Letters, 6/14: LPD shows dedication

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I would like to commend the Lincoln Police Department, the Lincoln FBI office, the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska, Lincoln, for their dedication to duty and professionalism in regard to the Harold Fowler/Duane Johnson homicide investigation, and the conviction of Jeff Hoover for those murders. 

I think the citizens of Lincoln tend to take their quality law enforcement for granted, but I cannot stress enough, from personal experience, just how extraordinary it is for law enforcement agencies to engage in the brand of persistence displayed here. The tenacity exercised in Lincoln over the past 10 years was truly exemplary. 

As a law-enforcement professional who was involved in the initial years of the investigation, it heartens me that Harold Fowler and Duane Johnson were not forgotten. There wasn’t a month that went by after leaving LPD that I didn’t think about that crime scene and wonder if there was something more we could have done to bring the killer or killers to justice.

I worried that I had personally failed Harold and Duane, their friends, families and loved ones and would have to carry that failure with me forever.

During the course of the investigation, a lot of disparaging remarks were made about Fowler and Johnson’s lifestyles and choices. But neither one of them ever did anything to deserve to die that way.  

The police and prosecutors waited patiently until they were absolutely certain they had the right man. There was no rush to judgement or TV Land conspiracy to arrest “somebody” to clear the case.

Lincoln should understand what a great job the Lincoln law enforcement community has done on their behalf. Congratulations to all involved on a job well done.

Jeff Howard, Fredericksburg, Va.

Taxes aren’t highest here

From the comments made by many during the election, one would think Lincoln had some of the highest property taxes in the nation. To put that into a local perspective of comparison: There are 13 incorporated towns in Lancaster County; based on the town mill levy alone, Lincoln has the seventh lowest tax levy.

And if you add in the rural fire district tax (Lincoln’s fire is part of the city tax), Lincoln is the fifth lowest. Only Firth, Davey, Sprague and Raymond are lower. In other words, taxes are higher in eight of the towns in Lancaster County then in Lincoln.

Conclusion: Lincoln isn’t high in comparison, and it isn’t always cheaper (taxwise) to live in a small town.

Mike DeKalb, Lincoln

Not the first frozen fries

In the June 10 Journal Star, there was an article about Edwin Traisman — that he developed a process for partially cooking french fries and then freezing them. He may have developed this for McDonald’s, but the A&W Root Beer Stand in Beatrice where I worked as a carhop back in 1953-55 was already doing this. 

If Edwin opened his McDonald’s franchise in 1957, then developed the idea, he was already several years behind my former boss. Maybe it was a process unknown of elsewhere when Mr. Traisman started doing this and went on to patent it, but I do know he was not the first to actually come up with this process.

Leota Janousek, Lincoln

Midges under control

In response to the letter June 11 about the midge problem, this year I’ve seen far fewer midges than in the past two years. I’ve been outside enjoying the lake and working in my garden and have not been bothered by them at all. The Capitol Beach newsletter reports that the larvae counts are lower than last year and declining.

Overall, I’m very happy with the work the Capitol Beach Community Association has done to control the midges.

Mark Dahmke, Lincoln