Sound Off: September 2, 2025

Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.

Mental health vs. motive

As the authorities work tirelessly to uncover the motive behind the tragic church shootings in Minneapolis, it’s crucial that we also turn our attention to the growing mental health crisis. The American Psychiatric Association reports that a staggering one-third of adults experience mental health issues. The situation is even more alarming among our youth, with 40% of high school students feeling persistently sad or hopeless, and 20% having seriously considered suicide. Despite these distressing statistics, the availability of mental health services continues to decline. This is a clear call to action. By investing more resources and attention in treating mental illness, we could potentially prevent such tragic events from happening in the first place. Let’s hope that this incident serves as a wake-up call for us to prioritize mental health and address these issues head-on.

Are we next?

Mississippi ranks 20% per capita in murders of states. Washington D.C. is higher at 27%. So, are we next to have federalized troops?

Isolation

Isolating the U.S. from international relationships is a recipe for disaster. As President Trump plays his weekly golf game, international powerhouse leaders from Russia, India, Turkey and other nations across the world are meeting in China. For the first time in 7 years India’s Prime Minister and Putin were together and literally holding hands. Trump is making the U.S. an international pariah by not attending. Heaven help us if there’s a war or these countries turn their backs on us economically.

Avoid pesticides

Kudos to Angie Hicks, Ask Angi, for an entire Sunday article on summer pest control without mentioning pesticides. Too few people recognize the importance of insects in proper functioning of natural systems. Also, too few recognize the potential for harm to humans and others from pesticides, especially neonicatinoids.

Mental help

One of these days the government, judges, and society will learn that there are folks that need mental assistance and get off their butts and fix the situation, not punish those who need it.

Wake up, Democrats

If the Democrats hadn’t spent so many years trying to convince boys they can be girls and vice versa, perhaps we’d have fewer mental health issues in the United States.

Fair elections

Conservatives aren’t trying to make voting harder, they are trying to make it legal. Like asking voters to show ID and vote in-person. Military and the disabled could still use mail-in ballots. Please don’t lie.

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.