To the Editor:
Chief Deputy Owens and I have been at the helm of the Carver County Sheriff's Office for 17 months.  Our primary mission is to develop the Office into the most productive, proficient, and professional agency of its kind.
Part of our mission is to "open" the lines of communication, both internally and externally.  We have focused on the need to inform the employees of this Office and the county leaders of our organizational goals and objectives.
The other segment of this triad is the community.  Because the word "communication" contains elements of the word "community," it is only reasonable to provide your outlets with the information that keep the citizens of this county informed.
One of our first duties was to con-vene a meeting with all of the news media to introduce and explain what we would be working on during our tenure.  This was accomplished in January of 1999 with the emphasis of discussion directed at establishing a positive, honest, and open relationship.
We would like to convene a second meeting July 14th, 2000, at 1 p.m. to evaluate the successes of our relation-ships.  The forum will allow other topics to be discussed and introduce us to some of the newer personnel working at your offices.
Please contact me at 952-1212 to confirm your attendance.  Other members of your staff are also encouraged to join us at the Sheriff's Office Training Room.
Most sincerely,
Bud Olson, Sheriff
Carver County, Minnesota

To the Editor:
When did we stop hearing our babies cry?  Our teens are trying to tell us they are not being heard.  They are trying to be recognized. 
No one will ever know what exactly happened in that Chaska home when one teenager allegedly shot his mother and then himself.  There will never be a chance for "I'm sorry" to be said.
Please take time to listen to your children.  We have our work cut out for us.  One person cannot do it alone, buteach of us can begin by asking ourselves, When did we stop hearing our babies cry?
Ann Wilhelm, Coordinator
Children's/Youth Advocacy
Carver and Scot Counties

To the Editor:
Sometime last winter I called you and asked if you had extra copies left of the Gazette that featured Father Larry Blake's ordination to the Catholic priesthood.  You responded immediate-ly, but no bill was attached.  So I called you about this.  I don't remember what you said, but maybe you said some-thing about paying for the postage if I wanted to.  Then I lost your address.  I called one of my friends who receives the Gazette, then lost the address again.  Now I have found it, so here is a check for $4 before I lose it again.
Sorry for the delay, and thank you very much.  I appreciated it very much.  God bless you.
Betty McAllister
Chanhassen, Minnesota

To the Editor Online:
I am a 75-year old former dairy farmer from the Victoria/Lake Auburn vicinity.  Recently I was enjoying my favorite pastime, surfing the net, when I decided to see how the Victoria Gazette was getting along.  What especially caught my eye was that the site opened to the Prints Publishing company. 
I have done much writing about the Victoria/Lake Auburn area, and mention is made of several of the influential families still in existence -- like the Diethelms and the Notermanns, also the Salter family, but I am not sure if any of that family still lives in the Victoria area.
I have done a bit of other writing over the past few years that includes, besides the poetry and memories of my younger days, material based on 50 years of personal Bible study, and factual narrative based upon a couple of big boxes of notes left by my dad when he passed away. 
The access to lower Lake Auburn is land which my dad donated to Lake-town Township several decades ago.  Our farm was eventually swallowed up by the 3M/McNight land grab of the 1950's.  It now is part of the county wild life preserve.
Incidentally, I think your paper, the Gazette, is one of the best I've seen during my lifetime.
Sincerely,
Tom Fink,Cottonwood, Arizona
tafco@espeedaz.net

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