I was disgusted by the mass slaughter of ducks and geese at Rowan Memorial Park cemetery. As children, we went to feed the ducks, and I have taken my younger cousins there to do the same. It was always a relaxing and peaceful thing to do. I have close relatives who purposely chose to be buried a few feet from the lake there. Years ago, my family purchased other plots for the future near the lake, also. I walk my leashed dogs there.
As “property owners,” we didn’t mind sharing the area with the animals. Seeing the geese and ducks there has always been a serene and soothing sight. I believe this cemetery property has been bought and sold a number of times. If it is owned by a corporation in another state, I don’t understand how they could coordinate this barbaric method of eliminating the waterfowl without someone locally who worked for them setting this up. I feel that more and more, the companies that have owned the cemetery and their treatment toward customers have been “all about money.” I would not be surprised if the cemetery owners eventually fill in the lake so they can sell more plots and make more profit.
I hope that the truth will come out about what occurred and that whoever is responsible for the inhumane deaths of the ducks and geese will be held accountable. There were other ways to reduce the flock in a humane and safe manner. Nature, animals, the environment and humans should be able to coexist. I am a reasonable person, not a “far out, wacko extremist.”
St. Francis of Assisi said, “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
— Lora S. Owen
Salisbury

If anyone is still in support of our government leaders, you have your reasons, be it political or just faith that everything will work out for the best in the end. We still have our freedom to form our own opinion and voice it. I’ve never voiced my opinions like this in the past. Sometimes one needs to vent.
I feel stuck in a classic “Catch 22” situation in life now. There isn’t any way I see America coming out of a mess I, personally, feel we are in. Somehow, the balance in decisionmaking was slanted too far one way and that killed our “checks and balances.” A president, when elected, is supposed to become a separate part of government who makes sure the two-party system works for the good of all people, who makes sure the two sides work together and come up with plans and decisions that help better our way of life, not power-play ways. He shouldn’t be allowed to change the rules as he goes along to make sure the power goes one way or the other! I am neither a Democrat nor Republican. I am just an American citizen.
I couldn’t care less which side is in charge of leading our country, just as long as it is done in the right way, for the right reasons and works for the good of all. If we never stand up and voice our opinions, then it appears we don’t care what happens.
But I care. I don’t accept being walked on and treated like a fool with blind eyes and deaf ears. Like me or hate me, I am who I am — just an average American citizen.
The old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it” is pretty true. But in the case of a failing government which needs much “fixing,” what will it take to fix it? Can it be salvaged and made to work again? Just my two cents worth …
— Arthur Liles
China Grove

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” President Obama and his team have lied so often that they are entangled in this web and trying to get out by covering one lie with another. He spoke for one hour on TV on Nov. 14 and said the health insurance website problems fell on him. That’s a far cry from admitting he lied. Getting on TV and saying” I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it for the millions whose insurance has been canceled because of Obamacare.
He always shifts the blame for everything. He acts like nobody told him the website wasn’t functioning, or that the NSA or the IRS had serious problems. He acted totally unaware of the gun-running Fast and Furious program. I’m sure he and Hillary Clinton watched Benghazi go down before he flew off to Las Vegas to play golf and give a speech that afternoon.
I guess the American public is privileged to learn all of this from TV and newspapers even before our president knows about it. Does he actually think that people are stupid enough to believe any of this?
He deliberately pushed Obamacare knowing full well that insurance companies would have to cancel policies because it was the law and they had to comply.
How many elderly couples want to pay higher premiums for contraception? How many young people, many in college, want to pay higher premiums so other people won’t have to work? How many gay couples want to pay higher premiums for pregnancy coverage?
It’s a shame that broken promises, misleading the public and lack of integrity are just now starting to bring his approval ratings down.
He just couldn’t hide the truth this time.
— Doloris Pender
Rockwell

Regarding the recent series “My Darling Faye”:
What a beautiful love story. There were so many tragic things going on in the lives of these two people. Alvin would see some light at the end of the tunnel. He was truly a soldier, plus a family man.
Thank you, Mark Wineka, for the series. It was so well written.
Thank you, Greg Anderson, for sharing your family’s love story with us.
The sacrifices these two endured were for the United States of America!
Thanks to all our veterans.
— Alta Christy
Mooresville