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To the editor:

My husband and I attended a meeting of the Pike Township Zoning Commission on May 28, regarding windmills and wood burners. We found the information and discussion helpful, and we appreciate the zoning members dedication to gathering more facts in the future.

The subject matter was abruptly changed, and I witnessed an unprovoked verbal attack on our long-time neighbor, Wayne Wood. I saw an angry, aggressive man literally leaning into Wayne's face, trying to provoke him, to such an extent that two different people had to get up and put their hands on this man's shoulders and talk him down. If he behaves this badly at a public meeting, it follows logic that he feels has every right to invade another's property. This is apparently being done by denying Wayne the right to mind sand and gravel.

While I understand this family's anger with Miller Mining, the Department of Natural Resources and the EPA, that does not justify their attack on Wayne. This is misplaced anger, and as often happens, the most ignorant become the loudest, in an effort to drown out reason and demand their own way.

When challenged on their bad behavior, they answer with louder volumes until they prevail. Simply put, an ignorant man can shout down a thinking man, because a thinking person can comprehend that his opponent does not possess the verbal skills to communicate with him, and so ends any meaningful dialogue.

I can only ask our zoning commission to recognize that Wayne is a community-minded, family man, of good character, who will keep his word. If he says he will mine responsibly, with care and concern for his neighbors, I believe him. He has done much for our community in the past, and I think we can reasonably expect him to do the same in the future.

I am concerned that the people who are opposed to his mining, have not listened carefully to what he has said he wants to do. Most people with COPD (lung disease) get it from smoking. This is in regard to the woman who wants to spend our tax dollars monitoring the air quality around the proposed mining site.

I would like to end with a relevant quote by philosopher Bertrand Russell: "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand."

Joyce Heppe, East Sparta

OPINION