In case you are not a long-term Gazette-Journal reader, and are therefore not familiar with the stands we have taken, be assured of the following:

The newspaper believes in good land use planning, in comprehensive plans, and in zoning. We are all neighbors and these are tools that help to keep one neighbor from trespassing on the property rights of another.

We believe that a key to progress and prosperity lies in regional planning, which is the power of local governments working together to achieve common goals. Why duplicate services and expenses?

We believe in taking care of the environment. What animal has done more than the human being to foul its own nest? Why should we not, as a familiar oath puts it in regard to a different matter, "preserve, protect and defend" the earth and all its parts?

We are concerned about climate change and believe that carbon dioxide emissions play a role in atmospheric thinning and subsequent global warming. Even if it does not, as skeptics i...