Request for fireworks respect
I am asking those who will shoot off fireworks to have a little courtesy when doing so.
There are those of us veterans and others who have PTSD and other anxiety disorders. We should not have to isolate because you like the sounds and colors.
The past few years I have contacted our city government about this issue and all I get is no answer.
As far as a fine for not following the guidelines set forth, I say the police department should fine them. They say they don’t want their Fourth of July ruined. What about the rest of us. Don’t get me wrong about the Fourth — enjoy it — but I believe six days is too long.
Gary Dixon
Grand Island
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The need for foster parents
As a foster parent in Central Nebraska, and one who works for a foster care agency, I have noticed a true need for foster parents who can serve the harder to place population. This population includes sibling strips of three or more children, teenagers and kids or teens with higher needs. Children are sleeping in the offices of DHHS and the foster care closet because there are not enough homes to serve this population.
One common myth regarding foster care that you have to be a perfect parent to foster. This is not true. The requirements to becoming a foster parent include being 21 years of age, being able to support your own family unit outside of any foster care reimbursement and being able to provide a safe home with a place to sleep. You will have 24/7 support provided as well as assistance with their financial needs such as food, clothing and school supplies.
Another reason people tend to not foster is the fear of getting “too attached.” This attachment is actually the most important thing you will do as a foster parent because it helps to ensure that child can form lifelong attachments to adults in their future.
I know it is scary to imagine taking in a child who was not born to you. It is definitely a broken system. I can say after fostering for nine years myself, the children are the best part of fostering and I wouldn’t trade the tough times for anything. Knowing I made a difference in the life of just one child keeps me fostering.
Contact me if you would like more information. The class is free and there is no obligation.
Krysten Vance
Boys Town Foster Care
Grand Island
Struggles with alcohol
Today I am thinking of a young man with terminal liver disease due to alcoholism whose church family are traveling to be with him in his last days.
Christian churches everywhere preach against alcohol use and some even make abstinence a requirement for membership.
Unfortunately, Christian churches often suggest that God works only through pious church men and their agencies, so they shun involvement in secular agencies.
That is literally false theological teaching. Jesus knew that all agencies of society must be positioned to support people-centered communities and consensual law, starting with an inspired Constitutional law.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) have shown us the way to do this in our post-prohibition society. Theirs is not a church-oriented organization, nor are they necessarily church mothers, but their work has been righteous even though they do not mention God’s name as they do it.
The church has contributed greatly to the burgeoning 21st century anti-law mindset by suggesting that civic regulation of behavior is ineffective compared to conversion to Christ and church attendance.
Young people are dying while church people pray for Jesus to come and fix the problem. Jesus is waiting for us to deal with it.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah