It's very difficult to see a solution until the illegal armed groups stop sowing these land mines. If this continues, we'll become a country of mutilated.

The number of victims in Colombia is climbing because illegal armed groups continue to plant mines in order to protect their illicit crops.

I see this as a win-win solution. First, we retain ownership which keeps the land permanently within the public domain and thus available for all future generations. Second, the Utopia Grist Mill Committee will have an opportunity to continue pursuing its vision of restoring the mill.

It will probably be one of the last opportunities the district will have to purchase a large tract of land in an environmentally sensitive area.

Sprawl, in general, is a problem. The major solution here is better land-use planning.

We should embrace our immigrant roots and recognize that newcomers to our land are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution.