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DEAD PUNCHES President Trump’s State of the Union speech was filled with dead punches for President Obama. It is clear that he fears President Obama, but when will he learn that all of his punches are dead?

Trump says President Obama wasn’t born in the United States. Trump lives just to boast about how many of Obama’s regulations he can kill, and, most of all, he hates Obama’s black skin. To be even clearer, he hates the fact that a black man became president of the United States. All of these punches are dead. President Obama can’t and won’t feel any of the latter punches because his ancestors have taken a knee for him.

To fast forward, our ancestors suffered and took the punches of slavery so the black race could never feel racist punches. How many more punches does Trump have? It doesn’t matter, because they all are dead. Alyce Lyle Springfield

EQUAL FOR A CHANGE I would like to echo the sentiment expressed by some over Sangamon County’s proposed Economic Development Commission. The commission was proposed by the county’s study on how to improve the economic and institutional distress in our community. This distress, the study finds, is in part caused by an aging population, lack of economic growth and institutional racism. Unfortunately, the firm that conducted the study must not have heeded its own findings when proposing the 27 members of the commission. The proposed members are 23 white men, one black man and three women.

At the Jan. 29 meeting of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, we came to the consensus that if the county was to move forward with the commission, it should do so with equal representation. This means that about half the members should be women, four members should be nonwhite, and about 40 percent should not reside within the city of Springfield. We determined that equal representation will help facilitate a fresher perspective and construct real ideas. An equal representative commission will also be a change of the regular ways in which business is usually conducted.

I call for all interested citizens to join myself and the Faith Coalition at the next county board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., to demand our voices to be heard. Tom Raymond Candidate for Sangamon County Treasurer

THANK YOU SPD In a time where police officers are under fire for their alleged actions, I want to publicly commend the Springfield Police Department.

The circumstances that I met these wonderful officers are not ones that I wish to repeat, nor were they expected. Police officers respond to many different calls, such as domestic violence issues, welfare checks, medication adverse reactions and concerns, just to name a few.

These officers protected me and were concerned for me. They were very professional and handled the situation above and beyond their duties.

I want to thank Officers Joe Murphy, Max Paul, Aaron Nichols and Sgt. Grant Barksdale. There are not enough words to express how thankful I am to have had these wonderful officers respond to my calls for help. They are an asset to the Springfield Police Department. May God continue to bless you and keep you safe. I am forever grateful. Staci Eigsti Springfield