STATION EDITORIAL

Posted May 31, 2022

This is a station editorial, I’m Randal J. Miller, station president.  

The horrific massacre of 19 students at a Texas elementary school May 24th, has the country again focused on gun control.  

In doing some research on this issue, this discussion dates back to 1791 just after the country was founded, when the Second Amendment was passed saying quote:   “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."   Ever since, there has been an emotional debate in the country over regulating the distribution and sale of any type of gun.

The discussion accelerated in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a mail order rifle bought by the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.  It wasn’t until 1968 and the assassinations of John’s brother Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, that mail order guns were banned.  Other gun laws have passed the last 50 years but the problem persists.  Bad guys still get guns.

All this leads us to where we’re at today. We applaude Congress for trying to pass some common-sense legislation to limit those who should NEVER have a gun in their hand.  Some of this tragically may be coming from the lack of socialization due to the pandemic,  in the lives of many of the suspects in these horrible events, plus the message from the media and others that we don’t have to respect the rule of law OR the police.  As a result, lawlessness is rampant in many areas because those committing the crimes think there are no consequences for their actions.

Criminals don’t pay attention to gun laws.  There are plenty of guns out there for them to get their hands on, legally or illegally.  With no consequences for their actions, even if they get killed in the act of shooting up public places, the media will still give them their 15 minutes of fame.  

The answer to all this, like everything else in life, is in the middle.  Return to the rule of law, to respecting the police, and to send a strong message this kind of behavior is flat out NOT acceptable in a free country.

That’s our opinion, we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted May 12, 2022

Dear Editor:

 Area farmers and landowners have been talking about the Heartland Greenway project for the storage of CO2 in Christian County for several months now. It’s time all county residents get an understanding of what this means to all of us.  The proposed project involves the construction of a 1300-mile-long pipeline to bring industrial waste, in the form of highly pressurized CO2, from ethanol plants in 5 states and pump it under the productive farm ground of Christian County, just north of Taylorville.

     Heartland Greenway advertises that they are working hard locally to provide a project that “leads to a prosperous future for Christian County.”  However, there is really nothing in this project to prosper Christian County.  However, there are multiple short-term and long-term risks.  Risks to water, risks to the productivity of farm ground and most importantly, risks to the health and lives of people near this pipeline and storage area.  The county will collect some fees but the project doesn’t pay taxes that would benefit the county.  The project doesn’t provide jobs or products that we need.   It’s not really even a solution to climate concerns as the carbon emissions involved in building and using the pipeline largely offset that which is being stored.

     The bottom line is this: the Heartland Greenway CO2 sequestration project is a grab for federal tax dollars (which, of course, come out of your and my pocket) while leaving the residents of Christian County to deal with the risks for years and years to come.

Sincerely,

Karen Brockelsby

Edinburg, IL  62531

STATION EDITORIAL

Posted May 11, 2022

This is a station editorial, I'm Randal J. Miller, station president.  I wanted to share a couple of different thoughts in my comments.

First of all, I want to thank the 140 folks who bought tickets to the 115th Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet that honored WTIM's 70th Anniversary at the Pillars May 6th.  With WTIM footing the bill for everything that night, ticket sales were turned into a fund-raiser providing the Chamber with just over 3-thousand dollars, the Taylorville Food Pantry over 15-hundred dollars, and the Taylorville Public Schools Foundation just over 15-hundred dollars. Outgoing Chamber president Sarah Van Huss gave her final "State of the Chamber" address and presented awards for Boss of the Year, Citizens of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year.  All those were richly deserving.  
And, it was the premiere of the WTIM 70th Anniversary video, which was just under 40 minutes long.  It was the culmination of months of work by Neil Hohenstein and Addison Vocks, who are to be commended for the outstanding job they did in preserving history.  I gotta tell ya, it was an emotional moment for me at the end, as I thanked God for bringing my family to Taylorville 30 years ago.

Secondly, I've received varied reaction in my recent editorial on the demeanor and tone of  Christian County Board meetings.  My last editorial was NOT to express an opinion on the C-O-2 pipeline project which the board has to approve or disapprove, contrary to what some thought.  But rather, my editorial was addressing the way all issues are addressed.  I still think the past 2 years that we've all gone thru, has put everyone—including Christian County Board members—in a surly mood.  While I applaude the public service to their constituents and our county as a whole, the way all issues are addressed needs to be toned down so that civil discourse can happen.  Continuing the rancor is a message for any developer, that Christian County is NOT open for economic development.

I appreciate the Christian County board members who HAVE reached out to me to have a civil discussion about my last editorial.  I believe something has come out of those discussions, and I hope it's the start of a more civil tone at future board meetings.  I think our listeners and readers hope so as well.

That's our opinion, we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.