Readers Write (Sept. 5): County clerk in Kentucky, migrant crisis, State Fair milk price hike, PolyMet mine

To Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples: You are in a service occupation. The expectation is not that you love everyone you serve, or have them over for dinner. You take care of whatever official thing they need and send them on their way.

I am recently retired from 42 years in health care, as a registered nurse for 22 years, then as a nurse anesthetist for 20 years. I took care of thousands of patients in my careers. Did I love them all? Did I agree with them all? Absolutely not! Did they get the best possible care from me? Yes. My job was not to become BFFs with all of them. My job was to take care of them. Ms. Davis, if you had been on the operating table with me at the head doing your anesthesia, I would have given you the safest and best anesthetic possible, despite our belief differences. Because that was my job.

I grieve with the weeping father who has lost his wife and two young children to drowning (" 'They are all one now,' " Sept. 4); with the desperate mothers and the terrified, crying children; with migrants who want only to live in peace, provide shelter, food and clothing for their families, and go to school and church without recrimination.

What have we become that we cannot help these people? Are we so selfish and afraid that we let fear-mongers and political opportunists like Donald Trump and Scott Walker carry the day? Millions of us in our country know abundance. Our closets groan with clothes, shoes and coats we will never wear, our pantries with food, our linen closets with blankets and pillows. Hundreds of thousands of apartments, homes, factories and warehouses stand empty. Please, let those in need come here.

The migrant crisis is not Europe's crisis. It is a world crisis. Let us marshal at least as many resources as we do so eagerly for war. Please. Let them come here.

• • •

As we read of thousands of persecuted and war-torn migrants fleeing to Europe, we also debate how to handle the millions of immigrants in our own country. We even read of those camping in our own backyard ("Hidden along the path," Aug. 27). While a few may prefer the freedom to live along the Midtown Greenway, most would likely prefer a secure shelter and assistance to transition to a more comfortable and healthy lifestyle.

Many of us could adjust our lives to more fully support those in need. We could pause to reflect on all the benefits we hold in our lives, and commit to contribute more to the happiness of others as we welcome the stranger.

We were disappointed to see that the price of milk sold at the Minnesota State Fair has doubled ("Famed State Fair milk stop now $2 a pop," Aug. 25). The price paid to us farmers for our product did not double since last summer!

Last summer on our farm, we were paid about 19 cents for milk that fills a 12-ounce cup. This year we are getting only a little more than 13 cents for that same amount of milk.

Put another way, the price consumers pay for milk at the fair has gone up 100 percent during the last year, but the price we are getting paid here on the farm went down by almost 30 percent.

The article said that the State Fair price was going up because "costs were rising." Are costs not rising for all of us?

PolyMet's mine water could flow north! Front page, bold print, directly under main headline (Sept. 2)! I've have to read that, sounds disastrous for the BWCAABDTWZC (it's in there somewhere, I'm sure). As one reads the article, the bottom line becomes all too clear: The chance of mine water flowing north is nothing more than a theoretical possibility decades into the future! Really? I've read, many times, about asteroids theoretically hitting the Earth decades into the future. I give the latter more of a chance of happening. PolyMet has done everything it can to rise up to the toughest mining standards in the country. Enough already. The Star Tribune should be ashamed for making theoretical possibilities front-page news. Enough!

I would suggest that we have all the facts as we decided on mining close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The recent uncoverings regarding water runoff accentuate that fact.

On Sept. 4, a letter writer published in this space strongly intimated that we who use electronic devices but oppose mining in northern Minnesota should protect others in the world where the metals demanded by the manufacturing of electronics are obtained by preparing to glean these metals instead from our own backyard. But the better thought might be: Is either option needed?

Recycling could be done more effectively and to a greater degree. I point readers to this piece also published in the Star Tribune (" 'Modern mining' isn't the plan here," Aug. 26 — tinyurl.com/commentary-0826) for either a reread or a first read. Pay close attention to statements made regarding the market advancing the use of copper and platinum recycling.

I would also suggest more research to prove to yourself, if need be, that there is much growth to be had from recycling copper. Visit tinyurl.com/copper-recycle and study the numbers found there for evidence that may lead to further consideration regarding whether mining is needed at all.