I want to say thank you to the gentleman at the dollar store in Parachute. At the cash register, I gave the clerk my credit card and she said they didn’t take credit cards, cash only. He stepped up and paid my tab. How great to know great people still exist.

As I retire from the post office, I’d like to say, “thank you” to all the people in Orchard Mesa who have made my job so much fun with memories to last a lifetime. You are the best.

Would the bicyclist/saint who stopped to inform me my yard on East Dakota Drive was in flames, called 911 and helped me control the fire, please stop by. In the heat of the moment, your name eluded me, and I haven’t been able to properly thank you. Thanks.

It’s easy to understand the frustration experienced by the town of Palisade and the supporters of the whitewater park. The recovery program for the endangered fishes is supposed to help facilitate the accomplishment of reasonable water-related mainstem projects, while working toward the recovery of the endangered fishes — without the considerable time and expense of a Sec. 7 (of the Endangered Species Act) consultation. Reasonable and prudent alternatives are encouraged. In this case, it appears that the feds failed to understand and implement the spirit of the Recovery Program. Mr. Sarmo says, “I’m starting to question if they (the federal agencies) want the project.”  Who cares if the feds want the whitewater park?

Again, as I read the concerns of those of us on the Western Slope of Colorado I see the need for more representation for all of us.  The money generated here through the oil and gas produced here, the agricultural products and, most of all, the water is sent over the mountains to the Front Range, and we are left with a pittance to maintain our own roads and streets and cities. We need to create our own state and stop providing a blanket of secure income for those Front Range politicians.

Are you aware that Barack Obama is the co-sponsor of legislation that will abolish a person’s right to a secret ballot for the purpose of unionizing? If this seems unfair to you, call your representatives. The symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and unions will eliminate the right-to-work principle.

Iraq is socking away $79 billion in oil revenues while we fork out $10 billion a month to pave their highways and landscape their palaces. The city’s coffers, too, are bursting at the seams with excess revenue, and we’re told to dig deeper, even into our kids’ piggybank. It’s only summer and already I feel like I’m double-fleeced.