Area residents should be thanked

To the Editor:
I would like to respond to the article that was in last weekís Argus. As I told the lady from the Red Cross, this is a tribute to the people of SE Minnesota. This was by far not a one-person operation. Iím grateful that I was in a position to help. They are serving all volunteers and victims at St. Josephís Church in Montini Hall. I know of several local groups that went up to help cook.

Due to the generosity of everyone involved, we are still hauling food to Rushford. This has been on going since Aug. 24. People are still donating!! After this many weeks, you would think that it would die off, it hasnít. Every penny that has been donated has been spent for supplies and food for the flood victims. We were able to send several hundred dollars worth of school supplies plus several thousand dollars worth of food. This is all due to you, our friends and neighbors and your generous support.

I would personally like to acknowledge several individuals who went over and above to help out. Sue and Tony at Affordable Technology with the school supplies, Robís dad who came on a split second notice to help haul food, Dave in Rushford for tirelessly working everyday to make sure everyone was fed, and my friends and co-workers at Quillinís who didnít kill me when we emptied out their stock on whatever items Dave asked for. As for all the people that donated money, none of this would have been possible with out you! Youíre the best!!

Lori Thillen
Caledonia, Minn.

Producer makes commitment to safe, healthy, organic product

To the Editor:
The recent floods in Southeast Minnesota have demonstrated, in a dramatic and sometimes tragic way, how important sound farming practices are to sustainability and quality in our food supply. My partner and I are organic beef farmers near Houston. Over the 15 years we have been doing this, achieving and maintaining organic certification has required lots of help and cooperation from a variety of sources ñ certifying agencies, local support and advocacy groups such as Land Stewardship Project, and, in addition, Federal and State agencies.

We are a small operation in a; fragile ecosystemñthe driftless region of the Mississippi River Valley. We have been avid users of such programs as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQUIP) and the Conservation Security Program (CSP). These programs provide guidance and critical funding especially to small farms. These programs are works in progress and need constant fine tuning by legislators.

In the next few days the US Senate Agricultural Committee will be making important decisions about the next farm bill, in particular with regard to the EQUIP and CSP programs. As a small producer, I advocate that the funding for EQUIP remain where it is, but be limited to a smaller capñsay $100,000 over five yearsñso that it can be accessed and applied to more smaller operations. As for CSP, the legislators need to appropriate the necessary increased funding so the government can honor its financial obligations to farmers under contract to this program.

As producers and stewards of the land, we have tried to make a commitment to our consumers to provide a safe and healthy product choice for them. Public policy has a vital role to play in this by helping to keep small operations, such as ours, viable.

I urge every one to get to know the people who produce their food and become politically active to insure that you can make choices about your food.

John F. Jordan
Houston, Minn.

National Guard thanks area
residents for their hospitality

To the Editor:
The members of the 175th Forward Support Company, Appleton, Minnesota Army National Guard would like to offer our most sincere gratitude to the hospitality shown to us while we were serving your area during the tragic flood.

Amid the devastation, these citizens went out of their way to make sure we were always well cared for with great food and caffeinated refreshments. Your community has a great and giving heart that no disaster can defeat.

Sincerely,

Specialist Chris Vinderslev
175TH FS CO, 155 TF BDE
APPLETON, MN 56208

CJC public meeting date changed

To the Editor:
Come and see the countyís new plan for the CJC. It is even worse than the first plan and more dangerous. According to the public notice, the meeting is now on September 26, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in the Caledonia Gymnasium Auditorium, 219 East St. According to the notice there is only one variance (namely number of parking spaces from 590 to 233 spaces) and one vacate (namely part of Washington Street).

What is going on? What happened to the required variance approval for ordinance parking space size of 10'x25'? What happened to the required vacate of Marshall Street? What about the ingress and egress? What about sidewalks? What about snow removal? What about water drainage? What about disabled parking spaces? What about narrow roads and noise? Etc.

At the City County meeting of August 27, the minutes state, "Commissioner Thompson said it is the commissionersí choice to locate the facility in the downtown areaÖ" Is this why the county commissioners never let the people vote on the CJC? Was commissioner Thompsonís statement in the Argus on August 15 a falsehood when she stated, "County commissioners have the task of representing all county residents and to make decisions in their best interest, especially on large projects such as a justice center?" Sounds to me like the commissioners are representing the commissioners and that is why they are so determined to have the site downtown.

People of Houston County, the county has come up with twisting the building (220 feet by 132 feet and 35 feet tall and equals 82,000 square feet) with the 220' back of the building on Pine Street. Horrible for home owners on Pine Street. It appears that they came up with more crowded parking spaces by eliminating all lawn around the Veteranís Memorial, etc. and eliminating all sidewalks. This site is very unsafe and hazardous for children, senior citizens and residents in the area. It is still less than 100 yards from a kindergarten and elementary school. Citizens, this is a prison for persons found guilty of crimes against citizens and many of these crimes are violent.

Letís face it; there will be no room to expand the CJC. Do you desire to destroy more houses an displace more homes and have your taxes increased to make up for the lost taxes on these taxed properties? Do you desire to be responsible for imminent injury or even worse to children and senior citizens? Come to this vital meeting.

Larry Salm
Caledonia, Minn.

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Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475

E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com