Another barb against Anonymous. I do not hesitate to sign my name to everything I submit. Without my signature indicating that I stand behind what I have to say, true to my convictions, I would not expect others to take me seriously. I do not work for the Occupy movement and I'm not into hacking. Accusations like that border on slander. I have my own non-profit environmental, political and public interest lobbying organization called The Ecotopian Society. My free speech is not the only free speech that matters, but Anonymous keeps hashing the same things over and over and will not even sign his name to what he believes. It shows a lack of character on his part. I can't respect or take someone seriously if they are not willing to stand up for the beliefs and sign their name to them. - Dave Searles
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A big barb to Monroe Times. I don't think the Times should publish any barb or blossom if the person writing it doesn't have the guts to sign their name. If it's worth saying, it should be worth signing your name. I personally lost all respect for this paper. - Janet Wunschel
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A big shamrock blossom to all who made Irish Week a success: Green County EMS, Monroe Police, Kurt Fritsch, Green County Humane Society, Monroe Lions, the eight pubs on the crawl, Eoin Breadon, all the volunteers and St. Pat's committee, Main Street Monroe, Monroe Library, YMCA, the bands, Jim and Veronica Bruce, Mike Ganshert and Dan Stormont and my family. Slainte! - Tracy Hamilton
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A barb to Alderman Paul Hannes for his recent Letter to the Editor. First, let me say that due to how poorly your letter was written, I give what you have to say no credibility whatsoever. "Employ?" Try employment. And, last I checked you lost your seat on council (by a very large percentage as a matter of fact.) Therefore, you cannot say you "have served on city council for 12 years." You should have said you "had served on Monroe's City Council for 12 years ... before committing political suicide with the City Administrator vote." In addition, do you honestly think the people of Monroe give any credit to what you have to say after you voted to use the taxpayers' money to secure a home loan for the City Administrator? Mayor Ross obviously regrets his role in the City Administrator loan decision since he used his magic broomstick to sweep that under the rug and get it off of the record. It may be off the record, but it is not out of the people's minds. I will agree that prior to Michael Boyce being voted onto council, there may have not been as much debate as there is now, but I see debate as a good thing. All of the "seasoned" aldermen voted the same way because you were okay with the city not changing or progressing. Obviously, based on last year's election, the citizens of Monroe did not feel the same. They were tired of how stagnant the economy was, how the population barely changed, how no new business ever came into the city. People were tired of you, Mr. Hannes, and if Mayor Ross would have been up for election last year, he would have been gone as well. Good riddance to you, Mr. Hannes. - Anonymous
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The Cheese Days Committee has created an additional selling area in the Monroe Parking Lot specifically for commercial vendors, flea market vendors, and non-profit organizations. The cost to reserve a 12- by 10-foot space is $175 or $100 per space for non-profit organizations. Rest assured that I have set up many various flea markets and festivals over the last 12 years. I have never had to pay such high space rent anywhere and I might add the space size is quite small too. I have been a vendor at huge established shows like the Warrens Cranberry Festival that did not even charge much space rent. The very high $175 will surely discourage many flea market vendors and I doubt most non-profit groups will even want to pay the reduced price of $100 for a space. Therefore this Cheese Day selling area will consist mainly of commercial vendors only. This newly created selling area could be a nice addition to the Cheese Day celebration. Individuals would surely enjoy browsing through antique and flea market booths. It is an unfortunate barb that because the committee has set such an inflated space rent many vendors will choose to not set up at Cheese Days in Monroe this Fall. - Gail Wichelt
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A blossom to Larry Eakins for his comment on Monroe being in the business of educating and not sports. Some other members of the district board and school administration need to listen. I'm not against sports in any way but we must do what is right for the kids and taxpayers. - Anonymous
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A huge bouquet of blossoms for the combined bands at Monrooe High School and their concert presented on March 13. The standing ovation was well deserved. - Proud and Happy Grandparents
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A blossom to Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal. Thank you for installing a great heating/cooling system. Thank you so much for the recommendations you had to keep the house warm while we waited for the system to be installed, the time you took to make sure everything was installed correctly, and explaining our new system after installation. Thank you to your team for taking two furnaces and making them into one. The basement was so clean after the installation. The house is so warm and will be nice and cool this summer. - Scott and Briget Nusbaum
•••
A huge bouquet of blossoms to everyone who attended the "Celebration of Life" of Mary Lou Johnson on March 14 at the Moose Lodge. Mary's family, relatives, friends, her bowling team, her co-workers at Roy's Dairy and her co-workers at the Moose Lodge were in attendance. The Women of the Moose Chapter No. 599 held their Memorial Service in Mary's memory and a tribute to Mary was given and a delicious pot luck supper was served. Thank you everyone for coming to honor Mary for all she did and meant to the Moose Lodge and Women of the Moose.
