From the publisher: What, no one has any opinions?

I know Wrangell people have opinions and viewpoints and all sorts of interesting thoughts in their heads. I hear them in the stores, see them on Facebook and listen when people talk with me on the street.

But I don’t read them in the Sentinel. I feel like the Maytag repairman in the TV commercials — lonely because no one calls.

We can fill that missing piece in the newspaper. I say “we” because while I am eager to print your letters to the editor, you need to write them.

I’ll provide the newspaper space free of charge for letters. All you need to do is put your thoughts down on paper. Well, I guess that was in the old days, when people sat at typewriters. I suppose putting your thoughts down in an email would be today’s equivalent. No texts, please. Too much thumb work for me — I am not that skilled and do not have that much patience to use my phone as a typewriter.

Send your email to wrgsent@gmail.com. Or drop off your letter at the Sentinel office on Front Street. Or mail it to Box 798. No postage due, please.

Your letters can cover most anything, including politics, the state budget, living online, fishing regulations, climate change, the state ferry system, the Canadian border closure, wildlife (on either side of the border), gardening, sports, national or international events, almost anything that you want to share with your community.

I say “almost” because there are limits. No profanity. No personal attacks. No unproven conspiracy theories that you read on some website. No stealing someone else’s words and claiming them as your own (plagiarism). Stick to the facts, not rumors. And be respectful — don’t call people “stupid,” just say you disagree with them.

I’ll correct any misspellings and will help with punctuation and readability, but I will not make any serious edits without your permission.

And try to keep the letters short. A few hundred words would be great. Focus on one point and stick with it. Try to avoid twists and turns and tangents and forks and off-ramps that will get your readers so lost that they miss the point.

The limits may sound unfair, that I am trying to stifle your opinions. Nope, I just want to keep the letters page constructive and informative, not destructive and misleading. There is enough of that already on all sides in political debates on social media and supposed TV news programs.

I want the Sentinel’s letters page to encourage thought, not scare or threaten readers. If you want to scream and shout into a bullhorn, use a street corner, not the Sentinel. I’ll buy the battery for your bullhorn, but I will not donate the newspaper pages.