Letter - Trail would honor veterans

Kathy E.
02/19/2010 11:27 AM

Sorry Steve S., yes there is a personal stake in this situation. My family and over 1,039 other people feel CR 55 is worth keeping and not to be used for personal gain. Again, you are wrong on the commissioner, THERE WAS NO COURT HEARING. THERE WAS NO RULING BY A JUDGE! Money was paid out to settle the claim rather than cost the county for a court trial, this did not mean any guilt on the commissioners' part. You can go to Todd County Court Records and get all the facts. Al is right to argue with people over something as important as our Veterans is foolish. As for the party suing the commissioner, that same person also sued Douglas County and MN/DOT, maybe you should check up about that person and leave commissioners not representing you alone.

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steve s.
02/19/2010 9:20 AM

Get my facts straight Kathy E? So the commissioner didn't get sued and Todd county didn't pay out a pile of money? He was standing up for his constituents? Then why did the courts find against him? We shouldn't believe the Leader, why? You have way too much of a personal stake in this issue to see it clearly and your views don't always reflect the views of others. I'm not looking for a fight with you but Al's letter said that this decision somehow dishonors veterans. Not true.

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Kathy E.
02/17/2010 8:21 PM

To all you folks, naming any road or highway does not protect it from being vacated, moved, or exapnded is off base. Check any city, county or state road authority and they will tell you they maintain their authority over what happens to any road in their district. Did anyone follow the trouble on county road 42 in Douglas Co.? If you did then you know the county won and the road was made wider and a sidewalk added.. That is also part of the Glaical Ridge Trail. Get you facts straight and I would definetly not recommend the Long Prairie Leader for getting anything correctly written.Try reading the Clarissa Independent News Herald. Articles written by Karin N. they are much more accurate. Try and think of the people along that stretch of CR 55, what is it they hope to gain if the road would be vacated. What would be lost to the area residents is a lovey view of Osakis Lake and beautiful sunsets. As to the comment on a commissioner getting into something he shouldn't have and being sued, YOU don't know the facts there either! He was within his rights as a commissioner to look out for his constituents. That's more than some can say. Those that are opposing the Veterans Scenic Drive, aren't even affected by where it goes, it's not tax dollars fromt the county involved, nor state money and defintely not Federal money. Private individuals are paying for the signs on a 93 mile Veterans Scenic Drive. Should any Veterans Organization tell people they can't use the word VETERAN in a title? Beside, there are many VETERANS supporting of this endeavor. Which we hope sometime in the future can apply to the Minnesota Scenic Byways Program. Mr. Al Kral was right to the veterans in this area, it is a kick in the gut!!! Check for facts not hearsay.

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b.a. c.
02/17/2010 5:48 PM

They're going to need it, Like Minded. This has been going on for a long time, and personally, I think it makes the online feud on the EP look tame

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Like-minded extreme right wing lemming. I.
02/17/2010 2:51 PM

Kathy E & steve s. - Thank you for the additional information. I don't drive through Osakis too often so I don't have a dog in this (trail, highway, route) race. Mr Krals' article left me curious as to what the rest of the story was because his depiction of the opposition as anti-Veteran rubes was over-the-top. IMO, it didn't advance his argument. Sounds like that section of the trail honoring our Veterans is really a battlefield. Good Luck.

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steve s.
02/17/2010 10:53 AM

I don't think anyone out here is opposed to honoring our veterans, but putting a issue of including a road that has been fought over including one Todd County Commissioner being sued for getting involved where he shouldn't have been is all nonsense. Making that a part of the Veteran's Highway so it can't be vacated should not be part of this project. Readers may want to check with the Long Prairie Leader for more information and check with both the Long Prairie and Browerville VFW's to see if they have the same views on this subject. There is more to this issue, alot more.

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Kathy E.
02/15/2010 4:53 PM

Thanks to Al Kral, for an outstanding letter. Todd County Commissioners' voted 5-0 to designating Veterans Scenic Drive (93 miles) in honor of Veterans. Then 15 days later two of the commissioners received a couple of calls and felt the issue needed to be revisited. This has created a political issue where none should have been. If you are feeling sorry for those against the Veterans Scenic Drive, don't waste your time. They are all still counting on CR 55 being vacated so they can claim more lakeshore. These few people don't care if it means landlocking a neighbor, they don't care it would create a dead end street for the city of Osakis. Nor do they care about the people who live on the dead end street and would have to walk 700 feet to get their mail in the winter. What started out as something good to honor our Veterans all across MN and the US, it has become an attack on a commissioner and people wanting to accomplish a Veterans Scenic Drive in Todd.Douglas and Stearns County. Some of the people in opposition have never served in the military, nor had children in the military, now I can't say for sure they have never had anyone in the military. Weather you served or are a wife of someone who served or is serving, you deserve the best respect the rest of the country can give, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I will end with this, if we do not honor, or appreciate what has been and is being done to protect America, folks you might someday see all our freedom pass away. It will be a painful situation. America already messed up not giving honor to some of our War Veterans from Viet Nam, so weather you thought the war was worth it or not, they still deserve honor for serving this great country. The good old USA.

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Like-minded extreme right wing lemming. I.
02/14/2010 2:42 PM

Here is a link to an article that sheds a little more light on the subject: http://www.theosakisreview.com/event/article/id/4977 -- However why some residents are against it and what exactly the trail is, is still clear as mud to me. Veterans highway, scenic drive, scenic trail, scenic route, 30 mph vs 55 mph. It appears to me....."What we've got here is (a) failure to communicate" Cool Hand Luke.

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Kerry H.
Prior Lake, MN     02/14/2010 9:26 AM

As most letters in the Opinion section, this illustrates but one side of the argument. I know nothing about this issue, but I suspect those against what the letter writer favors are not against it because they are against veterans. I don't think it is the EP's job to confirm or refute everything mentioned on the opinion page. The opinion page is the canvas on which the readers paint their view of issues. Maybe a representative of the community who holds an opposing view will weigh-in next week.

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Country B.
Minneapolis, MN     02/14/2010 9:09 AM

I also wondered what the agrument was that convinced the commissioners to vote against it. Or at least who it was that made the argument. I assume they did not get up and say "We do not like honoring veterans"!! Where is the crack journalism team on this one??

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