Government should help small business

Our family farm is mostly forest. We tried farming the 60 acres of "tillable" land but could not earn a living. I began salvaging trees that died of oak wilt 30 years ago. We built many things with the wood — including my own home, and sold extra wood to area woodworkers. This became a business where we can make a living from our land. We harvest one tree/acre each year and use the smallest possible equipment so there is never a large commercial timber harvest with big machines and log trucks.

We help neighbors with firewood, sawdust for bedding and mulch, and occasionally saw a few of their logs. Daily, people call and want me to buy their trees, but I have more wood than I can handle in our own forest. We are farming our timber crop, just like our neighbors farm their corn, hay, and cattle. We use machines, just like our neighbors, though our equipment is much smaller, quieter, and does less impact to the land. Working with local wood is a normal and traditional use of the land. A landowner farming their own timber crop and occasionally helping a neighbor should not be burdened with expensive and time-consuming Special Exception Permits that are required of a commercial sawmill business.

Government should encourage small business, not hinder them.

Jim Birkemeier,

Spring Green

Everyone makes stupid mistakes

Hello. My name is Francis Rodriguez. I was reading the paper the other day and this is in regard to the "Teen jailed for assault" story. I am friends with Mr. Haussen and I know that he's made some stupid mistakes in the past i.e. shoplifting. I was with him. I know that in the law's eyes someone who has committed an act of crime is more likely to be looked down on and "prejudiced" even if the judge, jury, or police officers intend on it or not. He's got a lot of emotional issues that need to be worked out, sure, but, he's not a bad person. He's helped me out when times were rough, gave me a place to live, food, helped me get a job, and made me a better person over all. I used to be a graffiti artist and he stopped me from doing it. He wouldn't intentionally force one to act; he has some morals. He didn't put me up to writing this article, for fact I haven't spoken with Mr. Haussen for almost a year.

Just give him the benefit of the doubt and let life go on as planned? Forty years is a little excessive, I think. I know that technically what he has done is a Class C felony (I study Criminal Justice) which is indeed a $100,000 fine and 40 years and that Wisconsin law states that a minor cannot give the authority to have consensual sex. Everyone makes stupid mistakes and I think this is a big misunderstanding.

Francis Rodriguez,

Prairie du Sac

Our legislators make state better

One of the biggest tasks faced by our governor and state legislature is the development of the state budget. As part of the development process, public hearings are held across the state to gather public input. This year during the last weeks of March and early April, Joint Finance Committee members heard about the value of continued funding for tobacco control programs, the appropriateness of an increase in the cigarette tax, and the need for smoke-free work places. Listening to public input for 10 or more hours per day over six separate days is an exercise in active democracy that requires tremendous patience. Sen. Luther Olsen, who represents eastern Sauk County, sits on the Joint Finance Committee and was one of these very patient people.

Members of the Sauk County Prevention Coalition spoke at the hearings in Sparta and in Cambridge. Other Sauk County Coalition members submitted written testimony. In Sparta, Rep. Ed Brooks, from Reedsburg, was one of the patient listeners as he sat with the committee as a guest.

At all six hearings across the state tobacco control supporters effectively described the health benefits to be gained from continued funding for the state's tobacco control program, an increase in the tobacco tax and implementation of a comprehensive state-wide smoke-free work-place law.

What happens next? The Joint Finance Committee will discuss each section of the budget and come to agreement about what should stay in the budget and what should be removed. It's all part of a complex push-and-pull to find common ground. Then the budget proposal will go to the full Senate for approval, followed by action in the Assembly, and then final approval by the governor. Ideally, this should all be done by July, but this year's budget challenges are formidable.

Members of the Sauk County Prevention Coalition are rooting for a 75 cent increase in the tobacco tax, protection of current funding levels for tobacco control programs, such as the Wisconsin Quit Line, and passage of the smoke-free workplace legislation with no exemptions. Each of these are rightfully part of the budget process. It will be very interesting to see what transpires over the next few months. I'm personally very grateful to our state legislators who listen, reflect and struggle through the decision-making processes that result in a stronger Wisconsin.

Sincerely,

Judy Spring, coordinator, Sauk County Prevention Coalition

Some clarity on health care

If it weren't for the greed and shortsightedness that passes under the erroneous label "free enterprise capitalism," this would have happened long ago.

More civilized countries than we have long recognized the fact that 1) All benefit when everyone does — and not until, that 2) Health care is not a commodity and should never be bought and sold for profit, especially when doing so leaves it at the mercy of the cutthroat tactics rampant in today's markets, and 3) Having health insurance is not the same as having health care.

Hannah Lee,

Spring Green