Treasured life, needless death, a traffic ticket

Nearly six months after the tragic death of Dr. Ken Peterson on Halloween night of 2007 on the Gunflint Trail, a grand jury has decided to charge his killer with two misdemeanor traffic offenses, tickets routinely issued by the Minnesota Highway Patrol in ANY accident, even where there is no damage to life or property.
The few facts so far released to the public (aside from the name and age of the killer, Maranda Weber, 27) provide only negatives: she was not drunk, not on drugs, and not speeding. So, how is it that she killed a man who was trying to remove a downed tree in the middle of the Trail? Hmm, it seems she was "careless."
Careless? What does that mean, a slap on the wrist, a fine of a couple hundred dollars at most?
Well, no way would I or any other driver I know be "careless" enough to slam into a tree across the road!
Dr. Peterson was an exceptional person, evidenced by his last act of trying to remove a hazardous tree blocking the Trail, but even more so by his life of giving so much to the residents of our county.
And is his death so meaningless that the county attorney has chosen not to pursue any fault? And would that be because the killer was a member of the Border Patrol?
CA Tim Scannell has obfuscated the issues, and probably influenced the grand jury (as nearly always happens) with his statement that there was no evidence for "vehicular homicide" and therefore would be no jail time.
HELLO? Jail time? Oh no way, not for a Homeland Security employee. Still, there are lots of options between jail and a traffic ticket. The community as well as Ms. Weber deserve some healing, such as community service in penance or at least some required driver training. Or at best some parole, again commonly prescribed by the courts even in cases not involving the death of a human being, a recognition that there needs to be a period where the perpetrator is held accountable for her actions by society.

True

Real pet lovers spay and neuter

On behalf of the Animal Advocates, who selflessly provide foster homes as well as shots and spay-or-neuter to the endless litters of unwanted kittens and puppies they care for, I am just enraged by the boreal letters about the so-called wonderful cat owners who produce litter after litter of adorable and lovable kittens.

Hello, folks? All kittens are adorable and lovable. All companion animals bred for the pleasure of humans, if they are not mistreated, will love us dearly in exchange for a place to live and food to eat.

Trouble is, there are nowhere near enough homes for these little ones. Most of the rest of the USA recognizes the need to spay and neuter to reduce pet population growth and the inevitable killing of the unwanted and abandoned.

If you want a new pet, DON’T get it from people who are part of the problem because then you are just reinforcing needless death for generations to come. Most people now understand they shouldn’t buy puppies from puppy mills. Rescue organizations are better equipped to save them if they can be saved. And so it is with unwanted cat litters: if you MUST have kittens, give them to the Advocates who will make sure they don’t grow up to multiply the problem. Did you ever learn about “compound interest” in math class? That’s the concept that one and one makes more than two, more than even two hundred, when compounded over time.

If you continue to support these “free-to-good-homes” folks you are condemning hundreds of unwanted pets to horrible deaths. You are complicit in acts such as the horrific beating murder of a stray cat a couple of years ago in the RV Park because it was homeless and somebody didn’t like it killing birds in her back yard.

True takes in as many of the abandoned and lost as he can and faces a lot of grief from people, even friends, who think this is a waste of money. But there are so many more who die from starvation or predators or neglect. The same people who don’t want True to spend money on pets would be glad if he bought stuff he doesn’t need from their local businesses and wouldn’t actually complain if he patronized Wal Mart, that destroyer of local economies.

Please, support the Advocates and SPAY or NEUTER!

True

The helipad in the harbor

Like everybody else True was shocked to learn that the feds have decided to use the Coast Guard station to house their expanded Border Patrol.
This came about after more than a year of secrecy, rebuffs to the press who tried to find out what was going on, and a general "Up Yours" attitude as people continued to wonder where they planned to build their 10-acre compound surrounded by barbed wire fence and enclosing an underground parking bunker, a helipad, and a jail.
Turns out, the Department of Homeland Security, thanks to the machinations of the Bush administration, now owns our historic Coast Guard station. Nyaa, nyaa, too bad for us.
The PR team insists the facility will only be used for "office space." Even so, the harbor parking lot is a favorite tourist spot. Even locals like to have lunch while watching the changing landscape. As County Commissioner Bruce Martinson said, the Homeland Honchos have chosen the "worst possible" site for their military hi-jinks (apologies to Bruce, the honchos and hi-jinks are my own words not his).
But DHS's credibility is sorta in doubt here. Why should we believe what they tell us now after they have lied for so long?
Here is one possible reason: the new satellite surveillance system being imposed as we speak on every citizen in the "Homeland" and described in this week's Washington Post...This could mean there doesn't have to be so many night surveillance flights or Border Patrol staff riding herd on people who don't look like us: the satellite sees all. Are you out on your deck on a summer eveing, enjoying the Milky Way, and perhaps entertaining a friend? Big Brother will take note.
Still, True is not so sure there won't be a high fence around the Coast Guard station and worries about tourists finding their way to our beloved Artist's Point without DHS harassment.
They do it because they can. The community can't stop them. They are the Deciders. They own the property.