Letters from the March 27 print edition

Use of pool

appreciated

Last summer a new swimming pool was built at Shakopee Junior High School. Recently the new pool was opened to lap swimmers on weekday mornings. For those of us in the Shakopee area who like to swim laps, this is newsworthy.

I think I speak for all swimmers when I say “thank you” to everyone who has had a hand in this: the Shakopee School District for allowing us to use the pool, Shakopee Community Education for administering the lap swimming sessions and to Shakopee Parks and Recreation for staffing the pool with a life guard.

The pool is open weekdays from 6:15 to 7:30 a.m. Members of the Shakopee Community Center can swim without charge. And non-members can pay a small fee to use the pool. Swimmers can enter the natatorium (pool building) from the door on the east side of the building and can enter the pool area by way of the locker rooms at the west side of the building.

The sunrise sessions are currently only scheduled to run through the school year. But if enough people express interest in a year-round program, my guess is that the good folks mentioned above will find a way to make that happen as well.

In any event the new pool is a wonderful addition to our community and I am grateful for the opportunity to use it.

— Matthew Grimm, Shakopee. 

Racino is long,

long overdue

Sen. Dick Day’s guest commentary in March 20 edition of this publication in support of a racino at Canterbury Park was absolutely spot on.

No one, neither Republican nor Democrat, neither atheist nor Christian, neither liberal nor normal-minded person is going to stop people from gambling in Minnesota, and it’s high time the state received revenue from it.

The tribal casinos have a right to exist, no doubt. However, they have no rights to operate without competition, without taxation, and without the normal expenses that every other business owner in the state has to endure. Face it: We can no longer afford the luxury of supporting these tribal businesses with no payback whatsoever.

It is high time that Minnesotans stop hiding behind the lame babble of “ … we don’t want to encourage gambling,” and stop trying to protect everyone against themselves. Those same people will gamble regardless and why shouldn’t they be offered a choice of venue? Any other successful business venture will face competition, so why not a casino?

This is a free country, a free state, and everyone deserves an opportunity to live and pay taxes.

— Keith Rittenberry, Shakopee.