Letters to the editor

In response to a letter by Beverly Pestel, we agree that the response you received to your ‘Free the Children Protest’ on the Sauk City bridge was very inappropriate. But in answer to your second question we ask you to consider ours: What have people come to, that because of their loyalty to a political party, they can agree to the killing of children in the womb up until the time of birth as well as shortly after they are born? Nick & Kay Ringelstetter Prairie du Sac We want to thank everyone for their support of the 2019 Wisconsin State Cow Chip Festival. The festival, which is one of the largest fundraisers for our local non-profits, benefited over 21 non-profit groups and brought together hundreds of volunteers to pull it off. We appreciate your understanding for the changes made to the festival to keep it an exciting and relevant festival that will continue to be a destination for many families on Labor Day weekend. The event wouldn’t be possible without the support of local businesses who sponsor the event and those who donate their time and services as well as our many volunteers and those who attended the event to enjoy some friendship, food, throw a few chips, and listen to some great music! Thank you! The Wisconsin State Cow Chip Committee Another Cost of Deregulation The lack of broadband internet service is not the only telecommunication problem in rural Wisconsin. Like many rural homeowners, our house is beyond the range of reliable cell phone service. Thus our landline phone is our lifeline for reaching emergency help. For people like me who have an implanted pacemaker that is monitored through the phone line by a hospital, my landline is literally a lifeline. This summer, along with two neighbors, I experienced an outage of my landline service when a construction crew accidentally cut a buried phone trunk line. If someone tried to call me they would hear a phone ringing but it did not ring in the house. Only after my doctor sent Frontier Communications (who operate landlines in many rural areas) a letter verifying my medical condition did they issue me a medically expedited repair order. But even then I had to wait two weeks before the phone line was repaired. (My neighbors waited three weeks.) I filed a complaint with DATCP (Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection). But DATCP can only handle complaints about billing or sales practices. It cannot do anything about poor service; neither can any other State agency. Since the legislature deregulated the telecommunications industry in 2011 Frontier has operated as a monopoly with little oversight or accountability. My experience with Frontier is not unusual. Across the country there are several class action suits against them and thousands of complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs and other watchdog organizations. In West Virginia Frontier paid a 160 million dollar settlement for misusing millions of dollars of federal grant money earmarked for extending fiber networks. A scathing report issued in January, 2019 by the Minnesota Department of Commerce found that Frontier failed its customers with shoddy service, lax record keeping and inadequate investment in its own network. To quote from the report: “The findings of this investigation detail an extraordinary situation, where customers have suffered outages of months or more. Some of those service outages hit Frontier customers with urgent medical needs, including those with pacemakers monitored via landline phone service.” Please tell your legislative representatives and the Public Service Commission that requiring timely repairs of rural landlines is necessary to protect the safety and health of rural residents. Allen Pincus Barneveld Letter to the Editor, Our police officers, Viney, Keller, Alwin, Kartman, and many other sponsors of Black Earth and Mazomanie made 60 children very excited for their Tuesday’s summer recreation program. I was impressed with the variety of experiences and places the children visited. The interaction with the friendly cops was of course the reason for providing these delightful activities. Deputy James Kartman told me their first group of kids are now juniors at Wisconsin Heights. Our communities are so fortunate to have this and other programs to engage positive values in our children. Jan Cowan Black Earth A huge thank you to all who turned out for the Red Cross Blood Drive sponsored by The Friends of Sauk Prairie Healthcare on Monday, Sept 16 at Graceway Church. We collected 54 units of blood, which is desperately needed, and has the potential to save 162 lives. Thank you, too, for all of the volunteers who donated their time to make the drive successful! Sauk Prairie rocks! Thank you. Josie Fentress, Coordinator Red Cross Blood Drive Friends of Sauk Prairie Healthcare Mickelsons-Martin American Legion Post 313 Commander Dennis J Wood wants to send out a big Thank You to the following residents for contributing to the “Flags on Mills Street” campaign. “The initial flag placements began on Memorial Day 2018.” Wood stated. Every light pole on Mills Street (Highway 78) displays “Old Glory.” A plaque is placed on the pole designating the donor and request for which it was donated. Additional plaques will be attached to the Cannon in the park with donor information. Funding of the “Flags on Mills Street” project will provide new flags as needed in helping the residents of Black Earth show their patriotic spirit. Joe Bomkamp is in charge of the “detail” for display and retention. Those making the annual project a success: Joan and Gary Turk, Walt and Rita Miller, Gerri Grob for Mary Grob, Dave and Lona Barsness, Ken Meigs, Jerry and Diane Poe, Gunderson Funeral Home & Crematory, John Bird, Don and Bev Ripp, Rita and Duane Ketelboeter, Children of Don Helmenstine (Jerome, Pat, Mike, Mary Jo, Monica, Julie), Nancy Geringer, Janice Brunner, Dean and Peg Lucey, Dennis Lucey, Wayne and Susie Barsness, Alicia J Schultz, Peter and Kristin Antonie, Larry and Tammy Adler, Kenneth and Shirley Cvikota, Audrey Curtis Family, Deneen, Nieces and Nephews, Dave and Donna Dybdahl, Jason and Krista Handel, Eric and Joan Haugen, Erich Huelsemann. Mary Jones, Debbie Huelsemann, Ray O’Connell Family, Marge Reindl family, Ron “Sarb” Sarbacker Paul and Sharon Savage, Steve Schmitt, Amber Schoenemann, Lawns Unlimited.