Another huge bouquet of blossoms to everyone who attended the benefit breakfast for Gary Kappe on March 18 at the Moose Lodge. It would a huge bouquet, as it was a huge crowd. Thanks to Swiss Colony for furnishing the cheese trays and the "goodies." Thanks to all the people who helped make and serve the breakfast and to all the people who pitched in to clean the tables. Couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks everyone for your support to our past governor, Gary. - Anonymous
•••
It looks like we're going to have a classic battle between Mitt Romney, who's a hedge fund dealer who thinks hedge funds shouldn't be taxed, and President Obama, who thinks hedge fund dealers should be taxed and who I favor. A good example is Greg Smith's comments concerning Goldman Sachs and a book "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World" by William D. Cohan. In this book, President Franklin Roosevelt said when he regulated he banks, "I welcome your hatred" and he went and did it. He saved the capitalists from themselves so my barb is to the hedge fund dealers who are promoting those toxic derivatives, as well as rating agencies that were asleep for too long until they started to act. We can't afford another toxic bubble exploding. - LaVern Isely, Monroe
•••
A barb to Jan Lefevre. Well, Jan, you waited like a snake in the grass for a whole year to get back at Hanson. Nice job, now you're no better than he. As a matter of fact you both need to leave the council and be replaced with real leadership. Flip flopping, are you serious? You and Hanson are both equally bad. If we want "Wishy Washy" we can elect Charlie Brown.
A barb to both the mayoral candidates. Reading your comments about the illegal drug problem that Monroe is and has been facing was not surprising but none the less disheartening. Monroe's "dirty little secret" needs to be addressed as a priority and not the way it's being handled now. Slant, Slant, Stant who cares? Fancy name, little results. There is no reason 11-year-olds are getting their hands on drugs in this city, period! Time to take some of the eggs out of the SLANT basket and its far past time for the Monroe public officials and Police Department to take ownership of this issue. "Every town no matter the size has a drug issue" is unacceptable.
A blossom to respect. It's a great thing but far too many people have forgotten how to treat others with it. Try it, you might like it. - Rob McCarthy
•••
I want to give a big big blossom to the Monroe Clinic hospital new hospital. A big blossom to Mike Sanders, CEO, and doctors, architect and all others who designed the new hospital. I was impressed with the ER department, cardiology and CT. I was impressed with the robot surgery, new coffee shop, the waiting area for outpatient surgery, and the rooms in the new hospital, and if someone is really sick, the couch makes into a bed, and the chapel. When I saw the chapel and the area outside, I thought it was heaven. Too bad Monsignor Campion couldn't see that beautiful chapel. And at last the beautiful cafeteria, where you can eat outside on the patio. We are lucky to have a hospital like this in a small town like Monroe. God bless all of you. - Allen Schroeder
•••
I would like to give a great big blossom to The Monroe Times for starting article submission on "Barbs & Blossoms." I enjoy reading silly write-ups and more serious issues and opinions that bring a lot of feedback. It allows readers to "vent" without putting exact blame or naming the person/people involved. This is a great de-stressor for our community. - Anonymous
•••
A big barb to Monroe Times. I don't think the Times should publish any barb or blossom if the person writing it doesn't have the guts to sign their name. If it's worth saying, it should be worth signing your name. I personally lost all respect for this paper. - Janet Wunschel
•••
A big shamrock blossom to all who made Irish Week a success: Green County EMS, Monroe Police, Kurt Fritsch, Green County Humane Society, Monroe Lions, the eight pubs on the crawl, Eoin Breadon, all the volunteers and St. Pat's committee, Main Street Monroe, Monroe Library, YMCA, the bands, Jim and Veronica Bruce, Mike Ganshert and Dan Stormont and my family. Slainte! - Tracy Hamilton
•••
A barb to Alderman Paul Hannes for his recent Letter to the Editor. First, let me say that due to how poorly your letter was written, I give what you have to say no credibility whatsoever. "Employ?" Try employment. And, last I checked you lost your seat on council (by a very large percentage as a matter of fact.) Therefore, you cannot say you "have served on city council for 12 years." You should have said you "had served on Monroe's City Council for 12 years ... before committing political suicide with the City Administrator vote." In addition, do you honestly think the people of Monroe give any credit to what you have to say after you voted to use the taxpayers' money to secure a home loan for the City Administrator? Mayor Ross obviously regrets his role in the City Administrator loan decision since he used his magic broomstick to sweep that under the rug and get it off of the record. It may be off the record, but it is not out of the people's minds. I will agree that prior to Michael Boyce being voted onto council, there may have not been as much debate as there is now, but I see debate as a good thing. All of the "seasoned" aldermen voted the same way because you were okay with the city not changing or progressing. Obviously, based on last year's election, the citizens of Monroe did not feel the same. They were tired of how stagnant the economy was, how the population barely changed, how no new business ever came into the city. People were tired of you, Mr. Hannes, and if Mayor Ross would have been up for election last year, he would have been gone as well. Good riddance to you, Mr. Hannes. - Anonymous
•••
