Honor America’s patriots
with attendance Monday

The one message we never get tired of delivering is that freedom is not free — that there has been and continues to be an extraordinary price paid in terms of American lives to protect our borders and our national security.

That fact makes it sad that most Americans pay nothing more than lip service to our country’s greatest heroes. One of the sacrifices that many could make — attending a Memorial Day ceremony next Monday, May 27 — often takes a distant second to fishing, golf and general relaxation on a holiday weekend.

We are all being asked to take an hour out of our schedules to attend a Memorial Day service. There we will remember the young men and women who so courageously said goodbye to family and friends, hugged their children, left their towns, gave up their jobs and went off to war. They said they’d return, but they

Dear Editor:

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) routes on Vilas County highways are within less than three weeks of an up-or-down vote at the Vilas County Board meeting scheduled for May 28.

Thanks to the swift and quiet creation of an ordinance draft currently speeding its way through two Vilas County committees, this May 28 vote is almost certain to take place.

This new draft ordinance completely supersedes the 2004 Vilas County resolution preventing ATV operation on Vilas County lands and forests.

Here is part of the new ordinance language allowing this

Letter to the Editor:

Time for signs, or is it a sign of the times?

I am referring to the need for signs with a hefty fine for littering along the country roads or roadsides anywhere.

I doubt it would help, but it is appalling how lazy and disgusting people are with absolutely no regard for the beauty of this North Woods.

It is evident they feel it is OK to throw their

Letter to the Editor:

Discrimination can be an ugly word. It is sad to say many people in Vilas County, including some county board supervisors, discriminate against all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and people who own them.

Twelve years ago (May 2001), I founded the Land-over ATV Club with the goal of having ATV recreation in Vilas County. All hell broke loose as the anti-ATV movement sprung up and ATVs became the boogeyman.  This resulted in a February 2004 countywide, nonbinding advisory referendum. The vote was 63% against ATVs. It should be noted that 1,700 of approximately 8,000 votes were absentee ballots cast mostly by snow birds.

In March 2004, the Vilas County Board passed an anti-ATV

Letter to the Editor:

To whoever is interested: Mr. Whittingham in his Letter to the Editor in the May 15 Vilas County News-Review about abortion did not misrepresent the Center For Disease Control when he used the word “murder.”

The word “murder” is Mr. Whittingham’s word for abortion. I greatly appreciate Mr. Whittingham’s Letter to the Editor and stand with him, where he stands, which is where God himself stands.

The Rev. Gary Spurgeon

Phelps

Dear Editor:

I would like to respond to Barb Neddo’s letter (May 15) in last week’s News Review “Offers Clarification on Voucher Schools.”

Ms. Neddo refers to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that indicates public schools score better than private schools. The findings are from a small sample in the second year of the voucher program. No attempt is made to statistically analyze the students in the study.

Harvard University and the Brookings Institute have made far more exhaustive studies and concluded that African-American students from voucher schools are 24% more likely to attend college and 17% more likely to graduate from high school. The Harvard study rated voucher  school students higher in 11 of 12

Great partnership makes
Military Salute possible

A community newspaper is positioned to produce unique special publications, but newspapers cannot be effective unless the business community steps up and partners with us on the worthiest projects.

One example of that partnership in action is the Military Salute that you will find in this issue of the Vilas County News-Review and The Three Lakes News — a special section filled with feature stories on soldiers from numerous wars, the profiles of active-duty military personnel and a wealth of information on local veterans organizations and pending legislation.

The salute comes during National Military Awareness Month and in time to promote the Memorial Day ceremonies that are planned in virtually every community here Monday, May 27. Many of the photos in the special section were taken during past Memorial Day services, where Americans take time to honor the heroes who made the ultimate

Letter to the Editor:

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Conrad Heeg, executive director of the Eagle River Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center, on the local news. He pointed out that the number of tourists who visited Vilas County last year was the largest in the history of the county.  This was no doubt due in part to his leadership and the large number of volunteers who he mentioned.

The headline of the May 8 paper read “Vilas, Oneida see increase in tourism spending

Dear Editor:

This letter is in response to Jeff Laadt’s letter last week.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Whittingham! Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image.” I do not consider this hysterical rhetoric on life and abortion, seeing as this comes from the Bible, the word of God.

It also says in Psalm 139, starting in verse 15 and continuing, “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret.” This is evidence that life begins at conception! There shouldn’t be any question of this and it is not a “single-minded obsession of Christians,” as Mr. Laadt mistakenly points out.

Life is not a negotiable

Letter to the Editor:

I salute every participant in the 17th annual Journeys Marathon that was held on Saturday, May 11, in Eagle River.

Not in recent memory have I seen as cold a May 11 day as it was Saturday. I had to go to town and