Reader agrees with editorial, letter (05/07/08)
Dear editor: I liked your editorial in April 30 paper. I also liked your notebook article about 20 second sound bites. I was glad to hear that you as a reporter get all the news and help us understand more than our 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. news give us. I always watch the news on TV but as you say, it does not give us the whole story as it has only a limited time. ...

Save the cats (05/07/08)
Dear editor: Please don't allow the people who train their hunting dogs using the cats to get away with it. Make people aware of it by talking about it to everyone. The cold, nasty people have done this criminal act against the cats and they think they are untouchable. You will get what's coming to you, eventually. We're watching and talking. Mountain Home knows who you are and what you've done and probably still are. So never relax...

Bond defeated, but Elks expand for less $? (05/07/08)
Dear editor: How come the school district needs $37 million to complete a gymnasium that property owners are still paying for every month? Heck, the Elks club burned down and they only need $1.4 million to rebuild a facility that gets expanded to 14,000 square feet. It will seat 450, with additional toilets and an enlarged kitchen. Plus, the Elks came in $200,000 under budget...

Work together for a 'new' bond (05/07/08)
Dear editor: The recent school bond proposal is history. Now people of good will can get together to do something really positive for the community and the schools. Indeed, I'm aware of several citizens coming forward to do just that, to work with both the school board and the school district for a bond proposal which will do everything it needs to do, without the frills...

Quick fixes won't help (05/07/08)
As gas prices skyrocket a number of "quick fixes" have been proposed by politicians lining up at the self-serving pump. Foremost among them is a "gas tax holiday," proposed in various forms by Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton. As much as we would love to see the price of gas drop -- it is literally killing this country -- these proposals are purely politically cosmetic approaches to the problem, and they're not likely to be approved, either by Congress or the president...

Police can take a little criticism (04/30/08)
Dear editor: The following statement is my considered opinion and is intended to reflect my personal point of view: A flurry of anti-police letters have appeared in the newspaper and this concerns me. Mr. Heiman, I do agree with you in part. Some of our officers are indeed fine people. However, you wrote that Mr. Thirion's opinion was "inaccurate."...

Discipline needed at MHJHS (04/30/08)
Dear editor: Hello, my name is Jacquie, I'm 13 and a student at MHJHS. I would like to express some of my concerns about our school. Our school is not perfect. Like many schools we have gang problem, drug problems and a lot of violent fights. The biggest problem we have is bullying. ...

Thanks for letter's support (04/30/08)
Dear editor: I wish to publicly thank Peter Humm of Mountain Home for the letter of support in the April 22 edition of the Idaho Statesman. I had written a letter describing first aid kits that were donated to the North Vietnamese Army, by subversives of the college in Berkeley, Calif., one of which I had removed personally from a dead Communist soldier in Khe Sanh, Vietnam, after one of our many firefights in the spring of 1968...

Local golf pro thanks volunteers (04/30/08)
Dear editor: I have been a PGA Golf Professional for over 25 years and have never been associated with people like we have at our municipal golf course. This is just one example of the care that the citizens of the City of Mountain Home have for their golf course...

Prisoners should work off fines (04/30/08)
Dear editor: Whatever happened to making prisoners work off their fines in the community? I cannot believe that the courts will put a person in jail for driving with a suspended license. Instead of giving them community service to work off their fine...

A ghost of a chance? (04/30/08)
We had a lot of fun doing the "backyard burial" story, and think most people got a good chuckle out of it. It was one of those classic cases where people assume some kind of law is in place, then discover nobody had ever gotten around to actually doing it...

Many impacts if bond fails (04/23/08)
Dear editor: So far, you've heard all about the great things that will happen if the school bond passes next week. However, you have probably NOT heard what will happen if the bond DOESN'T pass. As the technology coordinator for the district, I am here to tell you that for the state of technology in our district, if the bond doesn't pass, the coming years will be grim...

City officals endorse bond (04/23/08)
Dear editor: As elected officials, we felt it was important to step forward and express our support for the school district's bond proposal and the benefits it will provide for our students and community. To pass the bond now is a practical choice. The need is there and the costs will only increase if the expansion and improvements are delayed...

Bond important for community (04/23/08)
Dear editor: As educators, we have often questioned or debated the connection between extracurricular activities and learning. But, there is little left to doubt that the community spirit and support for all students grows around great programs that allow students to participate and apply their books to their lives and develop as people. Sports, performing arts, visual arts and supporters of these events give all students a voice in their school and therefore their learning...

Vote conscience, but no complaints after voters speak (04/23/08)
Dear editor: I hope all voters go to their nearest school April 29 and vote their consciences. Either way you vote, do it on the complete facts and not hysteria or sentimentality. If you think you and this almost-depressed community can pay for the bond, vote "Yes." If you'd like the school board to rethink the currently proposed expansion, vote "No."...

School bond affects everyone, vote (04/23/08)
On Tuesday the school district will ask voters to approve a $37 million bond to complete Phase II of turning the junior high into a high school. It's an issue that affects everyone and everyone should voice their opinion by voting. It doesn't matter if you have children in the school system or not, this issue still affects you. Are you OK with the school district reaching into your pocket and pulling out money?...

School bond need is real, but we can't afford it (04/16/08)
Dear editor: Well, I went to the 6 o'clock meeting yesterday (4/09) and came away sad because while the needs are very real, as we all knew they were, the $37 million dream school must be cut back, and I, for one, don't know how. I don't feel we need to host District 4A or state tournaments here so maybe the gym is a place to begin to cut back. ...

Students need to be taught in a modern building that meets today's needs (04/16/08)
Dear editor: I fully support the upcoming school bond election for the completion of Mountain Home High School. Our children deserve to be taught in a functional building that meets the needs of the technological advances that were not even thought of when the current high school was built...

We have to be selective with our priorities (04/16/08)
Dear editor: The headline you put on my last letter was misleading. I didn't say we can't afford more taxes; I said we need to think how we are going to pay for what we want. That means asking the hard questions. Let's quit that tired old formula we hear every bond election, that it's only $8 a month for a $100,000 house. ...