Eye on the prize

Editorials

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 05 August 2008 14:11

As China prepares to showcase its economic progress by hosting the Summer Olympics this week, let us never forget the reality behind the pageantry and polish: According to Amnesty International, an estimated 500,000 people are currently enduring punitive detention without charge or trial, and millions are unable to access the legal system to seek redress for their grievances. Harassment, surveillance, house arrest and imprisonment of human rights defenders are on the rise, and censorship of the Internet and other media has grown.

Repression of minority groups, including Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians and of Falun Gong practitioners and Christians who practice their religion outside state-sanctioned churches continues. While the...

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Sales tax for jail is a bad idea

Partly Nonsense

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 15 July 2008 14:45

Finally, we know the commissioner’s decision on how they plan to finance a new 72-bed jail-for-hire. They’ll ask us to approve a 1 percent county-wide sales tax on the November general-election ballot.

It’s no secret that I oppose this idea. It is my opinion that a 1 percent sales tax would put our businesses—and everyone living in the county—in peril.

Forget for a moment that the jail-for-hire concept is risky. I don’t think anyone could say that having the highest sales taxes in the state of Kansas would be a good thing. While it would harm big-ticket businesses in Hillsboro the most, it would have a negative impact on the entire county.

All of the revenue projections that an additional 1 percent sales tax would generate...

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Any ideas?

Editorials

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 29 July 2008 14:12

In these days of entertainment inflation—it takes more to attract and hold the attention of young people than it used to—the task of the Marion County Fair Board grows more challenging to keep the event interesting for the young and young at heart. The presence of a carnival hasn’t been a money-maker in recent years, but the absence of one this year left an entertainment void nonetheless. How to fill it? Good question. The board has tried new things within its limited budget. We haven’t asked if the board is looking for ideas, but if you have a creative suggestion we have a hunch it will be more than welcomed. Providing a family-friendly, fun-focused fair is everyone’s goal, not just the board’s. —DR

We're glad for a good wheat crop

Partly Nonsense

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 08 July 2008 14:29

We’re glad our friends on the farm have had a very good wheat crop at this juncture of the growing season, and with very good prices to boot. In these parts we’ve managed to avoid most of the bad weather that seemed to hit all around us.

Now on to the fall crops and even better prices. Who wouldn’t like a bumper crop of beans at more than $14 per bushel?

 

Gambling on a big scale has always been in Kansas. Not the CasiNO type, but out in the field.

I don’t know if I could go through what our Kansas farmers do each year. Not knowing if the rain will come, whether the hail and wind will hit or even if there is too much rain and the timing of it—not to mention all of the diseases that come with the whole growing cycle...

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