Stories from Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Seasonably warmer temperatures drew hundreds of people to the city's downtown area Friday evening as they welcomed the start of the holiday season. Mountain Home's annual Christmas Parade of Lights celebrated a blend of long-standing traditions and new ideas introduced last year to make the event even more festive, organizers said...

With a week left to finish their yearly preparations, representatives with the Giving Tree effort reminded people that the gifts they purchased for the program are due today, Dec. 12. A yearly effort aimed at providing a helping hand to financially strapped families in the local area, the Giving Tree will directly help 432 children ranging from newborns to those up to age 14...

Nearly 18 months after it gained approval by the board of county commissioners, a large-scale city-sized development project will once again require public input before it moves forward -- and is facing serious water access issues. During a meeting Monday morning, the three-person board agreed to schedule public hearings to determine if it will grant a one-year extension to the Mayfield Townsite Planned Community...

Dear editor: I'm writing in regards to your Dec. 5 editorial, "Demos, GOP must listen to the voters and cut a budget deal." Let me first congratulate you on taking a looming problem and turning it into another inane diatribe on President Bush, Republicans and the Tea Party. Obama has been president for four years and will be for four more. Let it go sir!...

Dear editor: I read your editorial in the Nov. 28 paper. I agree with you that it's the season of Christ. I am happy you said only the Mormons and Assembly of God can claim that over half of their declared members attend church each week, according to research polls...

Dear editor: The Republican and Democrat parties -- at the national level -- are two wings of the same bird of prey. It is no different than a Shell station and a Chevron on opposing corners of the same intersection, each under a different logo advertising the same price per gallon. Shell, owned by the Dutch, and Chevron, active in 180 countries; neither is loyal to America, but both share the same objective. To that end they are in collusion while appearing to be in competition...