When I hear that our governor and attorney general still think that most people in Nebraska want the death penalty. I think that they are out of touch with what Nebraskans want.

Law enforcement officers have said that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Murder victims' families have said they do not want their loved one's killer to be executed. Many churches have taken a stand against the death penalty. So I have to wonder who they are talking to that thinks the death penalty is wanted.

The information I have seen shows those in favor of the death penalty and those against the death penalty are pretty closely divided. When people read that many that were on death row have been exonerated by DNA testing tells us that mistakes are made in our criminal justice system. How can any of us think that the death penalty is justice.

I would encourage all citizens of Central Nebraska to write or phone the governor and attorney general and tell them that the death penalty is wrong.

Kurt Mesner

Central City

Swift boaters launch racist attacks

I am not an Obama supporter, in fact I voted for Clinton at the recent primary in Hastings. But I am seeing the start of the Swift Boaters again attacking Mr. Obama like they attacked a real American military hero in 2004 while their candidate spent his war hiding behind a stack of folding chairs in an Alabama National Guard Armory. No one, Republican or Democrat should stand for that in this most important campaign.

Mr. Obama is not a Muslim and never has been one. If he were, he would still be better than the "Christian" we have in the White House now, who has the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people both Muslim and Christian on his hands because of a "mistake" he made and still tries to justify. Most of the billion Muslims are good, God fearing people that are no different from us. They are not terrorists and they do not support terrorists.

Mr. Obama is a Christian and a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in south side Chicago. This church is predominantly black and it is proud of that fact. It supports its members as it should. That is not racism as Mr. Myers implies in his recent letters, that is the function of a church.

As Mr. Myers suggested please go to the Web site:

http://www.tucc.org/about.htm of this church and listen to the videos that are there. They certainly make me want to visit and support this fine church.

Let's address this campaign on the issues we cannot allow racism to receive even the slightest credibility in the most important election in many decades.

Bert Peterson

Hastings

History made, but no coverage of it

We made history Saturday night and our local paper is so biased they didn't even come to report it as news. Has it all come down to this if you don't like what's happening, you turn your backs? Our local paper (The Republican-Nonpareil in Central City ) is so biased they didn't even cover our caucus Saturday night. How sad.

No wonder people complain about the news media slanting the coverage to one side or the other. If only the views of news media are what we will hear and be reported I think we should all throw out our newspapers and turn off our TVs and only believe what we see and hear first hand. Something as important as history in the making (a man of color and a woman) in the final stages of leading our country and no one thought it important enough to acknowledge how sad!

Jill and David Garrett

Central City

Caucuses were historic for state

Last Saturday was a historic day for the Democratic Party in Nebraska. Once again, we heard the voice of the people as they stood up for the candidate of their choice at over 100 caucus sites across the state. But this year, thousands more faced the cold, inclement weather, long lines at the caucus locations, and confusion about the new process of choosing a presidential candidate.

As the official Nebraska representative for the Hillary Clinton campaign, I would like to personally thank each and every voter who stood up for Senator Clinton. A special thank you as well goes to the hundreds of volunteers who spent numerous hours calling volunteers and identifying representatives at each caucus site in the state. You can be proud of the job that you did and the vote that you cast. The nomination process is not yet completed and I urge you to continue your dedication and support for Hillary Clinton. Not only did we celebrate a historic day for Nebraska, we could very well celebrate a historic day in November if we elect Senator Clinton as the next president of the United States.

Judy Monaghan

Omaha