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Diana Rauner, right, is president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, which is asking Gov. Bruce Rauner to rescind cuts to the Child Care Assistance Program. File photo by Al Podgorski, Sun-Times.

Monday letters: Too much emphasis on ‘Rauner vs. Rauner’

While we applaud the Sun-Times for drawing attention to the Child Care Assistance Program changes, we are disappointed that rather than focus on the impact of changes — the families who are faced with the difficult decision of providing for their families or ensuring their children are safe and cared for — the Sun-Times instead chooses to sensationalize Rauner vs. Rauner in Mary Mitchell’s Aug. 28 column, “Illinois’ first family at odds over budget cuts.”

For more than 30 years, the Ounce of Prevention Fund has fiercely advocated to ensure that young children living in poverty have access to the quality early experiences they need to succeed in school and in life, and that parents have the resources they need to ensure quality experiences for their children. 

During this time of unprecedented budget uncertainty and assault on low-income families, the Ounce has been on the front lines with our advocacy partners, battling to urge the General Assembly, governor and administration to work together to find a fair, fully-funded budget that serves all of Illinois’ citizens. 

From formal statements conveying our point of view to time-sensitive action alerts activating supporters and media stories highlighting the families and providers at risk, the Ounce has been vocal. We have publicly advocated against child-care changes and urged an end to the budget impasse that is holding our most vulnerable citizens hostage. We have worked with partners in early learning and other social services organizations to highlight the impact of this ongoing budget stalemate. And we have worked within all facets of the government, meeting with legislators and the administration, and filing formal complaints, comments and requests for hearing.  

As always, our entire organization — from our board of directors to our leadership to our staff — is fully committed to our mission and continues to serve children and families in need. 

 Anne Lea Tuohy, Chairman of the Board

Ounce of Prevention Fund

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.

Air show’s steep price

Regarding “Parachutist dies after collision” (Aug. 17), how many more deaths and injuries have to occur before this moronic, militaristic glorification of war activities is ended? For the city’s residents, it’s a four- to five-day ordeal — work disrupting, peace destroying and pet terrorizing (not to mention the animals in the Lincoln Park Zoo) — that entirely disrupts half of the North Side, only so people from the suburbs and all over the Midwest can have free entertainment at Chicago’s expense.

Donald Norsic, Lincoln Park

No excuse for no-bid deals

A recent article has U.S. Senate candidate and former Chicago Public School Board member Andrea Zopp defending the no-bid contract that opened up the investigation into Barbara Byrd-Bennett (“Zopp defends SUPES no-bid CPS contract vote” — Aug. 26). How can any organization that works for the tax payers have power to no-bid anything without checks and balances and accountability to those same taxpayers who pay their salaries?

Most companies have guidelines in place to protect their stockholders. What happened with the school board was “business as usual.” This, I believe, is just the way of life in political Chicago and for that matter Illinois. With controls in place, along with visibility and transparency, they would and should ask questions to help prevent this type of situation.

If in fact Zopp and others did not have the facts, why didn’t they stop and get them?

Robert J. Quinn, Crest Hill

Pay your bills, Illinois

It’s outrageous that Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger is jeopardizing 10,000 Illinois lives by withholding payment for services (“Contemptible? Judge wants state to explain why it didn’t pay bills for adults with developmental disabilities when ordered to” — Aug. 27). I wonder how hard she’d work if she didn’t receive her generous salary. Cheers for U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

Beth Najberg, Gold Coast

Beef up penalties for animal abuse

A recent undercover video revealed that chickens had been heinously tortured, traumatized and bludgeoned at a farm before being slaughtered for food (“McD’s, Tyson drop supplier over chicken abuse” — Aug. 28). This has been a widespread meat industry transgression for decades, verified by numerous undercover videos of cows, pigs and chickens being monstrously brutalized in factory farms. The federal government must take this issue more seriously and prosecute, fine and imprison the business owners and employees who perpetrate these flagrant wrongdoings. The meat industry should be very concerned in light of the reality that more and more people are embracing meatless diets as a means to detest and protest these malevolent misdeeds against helpless farm animals.

Brien Comerford, Glenview

No pride in hunting bobcats

The governor authorized bobcat hunting in Illinois. There are so few of them in Illinois who in their right mind is going to hunt a 15-pound bobcat for a trophy? Bobcats are hardly table fare. Furthermore, bobcats help reduce the population of undesirable rodents like rats and mice and increase biodiversity and the robustness of the genome by weeding out the old, weak and sick. OK, you big-game hunters, hang that kitty trophy over the fireplace and have your retriever growl and bark at it.

Thomas Cechner, Lockport

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