Category Archives: Opinions
VA surpasses claims goals, expands care
The headline said it all: The VA has processed more disability claims in one year than 
they’ve ever done before. They surpassed last year’s total months before the end of this fiscal year. Specifically, the backlog of veterans waiting for benefits is down over 37%.
And that’s not all the VA is accomplishing. In the last
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Checking expired products
When the pandemic began over five years ago and our stores were keeping odd hours and sometimes the shelves were empty, many of us stocked up on food and supplies 
when we could get them. We chose canned goods and dry boxed foods like pasta, as well as staples like bleach and sanitizing wipes.
Where are those items now? Are some of them still
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The human inclination to set boundaries
1 Kings 6:2 “And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.”
God gave King Solomon a detailed set of directions for the building of the Jerusalem Temple (also called King Solomon’s Temple or The Temple of God).
The dimensions were given in cubits. One cubit is standardized as the distance from a man’s finger tips to the inside of his elbow. That length has been further standardized in modern thinking to 18” or one and
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Courier Letters to the editor 9-3-25
Time gets faster
Dear Editor,
It’s amazing how much things that we consider important over others change as we get older.
When I was a child and was reading the paper, the first thing I would do when I got it was to immediately go to the comics section to read all of my favorite comics, like
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What does it mean to endure till the end?
I t would be wise to understand that Satan knows what he is planning, and since he hates all true Christians, lulling his enemy to sleep has always been an effective tactic of 
war.
We might not understand all the specific lies and strategies designed to confuse our minds, but John 10:10 clearly explains his basic agenda. We are
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When claims aren’t checked
A veteran and wife duo have been indicted for a whole menu of crimes against the VA, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government funds and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Their scams brought in a lot of VA benefit cash because the husband claimed a variety of problems, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and back issues, for which he was
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Regrets in retirement
I was eavesdropping on two senior ladies in a big box store, specifically in the furniture 
aisle. Being discussed was a very large TV cabinet with doors and shelving. While it was on sale, the price was apparently not enticing.
“I regret not buying a big television back when I had
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The rapture question: not if, but when?
When discussing the rapture happening before the second coming of Christ, I and II Thessalonians are familiar letters that find their way into the conversation. The word “rapture” itself is not in the English Bible, however, it comes from the Latin Vulgate’s translation of the Greek verb “harpazô” found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and commonly taught as a time when God will secretly rescues His people from the great tribulation. II Thessalonians chapter 2 begins with an encouragement
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Courier Letters to the Editor 8-27-25
Divido et vincere
Divide and conquer … divido et vincere … had in my mind that was something Caesar had said, or other ancient Roman origin. Something left over from high school, Miss Hallum’s Latin class, I guess. But no, its earliest use is from the 1600s. Francis Bacon used “separa et impera” in 1787. About 1862 Lincoln had used “… a house divided against itself cannot stand …” which was in reference to the slave and non-slave states. We know how that played out.
Anyway, seems like that has been in the works in the States for a long time … divide the people against each other and take over the nation. From the beginnings it was the Europeans who made the Native Americans a common foe and took over their lands. During the early 1800s each wave of immigrants were a source for division. The Italians resented the Irish coming in. Then the Irish resented whoever came after them. That Civil War thing happened because of a division among the citizens and went on into the 1900s as white versus black. Later it was Europeans fleeing Nazism in Germany, who were using Jews as a reason to divide the people.
I suppose even back in long ago history it has always been one group of people make another group the common enemy. Most likely using that as reason to increase someone’s power and influence, becoming an Emperor, King, Monarch.
But currently in the States it has been politics, dividing the people into republicans and democrats. That is more so now than it had been in the past. Seems like liberals and liberalism have been made something to despise, to hate, an evil thing. Doesn’t matter that about half the population believes otherwise. But then another group, or someone, comes along and uses the division to cease power and influence for themselves. Much like the Hitlers, Napoleons, Czars, Khans, Ceasars, Kings throughout history.
So that’s where we are in the States now. Use some political reason, some class of people, some ideological principle to make the people argue, fuss, fight among themselves so that a manipulating group can take over the nation for their own goals and objectives.
Jerry Hughes
Pickens
Overtime pay
Dear Editor,
In June, when I updated you on the EMS expansion and improvements, I wrote: “If the federal government eliminates income taxes on overtime, that will further boost the take home pay of EMS and other workers who have built in overtime in their pay structure.”
The “Big Beautiful Bill” has passed and has been signed by the president. The new law reduces federal taxes on overtime pay, however, there are two points to keep in mind.
One, the overtime tax rate is not falling to 0 percent. Instead, they are giving overtime workers an income tax deduction of $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for married couples. By the way, no tax on tips is similar, except the limit of $25,000 is for married and single filers.
Second, the tax deduction for overtime is only on the “half” portion of the overtime hours. I’ll explain that aspect below in our examples.
Let’s say a person works 780 hours a year in overtime, and their hourly rate is $20. Some workers (mainly those who work 24-hour shifts and to a lesser extent those who
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Stay updated on recalls
In the world of food recalls and alerts, just when you think you’ve seen it all, something even more scary and dangerous comes along.
We’ve had the “normal” stuff, of course. There was the cheese produced in a facility that had mice and rats. There was the cheese that was recalled for risk of listeria. We had undeclared wheat in chocolate cookies and boxes of cheese crackers that actually
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