Opinion

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

– The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The First Amendment was written because at America’s inception, citizens demanded a guarantee of their basic freedoms.

“It’s so hot I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking,” online commenter laconservative wrote on our June 25 story, “More hot temps in forecast.”

Beamsabre chimed in, “I saw a pack of Cub Scouts lighting a bonfire to cool off.”

“It’s so hot the boys in the hood are wearing short sleeve shirts,” reverind ike added.

After reading “More Food Choices for Students at Lunch” in the June 4 edition of The Lancaster News, I decided to log in to the newspaper’s Web site. I wanted to see if there were any reader comments on the announcement that the school district director of food services and the president of the school board were pleased and proud to add Philly cheese steaks and chicken wings to the school lunch menu for next year.

We can picture the scene when veteran Lancaster City Councilman John Howard shook his head and said, “I think I’m in the twilight zone.” Howard often quips at council meetings, and he’s never been a council member to mince words.

And when he wondered if he was in some netherworld at the June 3 special City Council budget meeting, he did so for good reason. The majority on council had just voted to tap into the city’s reserve funds to give employees a 2 percent raise.

I’d like to respond to Tish Leonhardt’s letter, “Nurse: White Oak cares for its patients,” in the June 9 edition of The Lancaster News. I usually write my own letters, word for word, but the letter Mrs. Leonhardt is referring to was written by someone else.

When I viewed the words – sorry, I can’t remember where – I thought that it was very relevant to our society today. I wasn’t trying to plagiarize. I sent it in liking the thought it laid out.

April has come and gone. Getting our income tax worries are behind us until next year. But wait, there is something else going on.

People all over America are frustrated about the lack of jobs, growth of the federal government, lack of transparency and accountability in our state and federal government.

Many of us locally who feel this way have been involved with the Lancaster TEA Party movement for just over a year. Our little town is in step with all of the other TEA Parties statewide and nationwide.

In a recent column, retired Judge Don Rushing correctly stated that it is the people in the judicial system who are the problem, and not the system itself.

However, in that same column, Judge Rushing appears to disparage the people’s right to criticize a system that is clearly broken, regardless of the reason.

To emphasize my point, let’s take a look at the case that dominated the news in the days immediately following the publication of Judge Rushing’s column. It was a case from Utah concerning a murderer named Ronnie Lee Gardner.

Tuesday is a critical day for South Carolina  library users and supporters.

Gov. Mark Sanford has vetoed all state aid for public libraries. Library supporters must act now to urge the Legislature to overturn vetoes 31 and 92.

The General Assembly meets Tuesday to consider overriding these and 105 other vetoes.

The governor is working hard to secure the votes he needs to sustain his vetoes. We have never faced anything like this before, and the result will be devastating to library services in Lancaster County.

Do we save it or let it go? That’s the question Lancaster County officials are facing with the historic jail building on West Gay Street in downtown Lancaster.

The top of the building is sinking and an engineer has told the county the building could collapse. The building hasn’t been used as a jail in years, but has housed the county’s Emergency Operation Center, Lancaster County Fire Service and Emergency Management. After a structural engineer informed the county of the problem, the operation center was moved out of the building.