We don’t need to lose things that are good

by J. Patrick Reilly

I have a son who has worked for UPS for over 30 years, so when the word came out that there will be several thousand jobs cut it bothered me.  I doubt he will be affected, at least not yet, as he is a semi-driver on a night route from Janesville to Chicago’s hub and back.  But if business is light it could trickle down to the drivers.

UPS is not the only place lay-offs and cutbacks are happening.  Amazon, USPS, Google...the list goes on.

I don’t claim to have answers and I certainly don’t know the workings of big business. But I do know it is traumatic for families when a member loses a job.

It makes you wonder if our leaders are doing everything they can to help the businesses we all depend so much on.  That includes the farmers too.  We have a lot of problems domestically that need attention that seem to be put on the back burner and even ignored.

I do know the business I am in depends on support to keep going.  There have been movements to take legal notices away newspapers and post them on municipal and school websites.  I doubt if that will generate the traffic though as I cover school boards and I don’t see a lot of traffic when it comes to the agendas they post.  

Legal notices are revenue but more important they tell the public what is going on. Meeting notices, minutes, budgets, etc are all important to have in the newspaper for reference and accessibility. They need to stay in newspapers for the sake of information.

I hope the job cuts do not trickle down to the local level.  We need our business to be as strong as they can be.