It is perplexing to know that Mitt Romney is still out there doing enormous damage to his party. He surfaced in a video interview last week and proved again why he is not the president. At one time he took the losing teapublican approach to immigration. Next, he claimed the party has to do a better job of attracting minorities. He didn’t get it when he was running. He doesn’t get it now. With any luck, neither he nor his GOP train wreck will get it ever.

Southeast Regional Library will hold its first Genealogy Fair Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 9 for teens and adults.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's internationally-acclaimed ski resorts are the main reason people visit Salt Lake City in the winter, but there are plenty of fun, free and interesting things to do in Salt Lake City while in the area and other times of year. Here's a sampling:

The Pinal County Genealogists will have their 10th annual workshop Jan. 26 at the LDS church, 1555 N. Colorado, Casa Grande.

Editor's Note: These letters to the editor have been sorted by topic by the Tribune editorial staff in an effort to allow readers to read varied opinions on the issues, candidates, and other circumstances surrounding the 2012 general election. These submissions are the opinions of the author, not the Tribune, and have not been edited for grammar or content.

I would like to thank Mr. Lowell Popham for his response to my letter concerning Mr. Romney’s lack of military service and thank him for his service. I do not think military service is necessary to be president but I do think a person who supports both the war and the draft should be willing to put on the uniform. Mitt Romney is trying to rewrite his own history from having no intention of signing up to “I longed to be fighting in Viet Nam.” I have more respect for Bill Clinton because he opposed the war and was consistent in his belief. President Obama is of a different generation with an all volunteer military and has nothing to do with my views on Romney’s character.

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy is about what you should expect from someone who evaded the Vietnam military draft by hiding out as a minister of religion — in France, no less. Like most Chickenhawks, as soon as the shooting stopped, Mitt suddenly became chest-beatingly aggressive, hoping that people might forget that he showed the white feather when it came time to stand up for his country.

It is interesting that you encourage people to consider not voting for Romney when he did not serve in the military, but went on a two half year LDS mission. I think you underestimate the desire for LDS young men to serve a mission. My son, graduated top of his class, worked hard in sports so he could attend the U.S. Air Force Academy. He received a $415,000 dollar scholarship to the AFA. He worked hard, he was on the dean’s list, was also in the 22 squad (Raptors) which finished first in the school and was able to stand behind President Obama at the graduation. He gave all this up to serve a mission in Chile. That is how important Mr. Romney also felt. He did this with the hope that there will be no major budget cuts to the AFA so that he may return there.

A few things to consider for those who plan to vote for Mitt Romney concerning his service to his country:

We just celebrated 225 years of the ratification of the US Constitution. This written document contains many wise provisions such as: 1. The Bill of Rights’ guarantee of freedom of speech, press and religion. 2. Equality of all men and women before the law. 3. The principle of popular sovereignty, where the PEOPLE are the source of government, not the other way around. 4. The federal system, with a division of powers between the nation as a whole and the states. 5. The Separation of Powers into three separate branches of government.

OK, so who got the bounce from the conventions? Obama-Biden did. Initially, they received a national ratings bump of about 4 percent. As of a week later, the bounce had increased to the high single digits.

Francis (Frank) William Thraen Jr., 80, of Ahwatukee, passed away on Tuesday, July 24 from Parkinson’s disease, after a long, wonderful, and fulfilling life. He was born on Aug. 30, 1931 in Miami, Ariz., to Virginia and Frank Thraen, Sr.

With the recent release of the 1940 U.S. census — more than 132 million records needing to be digitally indexed for free public use — new information invaluable for family research is becoming available to genealogists.

"Got an email from ‘The Hon. Russell Pearce' so I asked my grand kids what ‘The Hon.' meant. Rosealita said he was obviously a big fan of the ‘Star Wars' dude Hon Solo. Humberto said it related to his genealogy, him being related to Attila the Hon. What think you dear Venters?"

It is often said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. But Mesa resident James Tanner has thousands of images on glass negatives that are invaluable to the history of Arizona and the families who transformed it from a territory to a state a century ago.

Maybe Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were always meant to know each other.

Maybe Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were always meant to know each other.

Maybe Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were always meant to know each other.

When James Tanner started researching his family history nearly 30 years ago, his relatives told him that his grandparents already had compiled it, and the history was complete and accurate.

Wells Fargo's folksy wooden stagecoach is about to go after the carriage trade, as the bank launches a newly reorganized wealth management business in Minneapolis aimed at families with $50 million or more to invest.