SpeakOut 11-11

What's the story

Could you please clarify something for me? Prior to the primary in August, Scott County Sheriff Walters stated in his advertisements and news articles that through his efforts Scott County had received approval to house federal prisoners. Now I read today that no approval has been received. What's the story on this?

We contacted Sheriff Walter with your question. His reply: We submitted a proposal to U.S. Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house detainees in Scott County. On July 2, 2008, I received a letter from ICE along with a proposed Agreement for Scott County to house approximately 30 ICE detainees with a targeted start date of September 30, 2008. My staff and I reviewed the Agreement, made the changes which pertained to Scott County and returned it to U. S. Immigrations and Customs along with a signed Statement of Concurrence. I wanted to make certain that the agreement clarified that we had the option of housing 0-30 ICE detainees depending on space allowed. In September, we received a letter from Ms. G. Crump, Contract Specialist for ICE in Washington, DC requesting a few minor changes to the Agreement. We made those changes and promptly returned same. Ms. Crump stated that, after she received our changes, she would prepare the finalized agreement and get it to us; but she did ask for our patience and stated she was extremely busy this time of year. A few weeks passed and we had not received any correspondence from Washington. In mid-October, I called to check the status of our Agreement and Ms. Crump began to apologize to me; she stated that she was the only person who handled all of the contracts nationwide and she was in the middle of closing out their fiscal year and that she had clearly dropped the ball. She also wanted to let me know that she would also be relocating her office soon so it would even be longer before we received our final Agreement. I asked for an estimated date and she stated that she would get the Agreement to me in November at the earliest date that she could.

Choices

This is in response to "Gay Is Just A Word." Thank you for standing up whoever you are, especially in this narrow minded area in which we live. I, like you, have always been taught throughout my life, that love and tolerance was something that we should all strive for. But according to so many "authorities" in this area, we are to be ashamed of the love that we have in our hearts, to hide who we are and to shun our very being in the shadows of everyone else. To these people that cannot accept others for who they are, I pray for you daily. Yes, I am a Christian and yes, I am gay! Since the day that I was brought into this life, I have been gay and I'm very proud of who I am. I lead a successful life. My family and friends know "who" I am and that's enough. As far as rubbing it in other's faces, I chose not to do so. It's actually none of your business - just as you being heterosexual is none of my business. Who you choose to love is between you, that person and God. With that, for those that choose to throw the Bible around, do you really know the Ten Commandments? Go back, read them and when you get to the "one" that says, "Thou Shalt Not Lie", let me know. In order for me to "be the way" that you deem I should be, I would be living a lie, lying to everyone around me and then ultimately to God. I did not choose to be who I am any more than you chose to be tall, short, fat, white, black or straight! The sad thing is, is that there will always be "second class" citizens because there is always going to be people that think that they are better than others and that they are the ones that know how everyone else should think and feel. Every time I see or hear someone telling me how to think, I wonder how many others they are hurting - friends, family, co-workers, etc. I pray that someday, should you need the help of a doctor, nurse, police officer, fireman, whatever, that these people don't find out that you are the one that has been slamming them daily for who they are. Thank goodness that most of these people that I know, don't harbor ill feelings toward others. They have open hearts, open minds about everyone and don't discriminate on who or what you are. The next time you feel that you should open your mouth to let the crap fall out, just remember that you don't know who is sitting next to you or who might be listening. Think about this, if heterosexual people would stop having children, then we wouldn't have such a problem with homosexual people and then none of us would be to blame.

Here's your ribbon

I was a red ribbon winner at Southeast Elementary School. My teacher is Mrs. Kelso, Sandy Kelso.