How to start a letter

Every once in a while, I just have to respond.

I have been a News-Gazette subscriber for 20-plus years. Also, a lifelong registered Republican.

For many years, The News-Gazette was a middle-of-the-road paper that published both sides of the news.

Not anymore.

A recent letter in the June 1 opinions section by Peggy Patten is full of faulty facts.

Do you know more children are killed with cars than guns. Gun-control advocates blame the car drivers not the car.

The car did the damage, not the driver. Get the picture.

Let's talk about a few of the opinion writers ... a few of the UI professors/elitists don't have a clue of what it takes to be a patriot.

Liberals cannot think without being coached by someone else. They want the government to do all of the thinking.

One of the biggest issues about teachers and professors today is they are trying to teach our children what to think and not how to think.

Socialism does not work.

DAN PURSLEY

Loda

Columbia Interim City Manager John Glascock sent a memo Wednesday seeking candidates interested in becoming the city's interim police chief.

The memo asked that interested candidates submit a letter to Glascock by 5 p.m. next Wednesday highlighting their background and qualifications.

Glascock is seeking a semipermanent replacement for Ken Burton, who resigned as police chief effective Thursday. Jill Schlude has served as interim chief since Burton was placed on administrative leave with pay Dec. 20.

The memo also states that candidates include their intentions about making positive advances in the following areas:

Unity of staff within the Columbia Police Department as a whole.Implementation of a City Council resolution calling for a transition to community policing.Racial disparities contained in annual vehicle stop reports and what steps, if any, are necessary to become more in line with the city's demographics.Analysis and review of existing departmental policies with an eye toward officer safety and respect for citizens.

Glascock further mentions that the interim chief must be a leader by example and be able to unite the staff to achieve common goals. The person selected must also be able to make "tough decisions," have "high visibility in the community" and be accountable to the community, staff and city manager.

Any letters submitted will be reviewed by Human Resources Director Margrace Buckler, City Counselor Nancy Thompson and Glascock.

The review team will then meet with the Columbia Police Officers' Association to discuss its priorities and comments on the candidates. The candidates will be narrowed to three choices, and second interviews will be conducted, if necessary.

Glascock also wrote in a memo that once a candidate is selected, any relatives or domestic partners of the interim chief that work within the Police Department would have to be reassigned to an open position within another city department, take a temporary leave of absence without pay or be removed from the interim chief's supervisory authority.

Supervising editor is Scott Swafford.

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Paris & Tokyo MoU to start issuing letter of warning on sulphur compliance

Paris & Tokyo MoU to start issuing letter of warning on sulphur compliance

The Maritime Authorities of the Paris and the Tokyo MoU on Port State Control will start issuing a letter of warning from 1 January 2019 on the sulphur content of marine fuels during inspections in order to increase awareness of and to encourage timely compliance with the new requirements. The requirement of maximum sulphur content of 0,50% m/m for marine fuel oil will enter into force on 1 January 2020, which is known as the global 2020 sulphur cap. The implementation of the global 2020 sulphur cap will have considerable implications on ship operators, the fuel oil supply chain and the industry as a whole.

For the purpose of facilitating smooth and consistent implementation of the global 2020 sulphur cap, the Paris and the Tokyo Memoranda will carry out a joint information campaign by issuing a letter of warning to ships during inspections from 1 January to 31 December 2019. The aim is to increase awareness of the ships' crew and company on the matter and to remind and encourage compliance with Regulations 14 (*1,*2) and 18 of MARPOL Annex VI from 1 January 2020.

Source : Strategic Research Institute, SteelGuru

BROKEN ARROW â€" To affirm his stance that a proposed border wall is the right move for public safety, one area mayor wrote a letter this week to President Donald Trump.

Mayor Craig Thurmond said he sent the letter â€" in which he writes that as mayor of Broken Arrow he “fully supports” the president’s efforts to build a wall on the nation’s southern border â€" Tuesday before Trump’s address to the nation about it that evening.

“I believe in security, and we have a real crisis on the border,” Thurmond said Wednesday of his decision to write the letter.

Meanwhile, the mayor also participated in a White House conference call Wednesday morning on the border topic, continuing what’s becoming a regular practice for him.

Thurmond said he’s been on five White House conference calls in the last 10 months on various topics, this time with Vice President Mike Pence and nearly 400 state and local officials from around the country.

Thurmond said it was an email the White House sent out on Friday that initially motivated him to write his letter to the president.

That email was appended by an article quoting the sheriff of Yuma County, Arizona, on the crime and other problems faced there from illegal crossings and how border fencing has been a significant help.

