Before Obamacare I was paying $355.70 for a substandard health care policy because it was the best I could afford. Now that I have an Obamacare plan, I will be paying just $27 and change for a Bronze Plan (after the subsidy I'm eligible to receive, as an under $26,000/year gross earner). I will be able to use the balance I was paying to pay off my one outstanding debt and get my head above water for the first time in seven years. As a freelance, self-employed copywriter, I will now be able to retain my lower prices and serve more small business owners without worrying as much about whether or not I'll make enough money to make ends meet month after month. So the ACA not only serves me well, it serves all the people I serve because I won't have to raise my prices. If I ever make more than $44k/annually I will be thrilled to pay more for health insurance and get off the subsidy I'm allowed now but until then, this will work wonders for me and for the small business owners and entrepreneurs I serve. We are the backbone of this country and will be the folks who pull it out of the slump, so every break we can get so we can offer our services at affordable prices is a boon to everyone. Thank you, President Obama and all of the rest of you who have our backs! God bless you!!! ................................................................................................. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

My son was unable to get insurance for his youngest child because of pre existing condition and was paying over $2000.00 per month to insure his wife and other 4 children, after signing up on aca his total insurance will cost less than $300.00 per month for 2 adults and 5 children. Because of a lack of medical insurance after both my husband and I lost our jobs due to the recession, we were forced to file for bankruptcy, this would not have happened if the aca had been in place in 2009 The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine. I unexpectedly had the opportunity to retire from my medical practice but lost insurance coverage for my wife, who has asthma and a history of melanoma. I was able to enroll under Covered California within 30 minutes with no extended lapse in insurance coverage. If it weren't for the Affordable Care Act - my wife would not be insurable due to pre-existing conditions even though I'm a physician. The media needs to tell the positives of the Affordable Care Act roll-out as part of responsible journalism.

I was contacted 1 year prior to the ACA rollout by Aetna insurance. They informed me that no change was needed to my policy for compliance to the new law which would go into affect in a year. They told me I may qualify for a subsidy on my existing plan if I wish to do so after the ACA goes into affect. I was happy receiving this information a year in advance and still plan on shopping the exchange to see if my $360.00 with a $5,000 deductible premium can be lowered. I do like the fact that I get a free physical every year since 2007 on my existing plan along with free RX on generic drugs or a discount on other drugs if I need them.[ Why was I notified respectfully by my insurance company about the change a WHOLE YEAR in advance and other people were NOT and received cancellations? It sounds more like a deliberate strategic attack on people to cause an uproar over the ACA and claim Big Problems. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

A recent meeting was held between the Ravalli County Commissioners and members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes concerning the tribes' plans to transfer a parcel of sacred land (Medicine Tree site) to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order to protect the land as a trust within the federal government. At this meeting irrelevant, racist and extremely offensive statements were made by the chair of the Ravalli County Planning Board. The cultural insensitivity and ignorance shown by the Ravalli County Deputy Attorney and members of the County Commissioners demand an apology from all of us in Ravalli County.

We keep going round and round about what's needed in healthcare for our country. Since the government gets to keep its plan, it must be better than anything else around. Let's make it accessible to everyone. Isn't that what equality is all about?

We do not want chemicals to get into our crops and drinking water. Hydrofluoric acid is being trucked around California’s back roads and injected into oil wells. 'The stuff is so toxic that it can harm people up to 14 miles downwind, government records show.'* * http://www.invw.org/content/toxic-acid-puts-millions-at-risk

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

Corey Stingley is my son, and our family wants justice and the people who murdered him put into prison for their crime. Corey was attacked by three adult male customers and murdered after he returned some merchandise he was thinking about shoplifting once confronted by the store manager about having the items in a bookbag. The defendants choked Corey to death after he returned the merchandise.

Cannabis sativa (marijuana) is the most popular illicit drug in the United States. Its prohibition has caused innumerable harm to society. Its re-legalization and regulation would bring a number of advantages. It is currently, fraudulently, listed as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act, which claims it has no medical value (disproved by the Institute of Medicine's 1996 "Marijuana as Medicine" report, as well as the 17 states in the US which have passed laws establishing its medical value, and other countries such as Israel which have nation-wide medical marijuana programs) and high potential for abuse. Marijuana, however, is a non-toxic, non-addictive substance (aside from slight dependence issues, no worse than a caffeine habit) upon which it is impossible to overdose. The prohibition of marijuana has failed to achieve its goals, so the only recourse is to end the prohibition and allow a legal and regulated market. This has the added benefit of making marijuana available for medical purposes (in flower, concentrate, or other options that patients would want to have), for medical research, and for the industrial use of its non-psychoactive variety known as hemp. As well, it would lift a large burden off of our criminal justice system, saving untold billions of tax dollars that could be used for more useful purposes (or given back to the people). Numerous people in my own family would significantly benefit from having legal access to marijuana (for medical purposes). My father, who has Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (a condition which causes unbearable, random pain, burning sensations, intense and random sweating, and other unsavory symptoms); my grandmother who has severe arthritis; my cousin who has Crohn's disease; my mothers best friend who has bone marrow cancer... the list goes on. Regulated marijuana is better than illicit marijuana, because either way, marijuana is here to stay.

Rezoning to allow 36 attached town homes on Lavista Road between North Druid Hills Road and Clairmont Road is unnecessary as 11 detached single family homes can be built under the current R100 zoning. Allowing 36 town homes in this stretch of Lavista Road will set an unwanted precedent in a suburban R100 area where roads and high-quality schools are already overburdened. A more appropriate area for town home development is around the corner on North Druid Hills Road where 86 town homes are already under construction in two separate developments. Residents of the proposed 36 town homes would be forced to access Lavista Road on a dangerous curve with line-of-sight issues where many accidents and one recent fatality have occurred. Approval of the town homes would also exacerbate an already-existing problem with cut-through traffic in the nearby Lavista Acres neighborhood. Finally, an increase in impervious surfaces will increase the load on a creek adjacent to the proposed town homes. For all of these reasons, the Weiland Homes' rezoning application should be denied. The sellers and Weiland Homes can develop a plan under the existing zoning for detached single family homes that will be mutually profitable and consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods. Note: This application for rezoning does not involve the existing apartments beside the CVS at the corner of Lavista and North Druid Hills. The proposed town homes would be built on land currently occupied by two homes.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change. The science is beyond compelling, and the consequences way too extreme to justify rolling the dice for short term profits,