Here are some of the issues that area residents are discussing. The statements were phoned in anonymously, so the Courier does not vouch for their veracity, nor do we know what motivated the callers:

I just want to say that I love the new format of the newspaper. I love the horoscopes, and everything looks great. And for the Sound off, why don’t you just let it go about having all the articles to do with God?

All friends and relatives, let us honor and congratulate Mr. Jimmy and Edna Hill of Midway on their 50th anniversary, Dec. 23.

I saw where they said that everyone needed a home security device in Sound off. I don’t need a home security device; I have a gun to protect my home and myself. I would hold the intruders at gunpoint until the police came and arrested them.

My husband wants to say thank you to the weather and the tide table. It looks great in the paper now that you’ve done a new job on it.

If you don’t like to read about God in the Sound off column, why don’t you just stop reading the column? Solves all the problems.

Larger print causing articles to take up more space. This is one way to make the paper smaller without actually making it smaller – and this is supposed to convince me to keep your paper how?
Editor’s note: The print in the newly redesigned Courier is actually the exact same size as the old print – 10 point font.  We have not cut back on the number of articles in the Courier since the redesign.

To the person who wants God out of Sound off: If five out of 10 Sound offs are about God in the paper, then the readers must like God.