3, 2020

This is a station editorial, I'm Randal J. Miller, station president.

The title of this editorial is:  What were you thinking?

The Illinois General Assembly in late May, passed and Governor J-B Pritzker signed, a 42-billion dollar budget that has a shortfall of some 7-point-4 billion dollars.  The Illinois Constitution says they are to collectively pass a balanced budget.  What were you thinking?

Legislators and the Governor have relied on several lines they've used with the media for weeks.  Line # 1 is "well, it's due to the coronavirus so we'll just borrow it from the Federal Reserve."  Well, borrowed money DOES have to be paid back...doesn't it?

What were you thinking?

Line # 2 is when reporters have asked Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, why they didn't cut state spending, which is also what Republicans were asking.  Their response has been to hide behind first responders and school kids by saying what we're calling Line # 2:  "Well, Republicans are for cutting funding to first responders and our schools, and we're not about to do that."

My response to line # 2 is:  You mean to tell me that in a 42-billion dollar budget, it all goes to fund first responders and school kids?  I don't think so.  They don't want to cut ANYTHING that might affect their re-election.

What were you thinking?

And, Democrats are also touting that we need to, quote, "make the rich pay for their fair share", unquote, by passing the progessive income tax.  The problem with that, which we'll call Line # 3, is that they know better. There aren't enough fat cats left in the state, to make up a 7-point-4 billion dollar budget shortfall.  Many high income earners have left Illinois for states with little or no state income tax. And, in the end, you know the progressive tax will end up being paid by all of us.

What were you thinking?

That's our opinion...we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is:  editorial@randyradio.com.