Local Opinion

From: Julia Stumpff

Trains pass through the very heart of Columbus nearly every day. Railroad tracks cut through the farms and fields of Bartholomew County. Each time that I would drive over a speeding train or waited for one to pass, I never gave it much thought. That all changed last month when a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Since then, the nearly 5,000 residents of this town have been left to wonder if it is safe to drink the water. Is it safe to breathe the air? Are their children safe? The thousands of fish and other animals that soon turned up dead weren’t reassuring.

From: Sherry Stark

There is a whole set of numbers we’d rather forget, so I’ll write about them today. According to data published in National Vital Statistics Reports for March 22, 2022, my life expectancy is another 6.4 years.

From: Jim Strietelmeier

Anderson Herald Bulletin

We have a crisis on our hands! Last year, Indiana didn’t have enough trained and fully licensed teachers and was forced to provide emergency licenses to 10% of its teacher workforce. This, combined with the thousands of teacher vacancies in the state, is cause for alarm, but not despair.

A couple of recent cases involving guns on school property in our area must be addressed. We’re afraid local prosecutors responded to these cases with less than what public safety demands: zero tolerance for guns on school property.

We Americans live in a representative democracy. That’s a fundamental feature of public life in the United States, a part of who we are as a people. We elect leaders to make decisions on our behalf.

From: Steve Schoettmer