The Cheese Days Committee has created an additional selling area in the Monroe Parking Lot specifically for commercial vendors, flea market vendors, and non-profit organizations. The cost to reserve a 12- by 10-foot space is $175 or $100 per space for non-profit organizations. Rest assured that I have set up many various flea markets and festivals over the last 12 years. I have never had to pay such high space rent anywhere and I might add the space size is quite small too. I have been a vendor at huge established shows like the Warrens Cranberry Festival that did not even charge much space rent. The very high $175 will surely discourage many flea market vendors and I doubt most non-profit groups will even want to pay the reduced price of $100 for a space. Therefore this Cheese Day selling area will consist mainly of commercial vendors only. This newly created selling area could be a nice addition to the Cheese Day celebration. Individuals would surely enjoy browsing through antique and flea market booths. It is an unfortunate barb that because the committee has set such an inflated space rent many vendors will choose to not set up at Cheese Days in Monroe this Fall. - Gail Wichelt
•••
A blossom to Larry Eakins for his comment on Monroe being in the business of educating and not sports. Some other members of the district board and school administration need to listen. I'm not against sports in any way but we must do what is right for the kids and taxpayers. - Anonymous
•••
A huge bouquet of blossoms for the combined bands at Monrooe High School and their concert presented on March 13. The standing ovation was well deserved. - Proud and Happy Grandparents
•••
A blossom to Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal. Thank you for installing a great heating/cooling system. Thank you so much for the recommendations you had to keep the house warm while we waited for the system to be installed, the time you took to make sure everything was installed correctly, and explaining our new system after installation. Thank you to your team for taking two furnaces and making them into one. The basement was so clean after the installation. The house is so warm and will be nice and cool this summer. - Scott and Briget Nusbaum
•••
A huge bouquet of blossoms to everyone who attended the "Celebration of Life" of Mary Lou Johnson on March 14 at the Moose Lodge. Mary's family, relatives, friends, her bowling team, her co-workers at Roy's Dairy and her co-workers at the Moose Lodge were in attendance. The Women of the Moose Chapter No. 599 held their Memorial Service in Mary's memory and a tribute to Mary was given and a delicious pot luck supper was served. Thank you everyone for coming to honor Mary for all she did and meant to the Moose Lodge and Women of the Moose.
Another huge bouquet of blossoms to everyone who attended the benefit breakfast for Gary Kappe on March 18 at the Moose Lodge. It would a huge bouquet, as it was a huge crowd. Thanks to Swiss Colony for furnishing the cheese trays and the "goodies." Thanks to all the people who helped make and serve the breakfast and to all the people who pitched in to clean the tables. Couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks everyone for your support to our past governor, Gary. - Anonymous
•••
It looks like we're going to have a classic battle between Mitt Romney, who's a hedge fund dealer who thinks hedge funds shouldn't be taxed, and President Obama, who thinks hedge fund dealers should be taxed and who I favor. A good example is Greg Smith's comments concerning Goldman Sachs and a book "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World" by William D. Cohan. In this book, President Franklin Roosevelt said when he regulated he banks, "I welcome your hatred" and he went and did it. He saved the capitalists from themselves so my barb is to the hedge fund dealers who are promoting those toxic derivatives, as well as rating agencies that were asleep for too long until they started to act. We can't afford another toxic bubble exploding. - LaVern Isely, Monroe
•••
A barb to Jan Lefevre. Well, Jan, you waited like a snake in the grass for a whole year to get back at Hanson. Nice job, now you're no better than he. As a matter of fact you both need to leave the council and be replaced with real leadership. Flip flopping, are you serious? You and Hanson are both equally bad. If we want "Wishy Washy" we can elect Charlie Brown.
A barb to both the mayoral candidates. Reading your comments about the illegal drug problem that Monroe is and has been facing was not surprising but none the less disheartening. Monroe's "dirty little secret" needs to be addressed as a priority and not the way it's being handled now. Slant, Slant, Stant who cares? Fancy name, little results. There is no reason 11-year-olds are getting their hands on drugs in this city, period! Time to take some of the eggs out of the SLANT basket and its far past time for the Monroe public officials and Police Department to take ownership of this issue. "Every town no matter the size has a drug issue" is unacceptable.
A blossom to respect. It's a great thing but far too many people have forgotten how to treat others with it. Try it, you might like it. - Rob McCarthy
•••
I want to give a big big blossom to the Monroe Clinic hospital new hospital. A big blossom to Mike Sanders, CEO, and doctors, architect and all others who designed the new hospital. I was impressed with the ER department, cardiology and CT. I was impressed with the robot surgery, new coffee shop, the waiting area for outpatient surgery, and the rooms in the new hospital, and if someone is really sick, the couch makes into a bed, and the chapel. When I saw the chapel and the area outside, I thought it was heaven. Too bad Monsignor Campion couldn't see that beautiful chapel. And at last the beautiful cafeteria, where you can eat outside on the patio. We are lucky to have a hospital like this in a small town like Monroe. God bless all of you. - Allen Schroeder
•••
I would like to give a great big blossom to The Monroe Times for starting article submission on "Barbs & Blossoms." I enjoy reading silly write-ups and more serious issues and opinions that bring a lot of feedback. It allows readers to "vent" without putting exact blame or naming the person/people involved. This is a great de-stressor for our community. - Anonymous
