Be considerate and scoop it up

Ah, the weather is turning warmer, the sky is blue and the birds are singing. All the while I am scraping poop off my shoe because some inconsiderate dog owner decided to relieve their hound right in front of my house and not pick it up again.

 Look folks, we understand that some people do not have a yard and have to walk their dogs to relieve them. We wouldn't even suggest that you don't let them do that on the sidewalk. As a matter of fact, we'd love you to use ours (we paid the city enough for some use of it).

 Just pick it up.

 Let us remind you that chapter 10, paragraph 27 (b) of Beaver Dam municipal code does state:

 "Exercising animals:

 "No person who has the care, custody or control of any animal shall allow or permit the animal to defecate upon property not owned by such person, or without such other property owner's consent or upon any public property without the immediate cleaning up, removal and sanitary disposal of the defecation."

 Yes, there had to be an ordinance drafted to address this because some people did not get that it was just rude to let their dog crap on my sidewalk. I will not poop in your driveway. Please show me (and everyone else that lives in this town who responsibly cares for their dog) a little respect.

 Lets make the sidewalks of University Avenue clean again for the citizens who use them.

Some of you may think that because of the tone of this letter, I may be a dog-hater. I have an obviously well-fed, 70-pound springer spaniel that I do pick up after. Believe me, these things are the size of a love seat.

 Put your best foot forward and stop turing our town into a toilet for your pooch!

 I am trying to make the first letter this year light hearted however, the next step is reading your name in the Beaver Dam police beat for violation of this ordinance. Now, wouldn't that be some amusing reading?

— Alan Angle

No to the Horicon school referendum

I would have gladly been in support of a referendum for the Horicon School District but after attending Monday and Thursday's meetings, I'm afraid I'm opposed.

The school district is going into the 2009-10 school year with a deficit of more than $600,000. This would not be the case if the board had made some much-needed cuts previously. I do not want to see any teachers lose their jobs, but the people of Horicon do not have never-ending pockets. They are putting forth a referendum for $300,000. This referendum will cover only one year. There were some cuts that were voted on, but this is not enough.

I agree with a gentlemen from the Iron Ridge Village Board, when he said that our board needs to make some "creative" cuts. Dave Westimayer was not in agreement with the referendum — he wanted more money. The only thing that Westimayer is worried about is his legacy on the board, which he repeated often.  He is up for re-election this year and does have an opponent. Westimayer is more concerned with the sports for Horicon, then what is right and needed for this district. I listened to Maria Bislew speak on behalf of the teachers. She stated many things that the teachers do to go above and beyond, but not one word of a solution. The teachers are slated to receive a 3.8 percent wage increase this year. The teachers were not in favor of a discussion with the HEA to minimize this increase. One of the "creative"  cuts offered by another gentlemen from Iron Ridge was to look at their health insurance. The teachers on a family plan do not pay any money toward their $19,149.04 yearly plan with either a $200 or $250 deductible. It's $8,447.86 for a teacher on a single plan. I'm not aware of any business with our current economic conditions providing their employees with a 3.8 percent wage increase or covering their employees health insurance 95 percent or 100 percent. I'm hearing more and more of layoffs, wage freezing or employees having to take a 10 percent wage cut.

Either we need some serious changes on the school board or we as a community need to come up with some "creative" money-making efforts for our schools. The Horicon School District is not the only district in need of help.

—  Beth Brooks

Horicon

Constitution spells out religious guidelines

I am a regular reader of letters to the editor in small towns across the country.  

Rarely, do I write one. The one exception is when a gross factual misunderstanding occurs in several letters.

In regards to removing the prayer from governmental services, several readers have referred to the fact that a majority of Americans are Christians. While true, this statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the point of the Bill of Rights and the concept of rights, itself.

The point of the rights enshrined in the Constitution is largely to protect the minority against the majority. Even if 99.9 percent of Americans wanted to make Christianity the state religion, the Constitution forbids it. The Constitution does not care what the polls say.

We are a democratic republic to a point. The census is completely irrelevant to the freedom of and from religion.

— John Smithe

Country's founding based on religious freedom

Ms. Monheim asked an ironic question in her recent letter regarding prayer at Dodge County County Board meetings: "Why do the wishes of a few supercede the wishes of a majority?  It is time that the majority told the opposition to sit down and shut up."  

 I guess history does repeat itself.

English Protestants and Catholics settled America in the 1600s as they attempted to flee this exact mindset. The dominant Church of England told the "opposition" Protestants and Catholics to "sit down and shut up." Thank goodness they did neither and instead founded a new country based on equality, on freedom, and, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802, on a "wall of separation between Church and State."

— Jeremy Jaskunas

Don't want prayer? Well, don't listen then

I hope that the headline and article in your Feb. 3 Daily Citizen will cause responses from many who are outraged by the Freedom From Religion Foundation which has to poke its nose into every place it can to take away the religious freedoms we have enjoyed in America for decades.

  Every time I hear or read about it stopping prayer in another instance, it makes my blood boil. I totally agree with Supervisor Ernest Borchardt that our country was founded on Christian beliefs and now more than ever we need prayer and guidance from above to help our country. 

 Our country is made up of mostly Christians and believers with many different faiths and beliefs.

Yes, I realize there are those who don't believe in God or a higher authority, but why does that minority seem to have more rights than we who do believe? They feel that we want to push our beliefs on them, but that isn't really true. It seems to me that they are the ones who are doing the pushing. We just want to enjoy the freedom to express what we feel is important to us. 

What are they afraid of? Does invoking the name of Jesus Christ, who many feel is our savior, really need to cause such an uproar?  There is news on television and radio that we as individuals don't want to listen to. We sometimes change the channels, but oftentimes we just tune out what we don't want to hear.  It isn't hard to do — why take away pleasures of prayer from those who enjoy it?  Why can't those non-believers just stand politely and reflect on something else while those who chose to pray take a moment to do just that? That seems so unfair to me and I am enraged that the FFRF can get away with what it does.

 I really hope that the people who voted Mr. Fuller into office will reconsider their votes next time, since he doesn't feel he should resign after causing the rift. I'm sorry he was so shocked to hear a prayer at his first meeting that he had rush to an attorney to get the practice stopped. I'm glad that the board will at least offer a moment of reflection. I haven't read the wording of the Constitution concerning the separation of church and state, but I really wonder if our Founding Fathers meant for it to be enforced to the extent it is.

— Vikki Fischer-Kurth

World needs to turn to prayer

Prayer is exactly what this country —  the world, in fact —  needs these days.

 Look at the mess the world is in. — wars, crime, hatred. If the people don't want to be part of the prayer time at the meeting and  don't want to stand outside of the room during that time, then have them sit in the room and give them a set of earplugs. Those little inventions are great! They won't have to hear the prayer or be late for the roll call, and it shouldn't be too much different from not having the earplugs in  —  if you get my drift.

— Rose Kramer