Opinion

There are problems with the press conferences President Trump has held to provide updates on the coronavirus – including attacking the press and calling on One America News network reporters – who toss him softball questions in a hardball environment – but he rightly deserves credit for also taking real questions from real reporters. Sometimes, he also allows follow-up questions.

The April 7 municipal elections that will not happen should have been allowed to happen. “Public health” is the reason given for delaying elections. The excuse sounds praiseworthy, due to concern about the contagion that threatens to kill – based on information coming out of Washington – at least 100,000 Americans. Allowing people to congregate at a polling place, to ignore the rules of social distancing, to put voters and poll workers at risk, is unthinkable. Everyone can agree on that point; however, that is not the point here, which is that the elections should have been allowed to happen and could have been allowed to happen without endangering anyone.

Politics should play no role in combatting an acute respiratory syndrome, the virus that causes the deadly disease, COVID-19, but the lack of action in Missouri looks like politics, not leadership.

For 159 years, since its first edition rolled off the presses in Bloomfield, Missouri, in the early days of the Civil War, Stars and Stripes has been the voice and watchdog for members of the U.S. armed forces.

As we move forward in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 school year, I wanted to update our community on recent calendar changes for this spring, celebrate the accomplishments of our students and staff, and communicate plans for combating challenges for our district in the near future.