The Waynedale News

After discussions with and letters from our valued readers, two issues have come to my attention that I feel must be addressed. As it is our utmost goal and responsibility to keep the Waynedale community safe and our readers happy, it is my hope that heading off these conceptions first off will ultimately make this newspaper a more enjoyable experience for you.

After many requests for the whereabouts of Mrs. Waynedale’s column in The Waynedale News, it worked out well that she was moving back to Waynedale at the time that Michael and I purchased the newspaper. She has been a longtime columnist up until her relocation to Florida and with our new opinion page we thought her humor would be a nice fit. She has always been a Waynedale advocate with writings regarding the community from her perspective.

Within Mrs. Waynedale’s first column, she goes in great detail to discuss emergency safety kits and the contents thereof. Within these safety kits, she recommends that the public should place condoms into their kits for the preservation of safe drinking water among other things.

The column does not discuss any sexual use of condoms, but the public response was the appallation that the word condom was used. Why is condom such a dirty word? Condoms protect against many diseases, which are common day problems such as HIV, saving lives and keeping individuals safe. After a discussion with Mrs. Waynedale, it was her intention not to discuss the sexual uses, but rather the emergency kit uses. She told me, “…the popular opinion of condoms must be changed. The more we as a community regard sexual safety items such as condoms as taboo subjects that are not discussed in homes and families, the more unplanned pregnancies will occur and disease will continue to become ramped.”

It did not occur to our staff that this subject would be an issue, but our thanks and gratitude go out to those who wrote in to us expressing their concern. Mrs. Waynedale has been notified of your concerns. Please write, email or call us with any praise or problems, we want to hear from you.

Moving on to the second issue, which is my personal political affiliations and the connection to my other business ACORN Design LLC. After much hearsay and talk within the community, I would like to publicly announce that ACORN Design LLC and myself does not have or has ever had an affiliation with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). ACORN is a political entity that has been getting much negative media attention for the way they conduct business. There are over one hundred and thirty businesses in Indiana alone that have acorn incorperated into thier name. It is concerning that just because the name contains the same “acorn” that some individuals would go on a witch-hunt to pin my business as being an affiliate to the political one.

ACORN Design LLC is a Fort Wayne based agency that serves local and national clients by designing, maintaining, and hosting custom websites. Our professional staff works with clients to develop a custom website that looks, feels and functions according to their needs. The name comes from the first letter in my name, “A” and the first four letters of my last name “CORN.” This company was formed in 2005, long before the Acorn scandal. We have worked with many of Waynedale’s businesses and individuals, among others, helping them with their web and graphic design needs. If you would like to know more about ACORN Design LLC, please refer to my website www.acorndesignllc.com.

Until next time,

Alex Cornwell