The Emporia Gazette

No turkey here

I think I can understand where Evan is coming from. As a nation, we have surrendered the raising of much of our food to the corporate agri-industrial complex, which is stupid and dangerous. They do not have our health as a top priority, but rather their own profit.
Profit is, in and of itself, not immoral. But if other principals are ignored in its pursuit, it becomes immoral.
As creations of God, animals deserve to be treated with respect. As food for men, we had better respect what science is beginning to understand. We are most definitely, what we eat. If we eat poisoned foods, we become poisoned.
I have no problem with the consumption of flesh, be it turkey, beef, etc. I take issue with the means of production employed today and with the sometimes deplorable conditions of the modern day slaughter houses. To keep it the most healthy, keep it local and personal, i.e. know your butcher or do it yourself.
In absence of those options, I see no reason why the citizenry cannot demand from the supplier that they raise our food responsibly and bring it to the store in a humane fashion. When demand requires, the supplier will deliver. Witness the rise of more and better quality organic products in the traditional supermarket aisles.
Personally, I applaud your principles, Evan, although I cannot agree that tofu is a suitable substitute for ANYTHING!

November 26, 2010 at 12:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Water meter replacement begins Wednesday

Wow! Crap, conjecture and complaints. Why don't you all run for office and see if you can do a better job, since you have all the answers and can find little positive in the efforts of government employees?

October 8, 2010 at 11:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Removing Islands?

Somehow I am just certain that the same people in this discussion that are calling for the removal of these "dumb" islands (that Ed McKernan tells us were the idea of downtown merchants), are the exact same people that bitch about the government spending tax money foolishly. The government, apparently in your eyes, is damned if they do and damned if they don't.
If you have such great ideas, that can solve the problems of infrastructure decay and inability to keep pace with the needs of a growing populace, while SIMULTANEOUSLY lowering our taxes, why don't you show us what kind of Houdini you are and run for public office? Or are you just too busy slamming others in the blogs to get off your butt and do that? Armchair warriors often fail.

March 7, 2010 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Golf course manager dies

What a nice man. Smart, funny, generous, kind. He will be missed. My prayers go out to his family.

January 26, 2010 at 12:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

City’s Salary scale is extensive

USNretired:

I don't recall getting to vote on wages for the USN. How is that fair to apply that rule of thumb to City employees?

August 30, 2009 at 8:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

County tables employee fitness plan

That's interesting - can we trim fat from employees and end up trimming fat from the budget for health care? I see one of the first provisions is a physical for employees. That's a great early warning system. The City's newest insurance plan enacted for this year, provided by the vaunted Blue Cross/Blue Shield, dropped the provision that paid for the majority of a routine physical's cost. As Commissioner Longbine suggested, this should be incentive for the employees to stay healthy. Let them eat cake!

July 26, 2009 at 1:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Going green

The Gazette could help us go green by not throwing that advertizement in my driveway each week and mailing me one, too. I need neither.

April 19, 2009 at 5:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The next step at Peter Pan

If memory serves, in the first year the pool opened, the L-cat and school buses departing from playgrounds were used to transport kids whose parents couldn't take them there. Response was poor and the service discontinued.
The fact is, the pool needed a 10 acre site to be built on and where it is now is where it was possible to find a site after much looking took place. Now that it is there, those who will use it need to be able to get there and a little encouragement could start a trend. Could the Rec Commission revisit trying to help in this capacity?

May 26, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The next step at Peter Pan

Wow! Are you serious? The city loses money on the one pool it has now. Do you really think we can afford to do that in two places? Four and half million dollars to build it and we spend over $90,000 a year supporting its use by a mere 12,000 people. How about a little promotion by the management?

May 24, 2008 at 5:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

City looks at changes in jobs

Hey, dhcc66 - ask any City worker out on the job how many employees his department is down. Those employees are not being included in the reclassification. Most of those are not in the management side of the equation - that tends to make things look weighted on the side of management when we may not have too many chiefs after all, just short on Indians from positions vacated that have not been refilled.

We have deficiencies in our streets, response to emergency utility repair, the parks are deteriorated, curent laws and ordinances go unenforced, fire and ambulance service may prove to be inadequate - we need to put some bodies out there for the management to manage! But as the taxpayer cries for fewer taxes, he remains unwilling to sacrifice services or bring in revenues from increased fees outside of taxes. Being a service organization, the easiest place to make budget cuts is by reducing personnel. It's catching up to us, Emporia. This crisis caused by Tyson's layoff may hurt us pretty bad in the end. Just as we are realizing our shortfalls in City budget, our income potential has been slashed.

I agree some restructuring is needed, dhcc66. But how about Mr. Zimmerman leading by example and refusing his wage raise UNTIL the rank and file get theirs? Or, how about leaving the wage pool for those raises and forgoing the remodel? Thanks to the current commission for the call to accountability over the last year. It was a long needed step in the right direction. Be careful, please, that you don't falter now.

April 11, 2008 at 11:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )