Letters

According to columnist John Marx, "No one cares who plays on the LIV Golf Tour. Seriously, our president has allowed inflation to reach a 40-year high, gas prices have found the sky and a recession is but days away, but we are worried who tees it up where."

I know we live in an era of "We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings," but that attitude is not teaching our children to reach their full potential or how to handle adversity. As they go through life they are going to have some bad days. Maybe a minor disappointment like not making the football team, something more serious, dad losing his job, to the absolute worst, mom getting cancer. How will they ever handle difficult situations if we continually shield children from them?

For those too young to remember the 1970s, our nation went through what was called an “energy crisis." It hit particularly hard in 1973-74 and again in 1979. Global cuts in oil production quadrupled the price of oil, triggered a huge spike in inflation, and resulted in a change in driving habits for many Americans.

This is in response to the dribble and gibberish that Beverly Lamb submitted, and unbelievably had published on June 16th.

It’s no surprise that Sens. Grassley (and Ernst) weren’t part of the bipartisan gun deal. Both accept large sums of gun lobby money. Grassley said: “As always, I need to see legislative text, which has yet to be written, before making a final decision on how I’d vote.”

Letter in Response to Mr. John O’Shea and Mr. Kenneth Ervin:

I've read the reports. Watched in horror as a young man entered a school, using an AR-15 rifle, designed for use in war, and began shooting! Are we so accustomed to violence that anyone can buy a weapon made only to kill people?

Having to write that I am sick to death of the Trump supporters still praising him as a good and honest person when the opposite is true. He is a very big part of the violence we are seeing today. He has desecrated our Constitution and the morals of our democracy.

Iowa Association of School Boards states, “Public education is the foundation of the democratic society and the key to successful futures for all Iowa children.” According to Arthur Griffin and Carter Ward, an effective school board focuses on student achievement by setting high, clear goals and expectations for schools in order to guide the administration. The June 9 school board meeting indicated that the board has forgotten its purpose. These goals should be printed and available to anyone. If goals have not been set, they need to be, otherwise how can a superintendent’s performance be fairly evaluated? The school board’s job is to create conditions that support success. One way to create favorable conditions is to recognize and welcome those who attend the board meetings; not to lecture and criticize them. The data presented by the superintendent showed parents’ and staffs’ concern regarding discipline. This should be one of the board’s goals. Rules should be clearly stated and observable. Is Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) being adopted? I have used PBIS in my classroom and it is a great tool, but consequences for continuous inappropriate behavior is also important. Goals should be set for improving behavior, and the data should be honestly collected, analyzed and evaluated. If the data shows there is a small pocket of disruptive students causing the majority of discipline problems, then a reallocation of resources is needed to accommodate that situation. For the sake of our children, let’s work together to take our schools back.

June 14th, only four candidates showed up for the Candidate Forum held at the Martin Luther King Center. We heard Marcus Herbert and Darren Hart, candidates for Rock Island County sheriff, along with Thurgood Brooks and Gregg Johnson, candidates for District 72 State Representative. Four outstanding candidates! Vote June 28th!

I would like everybody to know that the Quad-City Times is the best newspaper in our area! Not only are the stories well written, but everyone I have contact with at QCT is a fantastic employee (my carrier Patrick J. is very reliable with delivery) and the persons I have contacted regarding billing issues have been extremely helpful in resolving them and going above and beyond in retaining my subscription. Again, the QCT is great and I enjoy reading it everyday. Keep up the good work — other companies could learn a lot from you in customer service.

I will be casting my vote on June 28 for Gregg Johnson for my state representative. Gregg believes wholeheartedly in the 72nd district and understands the challenges it faces. His insight into the mental health crisis in our area, as well as the country, resonated with me. Gregg was a 25-plus-year employee of the Illinois Department of Corrections. I heard him speak of how when mental health facilities around Illinois were closed, the rate of incarceration rose. We need more mental health funding and resources in our community, as well as our state. Our community is struggling with a mental health crisis, the opioid crisis, as well as HIV transmission and a need for healthcare for our LQBTQ community. We need funding that prioritizes mental health services for our most vulnerable citizens. A famous quote by Gandhi states, "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”. We have to do better in how we treat our neighbors, friends and family in need and I believe in having someone represent me in Springfield who understands this. Please join me in voting for Gregg Johnson on June 28.

I have known Darren Hart for over 30 years. He is my brother-in-law, so I know him both personally and professionally. I have had the privilege of watching Darren grow his career in law enforcement for the past two (almost three) decades. He has dedicated his life to his family and the people of our community. Darren is the most upstanding, focused, and considerate candidate with selfless dedication to the residents of Rock Island County. Darren will not disappoint the community as Rock Island County sheriff.