LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Submitted January 14, 2023

Posted January 19, 2023

Dear Editor:

Our Granddaughter Olivia Garren is a 7th grader at T.J.H.S.  Like many junior high Students this week she was excited to have the opportunity to try out for the THS Spring Musical.

Tryouts were opened to both high school and jr. high school students with no caveats listed limiting roles. They were told they could try out for any role they wished.

Olivia tied out on Tuesday and was given a “call back” along with two other girls on Thursday regarding the role of Annie.

Yesterday at the High School Choir Room Kathy Fergin and Mr. Chase, directors of the play, announced to  a room full of students and adults the cast of the upcoming Spring Musical Annie.  Oliva was given the role of “Annie”.

Last evening a video as well as a list of the cast was also posted on Facebook.

This morning my daughter and son in law received a phone call from Kathy Fergin saying that she is being “forced” by Principal Matt Hutchison and Superintendent Chris Doughertry to remove Olivia from the lead ‘Annie’ role and give it to the understudy who is a high school student because she and her parents are not happy. Now let me also mention that said student’s father is a teacher at THS.

Why even bother to hire a play director and waste their time if the principal and superintendent 
want to cast the roles of the play.  How pathetic is it that a girl doesn’t get what SHE feels she deserves so we’ll just do it the ‘good old underhanded, good old boy backdoor way’!  

Why doesn’t Matt Hutchison and Chris Dougherty choose the team members for football, basketball, volleyball, track, baseball, soccer, and any other activities.  They could save the district a ton of money.

My point being IT IS NOT THEIR JOB TO STICK THEIR NOSES IN where disgruntled students and parents who can’t deal with not being chosen reside.

The principle and superintendent are educators. The duty of educators is to teach. What are they teaching with this decision. If you lose the game, just change the rules after the game is over. You educators get a grade of F-.

Skip and Marlane Miller

Taylorville

EDITORIAL POTPOURRI posted January 3, 2023

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

Point number one:  Despite various legislators telling us over 5 years ago that Illinois Route 48 thru Macon, Christian and Montgomery Counties was part of the state’s 5-year road improvement plan to be re-paved, it hasn’t happened since telling us that 5 years ago.  It’s one of the roughest roads in the area for commuters, shoppers, and the general public to travel.  Here’s a public hint to our area legislators, that the road sure could use getting re-paved before another 5 years is up.

Point number 2:  We welcome new county board chairs across our 2 clusters’ coverage areas, and especially the new chairs in our stations’ home counties of DeWitt and Christian.  We hope with new leadership comes a new era of cooperation among county board members in their respective counties, to discuss the issues in a respectful manner with an outcome that’s positive for county residents, especially in the area of economic development.  

Point number 3:  Countless doctors and nurses we know thru-out Central Illinois, have shared that the demeanor of their patients during and since COVID, has been anger, demanding, and condescending.  While patients have long asked for understanding and emphathy from doctors and nurses, it’s time to remind those patients that health care is short-staffed and doing the best they can with the staff they have.   One of my daughters, who has been in the nursing profession some 15 years, tells me that during and since COVID, she has been yelled at and verbally abused by patients.  But!  So that hospitals will keep their high rating to continue receiving government payments, nursing staff are told to just take it.  Some nurses have even been told they can file charges against patients that physically abuse them.    Patients need an “attitude adjustment” and realize that a nurse isn’t going to answer their call button the second they hit it because they’re short-staffed.  Such abuse of nurses by patients is one reason thousands of nurses are leaving the profession in the first place.  So, next time you’re a patient in a hospital or doctor’s office, remember that courtesy and understanding is a 2-way street.

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