Sound Off: December 31, 2025

Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.

Fireworks

Please be courteous to your neighbors on New Year’s Eve when shooting fireworks. Remember all the military we have in our communities who suffer from PTSD. Also, remember that fireworks upset the elderly, kids, and pets. Be a good neighbor.

Celebrate smart

Please be smart when you go out to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. If you’re drinking, please make sure you have a designated driver. Or call for a ride.

Just one NYE, please

I get that everyone is going to shoot off fireworks Wednesday night. But would it be too much to ask that you not shoot them off at like 2 or 3 in the morning. And that you not shoot them off every night of the week? Can we keep it contained to New Year’s Eve this year?

Tariffs

It was hilarious to see the post where a shopper at Dillard’s believed a clerk knew what was driving the price of items in the store.

High prices

I, too, was shopping at Dillard’s. And when I paid only very slightly more than I used to for socks, the Harvard-educated economist behind the counter gave me a 45-minute Masterclass on tariffs and how mean old President Trump was the reason those socks had increased in price by a whopping one percent.

A pretext

While refusing to present evidence, Russian officials have claimed that Ukraine recently attempted to bomb one of Vladimir Putin’s residences. Some say there really was an attack. Others say the story is a Russian hoax to influence President Trump to be more sympathetic to Putin in peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. I think a more likely explanation is that Putin has had it with Zelensky and, by means of a hoax bombing story, has created a pretext for having Zelensky assassinated. “After all, he tried to assassinate me first.”

Oh, he didn’t mean it

According to CNN, when President Donald Trump was reminded in an interview with Time magazine this week that he had said he would end the Russian war on Ukraine on “day one,” he claimed he hadn’t been speaking literally or seriously. Yep. Not one of those 53 times. Gotcha.

Gas prices

Gas prices are down because we are drilling everything we can. Low gas prices should bring down cost of food, but that’s not happening.

Epstein files

President Trump spent his whole campaign saying he was going to release the Epstein files. Then, he called it a hoax. Now, the DOJ says it “found” a million new documents, but Trump said the investigation was over just last week. This Administration can’t be trusted.

MTG bombshell

The president of the United States called and threatened a member of Congress to not support the release of the Epstein list because his friends are on it. Why is he not impeached and in prison?

Minnesota

The more I read about the goings-on in Minnesota, the more I laugh about the Democrats choosing that state’s governor to run with Kamala Harris. Could they have found two worse candidates? They’d have been better off with Sleepy Joe and Hunter Biden.

America First

We attacked Venezuela for drug trafficking. Now we are bombing Nigeria to kill Muslims because they are supposedly killing Christians. President Trump needs to work on America first as promised.

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.