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Letters to Editor

Water testing necessary to preserve ecosystem

Letter to the Editor Growing up in rural Iowa, I spent a lot of time at nearby waterways. I learned to tell the quality of a waterway by the ecosystem in and around it or the lack of one. Now, Iowa faces a public health and water crisis that demands immediate action. Our state ranks second in the nation for new cancer cases, with 87 of 99 counties exceeding the national cancer rate. With no comprehensive plan, this trend will continue or even get worse. The average nitrate concentrations in Iowa's drinking water increased between 2003 and 2017, with a concentration averaged across ...

Study impacts before we are in too deep

Slow Down Letter to the editor, Ever think things are moving too fast? Is AI being used to cure cancer and many other problems? I know it is used to sell stuff. Always about making a buck. If kids have their heads buried in their phones, why are school scores going down? Is the space race because they know we are killing this planet because of pollution and ignoring climate change? They are shoving data centers down our throats while the hype is alive and before companies quit because of cost. Everything connected to the Internet uses a data center. They are the physical ...

Supports Jones in fight against nitrates

To the editor: I was recently carrying a jar of water from a local creek when a gentleman inquired what I was doing. I shared that I was testing for nitrates which prompted him to say, “At least it is getting better.” However, July nitrate readings of 30 and 20 parts per million in Brewer Creek don't indicate improvement. High nitrate levels are closely correlated with our increasing cancer rates. “Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis,” (2026) drew a straight line from synthetic fertilizer and agricultural manure runoff to cancer. While most states’ cancer ...

Questions newspaper style

To the editor: I have subscribed to and read the Freeman Journal for over 50 years. I have enjoyed reading the local news and various articles in the paper. Recently, the font type changed and is so small that I have trouble reading it. It is especially bad under the photos. Why was it changed? What was wrong with the paper before these changes? Sincerely, Margy Wood Fort Dodge

Is AI data center in future for WC

To the editor: As our local officials push forward with marketing the newly certified 478-acre Gateway Industrial Park, we as a community must ask a critical question: At what cost? We are hearing quiet whispers about prospective Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers eyeing our land. While “high tech investment” sounds appealing on paper, the reality of these projects is a bad deal for Webster City. Our town learned a painful, permanent lesson when Electrolux closed in 2011. We cannot afford to make the same mistake by giving away massive Tax Increment Financing (TIF) ...

Taxpayer offended by Assessors disrespect

To the editor As a taxpayer in Hamilton County, I am grateful to our elected County Board of Supervisors, Rick Young, April Ely and Mary Clausen for their diligence in the responsibilities of this office. One such responsibility is the budget for the General fund levy. Budget preparation for the next fiscal year begins in late fall working with each department head preparing the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The supervisors work with our elected county officials to make the most efficient use of the revenues allocated by the state of Iowa and property taxes collected from ...