Thurmond, a Marine Corps veteran, said he was based in Yuma, Arizona, back in the 1970s. In his letter to the president, he mentioned his service in Yuma, adding how he “saw first-hand the challenges that law enforcement encounters along our southern border, and I will support whatever it takes to make it secure.”

“In Broken Arrow,” Thurmond wrote, concluding the short letter, “our citizens build fences around their homes for protection. Some citizens choose to live in gated communities for security reasons. I believe it is time to deviate from partisan politics and commit to doing what is best for the American taxpayers.”

Thurmond said Wednesday that he’s worked in construction for 40 years, and has “worked with a lot of immigrant workers and I know their importance.”

But public safety must take priority, he said.

He added he wishes officials would move beyond partisanship on the border issue and focus on problem-solving: “In Broken Arrow, we don’t have partisan potholes or waterline breaks. Everything we do is for everybody â€" to solve problems.”

Thurmond said he’s received a couple of emails about the letter that “disagree with my position.” But most Broken Arrow residents, he believes, would agree because they support public safety.

In addition to the conference calls, Broken Arrow leaders have been invited to the White House in person four times, the last visit in October to discuss housing, Thurmond said.

The first visit was through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and from there “somehow we got on the short list,” Thurmond said.

He said the city of Broken Arrow is “very proud of its relationship” with the White House, adding that “the people I’ve met in this administration are very focused on helping America’s cities with their problems.”

Avoid generic salutations on your job-search cover letters.

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You've got two to four seconds to grab a potential employer's interest with your cover letter, according to Romona Camarata, Regional Director for R.L. Stevens & Associates, a national career management and outplacement firm. You must start with something that immediately grabs his attention and makes him want to learn more about you. That doesn't mean resorting to gimmicks, but it does require you to open with something more interesting than "attached is my resume for your job vacancy" or "I'm writing to apply for the job at ABC Company." Make your cover letter stand out.

1.

Find the name of a specific individual to write to at the company. If there is a contact name listed in the vacancy announcement, use that one. If no name is given, research the company online at its website to find the name of a hiring officer or the manager of the department where you're seeking a job. Do not resort to the generic "Dear Sir" or "To Whom It May Concern." This tells the reader you didn't bother to find out who to send your resume and letter to.

2.

Write your letter in standard business format, whether you intend to send it in hard copy or via email. Type your full name and address centered at the top of the page. Space down two lines and type the date, flush with the left margin. Space down four lines and type the name, title, company name and address of the person you're writing to. Space down two more lines and type your salutation: "Dear Mr. Brown," or "Dear Ms. Green," for example.

3.

Catch the reader's eye by referring to a mutual acquaintance in your first sentence if you can. "Joe White suggested I contact you about the Engineering Department job opening" immediately establishes a connection between you and the hiring officer, making him more likely to continue reading.

4.

State how you can help the company meet a pressing need or solve a problem by citing a significant recent professional accomplishment. For instance, you might write,"The experience I gained in increasing my division's foreign sales to record-breaking levels last year would be a major asset to your new overseas marketing department. " This establishes you as a candidate with directly relevant experience that would benefit the company even before a hiring officer reads the rest of the letter or your resume.

]]> About the Author

As a national security analyst for the U.S. government, Molly Thompson wrote extensively for classified USG publications. Thompson established and runs a strategic analysis company, is a professional genealogist and participates in numerous community organizations.Thompson holds degrees from Wellesley and Georgetown in psychology, political science and international relations.

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Lake Okeechobee

Reservoir project off to good start

This year, more than 70,000 Floridians contacted their legislators to support expediting a reservoir project south of Lake Okeechobee. Another 150 business people, anglers, health care professionals and ordinary citizens trekked to Tallahassee to show their support for the reservoir in person.

The Legislature passed SB 10 with overwhelming support. After signing the bill into law, Gov. Rick Scott told the South Florida Water Management District to get to work, and the district is doing just that.

The law lays out an ambitious timetable for the Army Corps of Engineers and the water district to conduct preliminary planning for construction of the new reservoir. So far, both agencies have stepped up to the plate and responded with all the urgency the situation deserves.

Nevertheless, this is just the top of the first inning of a nine-inning game. The next step is critical. The water district must identify a cost-effective design and operations plan for the reservoir that will reduce harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee and provide significantly more water to the Everglades during the dry months.

So far, the district has performed commendably. As Florida continues to reap the fallout from this year's heavy rains, this is no time for them to stop.

