Letters to the editor

The simplistic idea that killing cops will stop cops from shooting black people is abhorrent, but that extremely binary, white-black view is also a cousin to how too many people see the world. Communities and police must get comfortable with the complexities of solving problems in the gray middle ground in order to make more racial progress.

By the Editorial Board

Sick men in Ballwin, Mo., and Dallas thought the way to stop cops from shooting black people was to shoot 13 cops.

While their actions are abhorrent, their way of thinking is not all that foreign. There is a mental ease in seeing things in terms of black and white, cut and dried, right or wrong, yet the amount of messy gray stuff in between seems to increase with time.

Gray issues take more effort to understand. They take much more work to solve.

Experienced local police recently reacted to the police officers being shot by saying the instant information or snippets coming through your smartphone are rarely accurate views of a situation. They know what any good investigator knows: Things are rarely as they first seem and a rush to judgment hides the truth.

Community members want police officers who do not make judgments about them based on their appearance, yet the public mistrusts them because they wear a uniform. We ask these officers to withhold judgment but to also live in a world where hesitation and misjudgment can be fatal.

They, too, live with a lot more gray than their predecessors.

Thomas Trice, a retired sheriff’s captain who now teaches law enforcement and runs a business, said police must work to foster understanding. They can do that by through walking a beat, training, diversity, better education and even the experience of being at college where young officers see more faces and hear more voices.

But it comes down to embracing the gray instead of resting in the comfort of black and white.

“People shut down and it becomes divisive and an us-versus-them mentality,” Trice said. “Empathy is a key component.”

This week, we celebrate the birthday of a man that helped shaped the childhood memories of generations of Americans.

Elwyn Brooks (E.B.) White was born on July 11, 1899 and before he passed 86 years later, he wrote some of the most important children’s novels in American History.

Many of us grew up enjoying the children’s books Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan, and we owe that to E.B. White.

I have read these books. I have read them to my children. And, my children have read them to my grandchildren.

It’s every parents dream to provide their children with a sense of imagination, and of course, an education.

We are very lucky in O’Fallon to have opportunities for great education. O’Fallon’s schools are among some of the best in the state and the St. Louis Metro Area.

A couple of months ago, Dr. Darcy Benway, O’Fallon Township High School Superintendent, shared with the community, a list of some of the accolades and particulars that make OTHS an outstanding school. Some of the facts were incredibly impressive:

▪ OTHS consistently performs in the top six percent of schools in the State for academic scores.

▪ The graduating class of 2015 had twelve military academy appointments and was offered in excess of $35 million dollars in scholarships.

▪ Awards and Honors for the OTHS Class of 2015 included 112 Illinois State Scholars; 6 National Merit Commended Students; 1 National Achievement Scholarship Outstanding Participant; 147 IHSA Scholastic Achievement Award Winners; and 190 National Honor Society Members.

In addition, O’Fallon’s public and private K-through-8 districts are responsible for preparing O’Fallon’s children to excel in high school. By all accounts, I would say that they are doing a spectacular job.

I believe that education, along with safety and amenities are what draw people to a community. O’Fallon’s Schools and Police Department are some of the best in the St. Louis region and our parks system provides O’Fallon’s residents with top-notch programs and facilities for recreation.

Add in a growing job base, superior healthcare, and a wonderful downtown, O’Fallon seems to be the premier community in the area.

By State Senator Dave Luechtefeld

Illinois government has a “stop-gap” budget in place providing a full year of funding for elementary and secondary education and six months of funding for the rest of government. It’s not how I wanted to end the 2016 spring session.

I prefer a 12-month budget for all of state government, but unfortunately the partisan climate in Springfield stood in the way. I hope we can build on the agreement going forward.

Admittedly, the path forward is difficult. For years, the majority party in the Senate and House passed one out-of- balanced budget after another. Those decisions gave us a state in dire financial shape, with billions of dollars in debt and billions of dollars in overdue bills. It’s the proof we need that we must reform our approach to government.

Governor Bruce Rauner has proposed reforms to get Illinois back on its feet financially by growing our economy through business expansion and job growth. Those reforms were opposed and turned back by the majority who instead remain committed to the failed policies of the past.

Today, Illinois’ unemployment rate remains above the national average, job losses out-number job gains and we are still struggling to recover from the 2008 Recession.

It is my sincere hope the “stop-gap” budget, approved June 30, becomes the bridge to a full-year budget as is required by our state constitution and expected by the citizens of Illinois.

Government can no longer spend beyond our means to pay. It doesn’t lead to prosperity; it leads to debt. Recovery will take job creation and business investment. The people of Illinois have not been well-served by the decisions and policies of the past. Reform and recovery go hand in hand.

By Andrew Colon, Air Force Colonel (retired)

I was on the Trump fence, in fact I even thought that I would vote for Hillary Clinton. Not now. As I listened to FBI Director James Comey lay out the elements of the “charges” against Clinton, I was certain that he would ask the U.S. Attorney General to indict. I know that if I had done a fraction of what Mrs. Clinton did I would not be enjoying a retirement check from the Air Force. Instead, I would have been court-martialed and discharged from the service. At the very least I would have had my security clearance (I held a Top Secret clearance) revoked. Now I feel that I have no choice but to vote for the lesser of two evils. Trump may be crude, he may be provocative, but he seems — at least to me — to have the interest of the U.S. foremost in his mind. He is essentially a self-made man who acquired his wealth through risky business ventures, not through political cronyism. The Clintons could be the principal characters in Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” They epitomize political duplicity, cunning and unscrupulousness.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor."