Today's Opinions

As noted on the front page of this newspaper a couple of weeks ago - and by the signs across the community - United Way of Perry County's annual fund-raising drive is under way.

United Way hopes to raise $125,000 to support nearly 20 groups that provide a wide range of services within our community and few of us aren't touched each year by the groups who rely on United Way for a portion of their funding.

In last week's "our view" (Sept. 1 editorial) you talked about "our responsibility for the results of our wars."

I wasn't in town at the time but I wonder if the same lament was made when in the 1990s we bombed Bosnia or when cruise missiles hit an aspirin factory in Africa and another cruise missile hit a camp that Osama Bin Laden had left several days before.

Did the editorial then read that we were responsible for the deaths that occurred as a result of these attacks by America, or just now because George Bush is president?

It's time to take a stand, Perry County. The underage drinking cases, driving-while-intoxicated arrests and overall drug problems need to end.

Each week, The News goes to the county courthouse and sorts through the criminal, civil and small-claims files to compile our records section. And each week the same names keep popping up, often for the same offense, and even worse, the ages keep getting younger and younger.