Recent letters to the editor in the Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 The Lincoln County News contain emotionally charged brouhahas about whether to “keep Christ out of Christmas” (H. Falconer) or “keep Christ in Christmas” (M. Bourland and R. Crabtree). Their thoughts on the subject are interesting, provocative and sometimes absurd.

The handwriting is on the wall. The economy is horrible. Federal and state budgets are going to be sliced, which will have a major impact on small towns. Newcastle’s administrative budget has exploded in the last few years and is out of line with other small towns its size.

On Jan. 13 the RSU 12 School Board shocked the Wiscasset community and nearly everyone else who had been watching, by voting to “immediately” and “permanently” remove the term “Redskin” from any and all schools within the district.

For some reason, we have received quite a few comments, pro and con, written and verbal, regarding our placement of Rev. Kevin Haj’s Christmas message on the front page of The Lincoln County News Dec. 23, 2010 edition.

I hope that you’ll accept a criticism from a loyal reader.

I found the headline that you attached to Dr. Falconer’s letter last week to be very eye-catching, but not very descriptive of the content of his letter. (“Let’s take Christ out of Christmas”) It was unnecessarily inflammatory and maybe even offensive to many mainstream church-goers. (LCN, Page 13, 12/30/10)

We would feel remiss if we did not join the chorus of concern regarding the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8.

A parent of a grammar school basketball team member confided to me in an email that their children’s team was promised, by the coach, to all get floor time during the game the previous day. None of them got any floor time. Half of the team is very disheartened and disappointed. Are they pouting or do they deserve to be “hurt?”

All my life we have heard the phrases “independent Mainer” and “local control.”

Thank you for the lovely column by Kelly Patton Brook, “All Four Feet”. It is a weekly surprise and delight to read such an insightful writer who clearly has such passion and concern for the well-being of our animal companions.

Lincoln County EMA Chief Tim Pellerin’s passion for his profession has brought untold benefits to the county, grant monies received, training programs created, policies adopted; all of which has helped weave Lincoln County fire companies into an even more cohesive force than they were before he arrived in 2005.

I noticed your story a couple of weeks ago in the online edition about delays for your subscribers outside of Maine. (“Post Office delays leave seasonal residents News-less,” LCN, 12/23/10, Page 1).

To use a bad phrase I am in “shock and awe” about the loss of my house and belongings on Jan. 12. I was attaching the plow and stuck in the snow by the barn and, in only a few minutes, the fire got a good start and it was impossible to get inside the house.

With the retirement of our oldest employee last year, there isn’t a single person currently working for Lincoln County Publishing who was alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked Dec. 7, 1941.

On Nov. 26, Lincoln County and the State of Maine lost Donald M. Bisset, retired State Fire Marshal. Don had a lengthy career in public service, which included serving his country actively in World War II, many years in the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office, serving as the first State Fire Marshal from 1975 to 1991, and as a Jefferson selectman after his retirement from the state.