A letter to voters:
I am the clerk for the Town of Pine River, and I am writing to express my concern about recent political mailings. The “ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATIONS” that seem to be arriving from all parties, candidates and special interest groups are causing serious concern for this clerk. In particular, I am concerned with any that have the voter mailing their application anywhere but directly to their local clerk. Many of these have the applicant mailing the application to a “Ballot Processing Center”. (I have seen them either in Madison or Waunakee). After receiving one of these mailings I called the informational number to find out what happens to these applications. I was told that these centers will get them to the appropriate clerk.
Well, needless to say this is not happening. The following day I received an envelope in the mail with nine applications inside. Only one of them was for my township. One of the others was obviously a Merrill city address and I forwarded it to the Merrill City Clerk. The other seven I have no idea what township they belong to. After calling election officials to find out my responsibility for tracking down where these go, I have none. I am only obligated to issue ballots to voters who are registered in my township. I am doing my best to get these seven applications where they belong, but I urge all voters who NEED to vote absentee to send applications directly to their local clerk. (This information can be found on the Lincoln County website, www.co.lincoln.wi.us/ and is also published in the local legal papers prior to each election.) If you sent an application and have not received a ballot please call your local clerk to make sure they have received your application. Under the new election laws absentee ballots must be cast by 5:00pm on the Friday prior to the election.
Please also remember that absentee voting is a privilege as well as an added expense to all elections. In a year with two unscheduled (and not budgeted for) elections, it is putting an additional financial strain on municipalities. Local clerks are working hard to learn the new election laws and to train election workers of the many changes. My thanks to my fellow clerks and to all election workers for the extra time and effort they have put in this summer.
Sincerely,
Amy K Duley
Town of Pine River
Dear Editor,
Sorry but I’m not going to write about a vulgar book or to back a politician.
Instead, I would like to inform everyone about the great car wash at the AmericInn that the Merrill Football team put on. Not only did they do a great job vacuuming, washing and drying my truck, but they helped a woman with her flat tire. They didn’t even hesitate to crawl around on the ground to set the jack and get the tire off and on. They could have ignored her and kept busy with their car wash. Merrill, you should be so proud of these young men. Take time out for them because they obviously return the favor. I encourage everyone to go out and support our youth, whether it’s watching a game, concert or getting some food. Unlike the usual topics in our news, we have some bright wonderful students.
Hilary Schulz
Merrill
To the Editor:
Run Jim Run and keep running.
During the Lincoln County Fair I had a very brief opportunity to meet Se. Jim Holperin while walking down the midway. A hand grabbed mine and started shaking it, as a voice announced, “Hi, I’m Jim Holperin. I’m running for State Senate.” I replied, OK, but I will not vote for you.” He just looked shocked and took off running. Too bad Illinois is so far away, I don’t think he made it. He didn’t have the courage, honesty or integrity to ask why I would not vote for him or give me the opportunity to tell him why I would not vote for him or attempt to explain his socialistic belief and actions. True to form he just chose to abandon his responsibility and run.
Kim Simac welcomes the opportunity to express her conservative belief and actions and will explain them to you. Whether you agree or not, Kim will stand up and defend her convictions. She will not tun away and hide. That is why she has my vote and I hope yours too.
Larry Tank
Gleason
Dear Editor and Readers:
When looking at the Wisconsin flag you can’t help but see the large 1848 on it. The significance of the year 1848 is that on May 29, 1848 Wisconsin became the 30th state to join the Union. For Wisconsin this occurred just after Iowa and just before California, but regardless the order, one by one 50 states joined the Union. Each state did this to become a part of a coalition and reap the benefits of standing together as a group.
Labor Unions are another type of union. Some are large, others small, but in all cases they are a group of people with a common interest, a desire to have a voice in their work places. Labor unions are often made up of people that may be your friends and neighbors not thugs, mobs, or gangsters like many recent letters to the editor in several local papers have tried to make them out to be. Some of the things unions talk with employers about are safety, training, work conditions, job security, benefits, and wages among others. Another thing labor unions do is to try to help elect candidates for office that will represent the interests of their members, such as Senator Jim Holperin. Senator Holperin cares about the middle class workers (union or not) in his district and therefore has earned the support he gets from labor unions and workers in general.
Corporations also have groups which strive to help elect candidates that they think will benefit their interests. The only difference is they have deeper pockets. The letters to the editor I referred to earlier also make the charge that the politics of our state are being manipulated by labor unions. To say that one side is manipulating the system without any mention of the other side is wrong. Both sides influence the political system because that is how our political system works.
Brian Hafeman
Tomahawk