Letters to the Editor

After reading the article in the paper last week about the alcohol hours being extended for some businesses I felt it necessary to tell my side of the story as a business owner.

I do not have a Facebook account to read or comment via the “Community Conversations” Facebook account. I have been in business in Gothenburg for the last 36 years and 13 years in selling alcohol.

I went to several city council meetings in regard to the extension of alcohol sales for my business. The need arose for some of the sporting events that are held at my business such as pool league tournaments, poker tournaments, wedding receptions and extra business for the summer with golfers in town. After several meetings the city council decided that the extension was approved.

Some of the reasons for that change was the other businesses in town have been selling alcohol for years at noon on Sundays. We were previously only allowed to sell alcohol at 4 p.m. on Sundays until 10 p.m. This would then make all the businesses in town have the same hours to sell alcohol.

I believe it is every person’s choice whether they want to have an alcoholic drink legally. Somehow through all of this decision-making the local church groups have become involved making this an issue of morality instead of equality of all businesses selling alcohol.

I pay taxes, purchase a liquor license every year, have yearly inspections and have rules and regulations that I have to follow to keep my license to sell. Any issues that arise in the inspections I also have to pay for those changes.

In addition, as a business owner with a liquor license I have a responsibility to make sure no one is over served or too drunk to drive. I am trying to meet the needs of my customers and want the city council’s decision to stay as it is.

I believe we have bigger issues in town to worry about and direct our attention to than this. Some would argue that there is a cost to taxpayers for this extension, however, there will also be a cost to the taxpayers for a petition and to add this to the voting ballot. We have a city council in place to make these decisions and we need to respect their decisions.

Let’s all work together to do our parts to make this a peaceful transition.

Steve Walker, Gothenburg

If we cared about our liberals/progressives/socialists, we wouldn’t allow them to play with sharp objects. When I first began writing letters to the editor, Democrats were attempting to combine the defense bill with their pork-laden appropriations bill. They claimed Republicans didn’t care about our troops, because they fought passage of the bill.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry (if you don’t make an effort to be smart “you get stuck in Iraq”) portrayed our troops as, “...going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women...” Rep. John Murtha said Marines “...killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” Sen. Barack Obama’s view was that we were “...just air-raiding villages and killing civilians...” in Afghanistan. President Bush was a war criminal, because of enhanced interrogation practices (water boarding). Our troops were ignorant, cold-blooded killers and our special forces were Dick Cheney’s assassination squads. Saddam Hussein was captured and turned over to the Iraqi people for prosecution.

As senator, Obama opposed Bush’s “war on terror.” As president, he has continued nearly every Bush policy (club gitmo, wire tapping, etc.) but enhanced interrogation. Now that he “got” Bin Laden, he is being portrayed as the most brilliant military strategist in history.

He signed off on a mission to invade a sovereign nation, break into a private residence “in the dead of night” and shoot an unarmed man (through the eye, blowing his brains out the side of his head) in front of women and children. This behavior is now considered by the media as a “gutsy” move. Now Kerry says, “...the killing of Osama Bin Laden is a potential game-changer...”

Apparently, if you have a president of the “correct” political persuasion, it is okay to change the rules. I was astonished that the media even got around to sort-of praising our “assassination squads” for a job well done. Obama didn’t think we should exploit the situation by “spiking the football.” He then went on an “I can kill with the best of them tour.” Yep, that’s our president, a lean, mean killing machine. For just $34.95 you can get your own Obama SEAL team 6 action figure.

The only people not receiving praise, are the people responsible for determining the whereabouts of Bin Laden—the interrogators. The people that supplied the peg Obama is hanging his hat on, are the slime of the earth. Even though he just went to the CIA to congratulate them for their efforts, his attorney general is working on prosecuting them. There is not enough room on the human head for the faces of Obama, nor is there enough sides of a mouth for him to talk out of. Since Obama has set the Army Field Manual as the standard for interrogating those who want to kill us, we have learned nothing from them.

What do you suppose the state-run media’s view will be if adults regain control of the government?

Neil A. Davis, Gothenburg

Your May 4 article reporting actions by the Dawson County Commissioners on April 29 is incomplete and incorrect regarding one item. The full and correct story needs to be told.

Dawson County has trampled all over my rights as a landowner. If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone else. Other property owners need to be aware of how these people behaved.

My request was based upon the estimated replacement cost of the fence destroyed by Dawson County on my farm near Willow Island.

Any notice of this action was essentially after the fact. While we were traveling out of state in September 2010, the district commissioner left a phone message at my home which said “.. I have told the crew to remove the fence…. and to expedite it.” This is improper. By the time I heard this message it was too late. If there was an issue regarding the fence location—which was there at least 60 years—I should have been given an opportunity to address it. I was not provided any such opportunity. I was denied due process required under the constitution. This is an illegal “taking” under the constitution.

Why this ditch cleaning was needed is important. It illustrates the neglect by Dawson County.

For literally decades, the county road ditch next to our farm was not cleaned. It was plugged with dirt, debris, and vegetation and was not draining at all. As a result water was backing up on my property flooding the crop and destroying it. It harmed both the farmer and the property owner. The county was simply not doing their job. Only after my polite urging over several years did the county finally agree to solve the problem they caused.

The destroyed fence had been in place at least 60 years. In the last 15 years, the area had been surveyed several times by the Dawson County surveyor. We were never told our fence was in the right of way. After destroying our property, they now claim it was. It is now impossible to prove that, but I believe they are wrong.

Those several surveys should have caused some notice to the property owners if it was actually in the county right of way. Since we were not notified it clearly must not have been. Their lack of prior actions would suggest there was not a problem. The new county surveyor may have made an error. This smells really bad.

Our founding forefathers (ancestors of both my wife and I are included in that group) made it clear in our constitution that this kind of action by government is not acceptable. The Dawson County Commissioners don’t seem to “get it.” It is time they do. They need to start meeting their obligations to taxpaying property owners and stop behaving like the British tyrants of long ago.

Ron Klein, Berthoud, CO

We had the pleasure of speaking at the Gothenburg FFA awards banquet this year. We were extremely impressed not only by the caliber of the outstanding FFA students and advisors but the support of the program from the Gothenburg community. The officer team’s leadership was very inspiring and the pride each FFA student had in the programs they participate in was amazing. The community of Gothenburg should be excited about their future and we know that agriculture will be in good hands. Thank you for letting us take part in the celebration of another great year of Gothenburg FFA program. We consider it a privilege to witness such amazing leadership in agriculture.

Troy and Stacy Hadrick, Advocates for Agriculture