We welcome letters to the Editor, a chance for members of the community to comment on issues of concern to them. All letters must be original, not duplications of letters addressed to public officials or written by others. The views and opinions expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication, its publishers, Editor, or staff.
To the Editor:
Thank you to all those in our community who contributed to the St. Vincent de Paul Matching Fund Campaign.
We also wish to acknowledge our Corporate Sponsors: Connexus Credit Union, Holy Cross Sisters, incrediblebank, and Nicolet Bank for their generous support. Because of your contributions, the Outreach Program will be able to continue to respond to individuals and families who are desperately in need of assistance.
As you may have read, a COVID-based program to provide assistance to low income families recently expired. We believe we may experience a sharp increase in requests for help. As a result, we may again need to ask for your support if we are not able to meet increasing needs. You can be confident that we will use your gift wisely and that our community will be a better place as a result of your kindness. If you would like more information regarding our programing, please feel free to contact the Outreach Program at 715.539.2666.
– Tom Mueller
St. Vincent de Paul Conference Member
Merrill, Wis.
To the Editor:
We assume everyone these days has internet access. After all, they are walking around with a cell phone, iPad, or some type of device. But have you ever asked about the quality of service they actually have? The majority of the counties across the Northwoods do not have high quality internet. Our email may work, and if we’re lucky, we can use search engines, but no way is any type of zoom, telehealth, downloading, or live streaming working well.
Yes, we have heard that state and federal money is now available to solve this problem. And while the amounts sound impressive, I encourage you to dive deeper into what the true cost will be for affordable, reliable, quality internet. To truly provide adequate internet for the Northwoods, one-time funding is needed to implement high quality internet as a public utility. This current incremental approach is wasting time and money as individual counties try to solve the issue. Now is the time for each of us to let the Joint Committee on Finance know they need to go beyond the Governor’s proposed budget on this and provide appropriate one-time funding to implement internet as a public utility and get this done!
You can submit your thoughts to the Joint Finance Committee at [email protected]. Or attend the April 25 Joint Finance Committee budget hearing in Minocqua at Lakeland Union High School.
We need to all stay connected on this!
– Sue Dierksen
Gleason, Wis. (Harrison)
To the Editor:
I was shocked to learn Christopher Stamm’s Guest Movie Review column will no longer be included in the Foto News.
His column was by far the most enjoyable to read. It surpassed any other article in the paper, in my opinion. I am not an avid movie-goer, but I know good writing when I read it, and his was excellent. I will surely miss his writing.
Removing Christopher Stamm’s column quite possibly removes the joy of reading the paper.
– Tawn Lowell
Merrill, Wis.
Editor’s Note: Christopher Stamm made the decision not to continue with his reviews at this time. The Foto News did not remove his column.
To the Editor:
Hello! I am a third-grade student in Northern Virginia. Our class is learning about the United States, and I will be teaching our school about the state of Wisconsin. In May, I will create a display for our State Fair that I hope will make you proud.
Although I have gathered facts about your state from books and websites, I think I can receive the best information from the people who live there. I am hoping you would be willing to send me some items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. You might consider sending items such as postcards, pictures, souvenirs, this newspaper, or any other unique items that would be useful or show your state pride. Here are a few questions:
• Why do you live in your state ?/What first brought your family there?
• How do you make money?/What is your job?
• What does your state look like?
• What do people do for fun?
• What animals live there?
• What traditional food/recipes does your state have?
• What type of music is native to your state?
• Do you have a state athletic team?
• What geographic features are unique to your state?
I need to gather all my information by the second week of May. You can mail items to the address below. I really appreciate your help!
– Sincerely,
Bryce McKinney
Miss Campbell’s Class
The Langley School
1411 Balls Hill Road
Mclean, VA 22101
Letters To The Editor Policy:
*Letters must be 250 words or less. (There will be no exceptions to this. Any letter longer than 250 words will not be printed.)
*The writer must include their full name, complete address, and a phone number where he/she can be easily reached for verification. Phone numbers and street addresses will not be published, but will be used for verification purposes, if necessary. Letters must be signed and the name, city, and state will be printed.
*Letters may be edited for style, grammar, and length. Form letters or those we determine to be libelous or slanderous will not be accepted. Any letter deemed derogatory, inflammatory, or involving vulgar language will not be published. We reserve all rights to reject material submitted to this publication.
*Letters will be published on a “first come, first served” basis. Any letters which we are unable to publish in the printed newspaper may be run online at www.merrillfotonews.com and/or may be printed in the paper at a later date.
*In fairness to all, and due to space constraints, there is a limit of two letters per year from an individual writer. Additional letters may be submitted to our Paid Letters to the Editor column and will require payment in full prior to publication at the same rate as Political Letters to the Editor (see policy below).
Political Letters To The Editor Policy:
All letters submitted as an endorsement for a political candidate, referendum, or political agenda will carry the same guidelines as above; however, they will be charged $40.00 per letter of up to 250 words in length. Longer political letters will be accepted but will be charged $10.00 per additional 100 words. All political letters must be prepaid prior to printing. Letters to the Editor will not be accepted from candidates running for election or representatives of an organization endorsing their own referendum, as these are clearly advertisements and not opinion letters; those submissions will be referred to our Advertising Department to be run as paid ads.