Letters to the Editor

The Comet welcomes letters to the editor responding to articles and events in the news. They must include the author's name, address and telephone number. The letter writer's name and city/town will appear in the paper - no exceptions. Letters must be 400 words or less in length. Please send your letters to: editor@carrollcountycomet. com; Letters to the Editor, Comet, P.O. Box 26, Flora, IN 46929 or P.O. Box 179, Delphi, IN 46923; or fax 574-967-3384 or 765-564-2010. By submitting a letter or opinion article, the author grants the Comet the right to publish, distribute, archive or use the work in print, electronic, on-line or other format.

Offers fix for financial woes

You know when you sit around with friends and talk generally it's about solving the world's problems or anyone else's. Well, I was talking to a friend about Carroll County's financial crisis and my friend came up with what I think is a very good idea.

Instead of doing away with law enforcement, emergency people and/or people taking care of the elderly at the county home, cut all overtime and slash hours worked from all county employees. I don't know how many people are employed by the county, but I'll bet if you would cut a half-a-day's pay or a full day of pay from each and every county employee you'd be surprised how much money the county would save. It would be a lot better than doing away with a person's job.

And yes, I have taken pay cuts myself and have also worked four-day (30 hour) work weeks during tough times.

John Riley

Delphi

Disputes dairy 'facts'

This letter is in response to Daryl Johns' statements at the April 21 commissioners' meeting, which were published in the April 23 Comet.

Apparently, Mr. Johns' new group, "We Americans Love Our Land" is not as much "for" the truth as they are "against" dairies. Mr. Johns should check his facts before making such inaccurate statements. I was at the meeting where he presented his "information." Since I did not have the data with me, at the time, I submit the factual information, now.

A CFO is a livestock facility with at least 300 cattle, or 600 swine or sheep, or 30,000 fowl. A CAFO is a livestock facility with at least 1,000 cattle (or 700 dairy cows), 2,500 swine, 10,000 sheep or 30,000 fowl. More details about the difference between CFOs and CAFOs can be found at the IDEM Web site: http://www.in. gov/idem/agriculture/livestock/ cfo/index.html#what.

According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, as of April 23 the following is a summary of CAFOs/CFOs permits issued by the State of Indiana. The top five CAFO/CFO counties in Indiana are: Carroll - 117 CAFO/CFOs; DuBois - 108 CAFO/CFOs; Wabash - 97 CAFO/CFOs; Jay - 89 CAFO/CFOs; and Decatur - 83 CAFO/CFOs.

The State of Indiana has issued permits for a total of 2,226 CAFO/CFOs, 515 of which are CAFOs. Carroll County has 18 CAFOs and 99 CFOs. If you do the math, you will see that Carroll County has 3.5% of all CAFOs in Indiana, 5.8% of all CFOs in Indiana, and 5.2% of all CAFO/CFOs (combined) in the State of Indiana. That is far below the 50% Mr. Johns threw out at the commissioners' meeting.

The frustrating thing is that this kind of misinformation is standard practice for many folks fighting the dairies. It's tough for the agriculture industry to address consumer and resident concerns when the antidairy folks make irresponsible and completely inaccurate statements. My sympathy is with our county commissioners, who are forced to listen to these inaccuracies presented-asfacts, time after time.

Yes, Carroll County leads the way in livestock production - but, we already know that! All along, the agriculture industry has been telling Carroll County government officials and residents that Carroll County ranks #1 in the state for swine production and #1 in the state for corn production. However, Carroll County ranks #61 in the state for cattle production including milk cows.

The Carroll County Strategic Directions report specifically states that Carroll County has two major assets which must be developed if Carroll County is to succeed: agriculture and the Hoosier Heartland Highway. Particularly as we face a county budget that is insufficient for our needs, we must focus on developing our agriculture strengths in a way that will bring tax revenue, jobs and new business to our county.

I encourage anyone with questions about agriculture and livestock to check the Purdue University Web site: http://www.agriculture.purdue. edu/ to get the true facts about agriculture in Indiana.

Miriam Robeson

Flora

File for economic stimulus check

I am writing to remind Social Security beneficiaries who earned at least $3,000 in Social Security income in 2007 that they are eligible to file their tax returns up until October 15, 2008, in order to receive a rebate check as part of the economic stimulus package.

It is my priority to make sure that our retired seniors who have worked hard, paid Social Security taxes, and are now struggling to make ends meet in a slowing economy receive an economic boost like the rest of us. In order to receive this boost, however, a tax return must be filed.

To receive guidance on how to file your tax return or where to obtain the forms, visit my webpage at www.donnelly.house.gov or call the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at (800) 829- 1040.

If you have any concerns or questions, contact my office at (574) -288-2790.

Joe Donnelly Member of Congress

D-Granger