Letters to the Editor

I would like to address the concerns of business owners in Sedalia who believe that a smoke-free ordinance will hurt their business. Missouri peer-reviewed studies show that businesses such as restaurants and bars are not hurt by those policies; as a matter of fact, many have increased revenue.

The Smith-Cotton High School DECA program achieved high levels of success again this year, with two teams placing in the top 10 in their categories at the international competition held recently in California. Our students also worked with Child Safe of Central Missouri to create a new logo and launch an awareness program to help the community better understand what this important agency does in our community.

I understand the big cleanup movement in Sedalia and I am all for it., but what I don’t understand is the fact that they are telling my landlord that I cannot have a portable basketball goal in my front yard. It’s not on the sidewalk, mind you, but it is in the yard for my grandkids.

The Missouri House has now passed a major income tax cut that would significantly reduce state revenue and jeopardize state support for our public schools for years to come. It is disappointing that so many of our state representatives supported this ill-conceived measure that would harm public education in our state. We thank Representative Denny Hoskins for supporting our schools and voting “no” on the bill. Representative Hoskins demonstrated political courage and genuine leadership by opposing the bill. He understands how critical it is that we invest in our schools in order to create genuine economic development through a well-educated workforce. Representative Hoskins deserves our thanks for his support of our schools and for his leadership in the Missouri House.

Has Adolphus Busch IV been declared mentally incompetent or are just bouts of Alzheimer’s starting to appear? The NRA has helped his family to become wealthy.

I have read with interest the various letters submitted concerning the proposed ban on smoking in public establishments.

When I read the title of the play “The Vagina Monologues,” a red flag immediately went up. Then when I read the editorial of the things portrayed in that play, I was shocked and sick to my stomach. I cannot believe that our community would permit or want to stage such a horrible thing. Do we continue to turn our heads and ignore the things that God tells us in his words are wrong?

“The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.” This statement by Albert Camus illustrates how politicians can systematically pass laws reducing our freedom to make choices, while convincing us it is for our own good. Obamacare and gun-control laws are prime examples of such federal laws. Seatbelt and helmet laws are examples of such state laws. Now we have counsel members in Sedalia contemplating restricting someone’s right to smoke in the name of protecting the rest of us from the “dangers of second-hand smoke.”

There needs to be awareness made about school buses. When you pull up behind a school bus that has red lights flashing, that is a sign that you are to stop until the lights are off. If you go past a bus while these lights are flashing, you are putting the lives of the children that are being loaded in danger and you are breaking a law.

Planned play sends the wrong message

In an ideal world, no one could quarrel with Rose Nolen’s recent columns opposing firearms in schools. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world.

As we all know from reading the paper and watching the news, mandatory budget cuts are in effect. We need to cut the budget, and I was hoping Washington would act like adults and come up with reasonable reductions.

No wonder the U.S. Postal Service is in trouble.

The Benghazi incident leads to one conclusion: President Barack Obama is unfit to do his job. This was a clear dereliction of duty. Being the commander-in-chief, “The buck stops here,” said Harry Truman.

We are quickly moving from a constitutional republic to a socialistic emotional experiment. Our illustrious president surrounded by children is again undermining the very Constitution he vowed to uphold at all costs.

In response to an earlier letter written by Larry Stevenson, another Vietnam veteran, as well as all the articles both pro and con on gun control:

Sedalia Democrat columnist Rose Nolen has for years ruined my week with her weekly liberal trumpeting in the Friday edition. Among the conservative views I hold is to operate within a balanced home budget; Missouri is mandated to do so also. We have watched how President Barack Obama has literally strong-armed Congress into out-of-control spending, thus pushing the national debt to unthinkable levels.

During all my years of living in Sedalia, I had the opportunity to be surrounded by people who motivated and inspired me. Betty Hopkins is certainly one of those individuals.

While I agree with the Rev. Chris Guffey (“Before you take down fence, ask why it is there,” Jan. 17) that we humans, like our domestic animals, need fences, there are several points in his commentary with which I disagree.

I would like to thank Patsy Wickern for her letter (“Ministers should have defended faith”) concerning pastors stepping forward to defend Christianity. I would also like to thank Doug Kneibert for his letter (“Columnist attacked benefits of faith”).

Despite a power outage and a winter storm, the following businesses helped make our Smith-Cotton Boys Basketball Tournament a success.

Bonnie Erbe’s commentary (“Loss of Christians political power will be a blessing for all of us,” Jan. 1) shows us many things about our nation. Being a Christian is spiritual and moral, not political.

Bonnie Erbe’s Jan. 1 column (“Loss of Christians’ political power will be a blessing for all of us”) fairly dripped with animosity, not to mention contempt. That such a column would even be written today and published in family newspapers says a lot about how secularists view people of faith: It’s open season.