Eric Eikenberg, CEO, Everglades Foundation, Palmetto Bay

Tax bill

'Help' must be paid for

It should come as no surprise that any cut in federal income taxes will benefit mostly the wealthy. The reality is that the top 20 percent of wage earners pay 83.6 percent of all federal income taxes, while the bottom 60 percent pay only 5.3 percent. It's simply not possible to give a significant tax cut to a segment of the population that pays such a little share of the federal income tax bill in the first place.

The only way the bottom 60 percent of wage earners get a tax cut is if they see a cut in payroll taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes and/or those hidden taxes called "user fees." These taxes are the real tax bite for these individuals.

For example, while the bottom 60 percent may pay only 5.3 percent of all federal income taxes, they pay 29.7 percent of all payroll taxes. However, these are the taxes that support Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, our schools, first responders and infrastructure — all of which are badly underfunded as it is. Any serious conversation about cutting taxes for the middle class must include the entire tax system.

The reality is that each generation expects government to solve more and more of our problems. That "help" does not come without a cost. At some point we are going to need to have a discussion about how much we are willing to pay for that "help."

Scott Stolz, Tarpon Springs

Tax plan's dirty little secret: AMT repealNov. 14, commentary

The millionaire ruling class

Thank you for this editorial on the alternative minimum tax. I don't understand why Democrats aren't shouting from the rooftops how terrible repealing the AMT would be. Could it be that almost all of Congress would benefit from its repeal? Many members are millionaires, and if they didn't come in as a millionaire they will be one by the time they leave.

Joe Jones, New Port Richey

Legislature should ban sanctuary citiesNov. 14, commentary

Looking at crime statistics

Most of House Speaker Richard Corcoran's piece was opinion, and while I don't share his views, so be it. What caught my attention were the two data sources he cited. The first is a University of California, Riverside paper from 2016 that concluded that between sanctuary and non-sanctuary cities there is "no statistically discernible difference in violent crime rates, rape or property crime." The second was a Fox News report that said that after Phoenix dropped its sanctuary policies in mid 2008 that crime rates fell dramatically, with murder rates falling 27 percent and other crime rates also having a significant decrease. This was attributed to enforcing the law on illegal immigration.

This made no sense. Which is it: no difference in crime rates between sanctuary cities and non-sanctuary cities, or a huge difference as cited for Phoenix?

The Fox News report used Citi-Data statistics, so I used the same source to compare violent crime rates in three non-sanctuary cities (Phoenix, Miami and Cleveland), four sanctuary cities (New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta) and the national average.

From 2008 to 2009, the violent crime rate in Phoenix did indeed fall 17 percent. But it also fell 10 percent between 2007 and 2008, before the sanctuary city ban. In the period 2008 to 2009, all the other cities I looked at also had a decrease in the violent crime rate, ranging from minus 4 percent in Cleveland to minus 18 percent in Atlanta, with a national average at minus 6 percent. Between 2009 and 2016, the violent crime rate in Phoenix increased by 27 percent, worst among the cities I looked at; Miami, Cleveland and Atlanta all had decreases during that period as did the national average.

It looks to me like not only does the Phoenix experience not support the theory that sanctuary cities produce higher crime rates, but that Corcoran is more than willing to dish out false information as a scare tactic. I know — nothing new — but I really get tired of politicians lying to me.

John Meeks, Valrico

Counsel may look at deals by DemocratsNov. 14

Master of distraction

It's been a year and President Donald Trump is still campaigning. He won, so why is he still after Hillary Clinton? Now he demands Attorney General Jeff Sessions order an investigation into the uranium deal, the Clinton Foundation and whatever else he can use as a distraction from his own crooked dealings.

Mary Sims, Tampa

Baker Mayfield received some advice ahead of his first NFL start from an unlikely source on Sunday, former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The former Cleveland first r ound-pick penned a letter to Mayfield for a segment on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, advising his fellow Heisman Trophy Winner on how to handle life as an NFL quarterback.

Manziel stressed the differences between the two quarterbacks, and urged Mayfield to lean on his family in times of adversity.

"Life's experiences are the best teachers," Manziel said. "Th rough all the good days you'll encounter over your career there, you'll undoubtedly face some tough ones as well. Though all the good and all the bad, stay close to your family and never stop being you."

You can watch the intro to ESPN's piece below:

The 2018 No. 1 p ick will hope to exceed Manziel's slim NFL output, totaling seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight career starts. Mayfield is already halfway to Manziel's career win total, earning a victory over the Jets last week on Thursday Night Football.

Mayfield and the Browns will look to earn-back-to-back wins on Sunday, traveling on the road to face the Raiders. Kickoff from O.co Coliseum in Oakland is slated for 4:05 p.m.