The Wayne Independent

Our View: We need to save our libraries

Molly Rodgers, the executive director of the Wayne Library Alliance, has her work cut out for her.

Every week, Molly writes her “Library Lines” column for The Wayne Independent, offering some great tidbits and information about the resources that are available at libraries that no one realizes.

Recently, Molly went before the Wayne County Commissioners to present her annual report.

What was alarming was that 2010 was the first year in which funding dwindled.

The library authority had received a decade of funding increases — a nice boost to any library system, especially in the wake of libraries falling on difficult times throughout the country over the past few years.

Wayne County’s seven libraries have felt the pinch too.

They had to cut hours of operation: 11 percent in all.

Bachmann campaign corrects John Wayne blunder - Minnesota Independent

Lynne Torgerson announced on Thursday that she intends to challenge Rep. Keith Ellison for Congress in 2012 and noted that she based her decision on Ellison’s Muslim faith. Torgerson became a lightning rod in the 2010 campaign cycle for her controversial statements about Islam. Calling Ellison a “radical Islamist” yesterday, she announced her intention to run for the seat on Tea Party Nation.

Senators discussed the “human toll and budget consequences” of senior hunger at subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging Tuesday. Arguing for increased funding for the Older Americans Act of 1965, Sen. Al Franken and committee chair Bernie Sanders said that the Older Americans Act saves money. “It allows seniors to stay in their homes, who wouldn’t otherwise be able to stay in their homes,” Franken said. Sen. Rand Paul countered that “only in Washington, D.C., can you spend two billion dollars and claim that you’re saving money.” His solution: Letting charities deal with senior citizens.

At its June meeting last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced it was ramping up a campaign against same-sex marriage. Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of the Subcommittee for the Defense of Marriage said the Roman Catholic church would push back in the war of “language,” which he said same-sex marriage proponents were winning with words like “hate” and “equality.” The church is planning a video campaign in both English and Spanish, and its efforts have already been felt in states like Minnesota where the church was successful in getting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot.

Bradlee Dean, an anti-gay preacher, told a radio show last week that House Speaker Kurt Zellers had asked to be on his radio show the week before Dean gave a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House. But according to a spokesperson for Zellers’ office, Dean was not telling the truth. Dean’s prayer, which took a swing at President Obama, was nearly universally condemned by legislators on both sides of the aisle.

Presidential hopeful and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann appeared to commit a large blunder Monday when, after she announced her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, she promised to “mimic the spirit of Waterloo’s own John Wayne.”

However, according to The Washington Times , Bachmann misspoke because Waterloo’s John Wayne was not the beloved movie star, but rather John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer.

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The Lost Films of John Wayne

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