Research for Alzheimer ’s disease
Editor,
The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2020 is happening virtually the week of July 27 with a renewed interest in advancing research for Alzheimer’s disease. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen the importance of protecting our nation’s most vulnerable and how essential medical research is to the nation’s health and economic security.

As a family member for one of the more than five million Americans, including 120,000 Wisconsinites, impacted by Alzheimer’s, I know the devastation of this disease.

My mother died at the age of 84 in a nursing home after several years of struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. My dad and I wanted to support this community so we got involved in the Walks to End Alzheimer’s, and I eventually joined the local Walk Planning Committee. In addition, in 2007 I contacted the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP) and have participated in this UW-Madison family history research project since that time. I’ve also participated in several other Alzheimer’s research projects and feel it is vitally important for this research to continue!

In recent years Congress has made funding Alzheimer’s and dementia research a priority. In 2020, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the nation $305 billion. We must increase funding for Alzheimer’s research and better support families currently affected.

Please join me and the Alzheimer’s Association in encouraging Congressman Tom Tiffany to support a $354 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding.
Neal Baudhuin, Rhinelander

Masking ‘tiff’
Editor,
I read the city council tiff over masking reported in the July 22 Star Journal. We have an on-going worldwide natural experiment that has clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of masking for reducing COVID transmission. We should have a national mandate to wear masks in public enclosed spaces and wherever physical distancing is not possible.

Trump has delegated responsibility for disease management down to governors and Wisconsin Senate and Supreme Court have delegated it to local governments. Acting responsibly requires following the science and accepting the advice of health experts. I encourage the council to do so and thereby support those businesses that already require masking.

Regarding personal rights: Individual freedom and rights extend only to the extent that they don’t encroach on the health, safety and welfare of others.
Keith McCaffery, Rhinelander

Summer resident appreciates pickleball courts
Editor,
Congratulations to the City of Rhinelander for having a group of volunteers and donors who worked with the city to raise funds for the construction of eight new pickleball courts at Pioneer Park. This type of cooperation is unusual in that most communities rely solely on government funding and labor for projects of this nature. The coordinating team raised over $100,000 from individuals and businesses that reside not only in the Rhinelander area, but also from other communities.

As a summer resident pickleball players, my wife and I are thoroughly impressed by the camaraderie of the local players and their relationship with local governmental agencies. For years, most outdoor pickleball playing took place at the high school tennis courts which were painted for both sports. Permission was given by the school for the pickleball players to purchase and install equipment storage lockers at the courts. Players bought nets, balls, and other equipment, and often helped maintain the courts, patching cracks with materials they had bought. This type of citizen-government cooperation continues with the new courts, which appear to be the best in the region. They are an aesthetic plus to guests entering

Rhinelander as well as a bonus to the recreational opportunities of the area. Well done everyone!
Bob McVety, Tallahassee, Fla.

Reader supports Biden, local Democrats
Editor,
On the national level we must make sure that Donald Trump is a one-term President. Trump is zeroing in on our state, attacking safe voting practices, making outrageously dangerous statements. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden Once said, “One of the lessons of history is that often those who fan the flames of hate end up drawing forth the next wave of progress.” We must be this wave of progress.

On the local level, we must elect our local democratic candidates. Tricia Zunker is running against Tom Tiffany. Kirk Bangstad is running against Rob Swearingen and Ed Vocke is running for the Wisconsin State Senate.

Tricia Zunker has been a voice for Wisconsin’s working families, including farmers, children and teachers. She once said, “Rep. Tom Tiffany has shown how out of step he is by voting against an issue (The Great American Outdoor Recreation Outdoors Act) so important to our hunters, anglers and residents.”

Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, has talked about Rep. Swearingen’s failures. He once said, “Any legislator that would put partisan politics and special interest politics over safety doesn’t deserve to hold public office.”
Ed Vocke, local Wisconsinite, understands us. He once said, “In these changing times we can’t afford to listen to the same voices that put us in this mess. We need fresh ideas, action-steps, and real results. The people of Wisconsin deserve their say.”

We are coming up on 100 days until the November election and we must restore democracy to Wisconsin! All voting information can be found at MyVote.WI.gov. Volunteering is crucial, visit wisdems.org/volunteer or your local county Democratic Party’s site. In 100 days we must energize and empower all voters.
Laura Locher, St. Germain

Reader responds to Mayor Frederickson
Editor’s note:
This letter is in response to a story that appeared in the Star Journal
Mayor Frederickson,
I was dismayed when I read your opinion of wearing masks in the July 22 Northwoods Star Journal. As an elected head of our community AND a health care professional yourself, you can use your voice and position to be a role model and help protect the people you serve. Wearing a mask is not a political statement or a loss of freedom but rather a way to show you care about those around you. Perhaps you are not afraid of the COVID-19 virus; good for you. You are out nothing by wearing a mask, but you can show your humanity by wearing one to protect friends, family, and members of the community you serve. It’s not too late to step up and just wear the mask.
Kathryn French, Rhinelander
Retired medical health care professional

Reader: Mail-in voting should be a priority
Editor,
If you represent the people you should be prioritizing their right, their health safety and their ability to vote responsibly and freely. Instead you block it with lies when the common voter sees it as a great idea and a move to the future. It’s working in several states that have chosen to favor their citizens. But what do we get in Wisconsin is a stall to kill the time needed to make it feasible. So what is their choice? To force the disabled, elderly and common voter into a corona virus incubator environment. They suspect fraud but that would not compare to what they have subjected us to during their tenure like manipulating their voting public with half truths, lies, party favoritism while sitting on their laurels and filling their investment pockets. They don’t need suits they should wear orange jumpsuits. They treat us like pawns while they prioritize their own interests. We have to clean out all the politicians of low character from Washington DC and Madison. Authoritarians don’t represent the needs and concerns of the people. We need to be new, not used.
Food for thought.
Craig Strid, Rhinelander