Letters to the Editor, Sept. 30, 2013

Published: Monday, September 30, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Blair’s reversal

I am dumbfounded that Sheriff Blair has reversed his position on the hotly debated Sheriff’s Office budget.

The Star-Banner reported that there was a Thursday meeting between the sheriff and County Commission Chairwoman Kathy Bryant, and after that meeting the sheriff conceded. I would have loved to been a bug on the wall during that conversation.

This reversal is shocking, given that the sheriff called the budget presented by the county “reckless and illegal” just the day before and had vowed to appeal his budget to the governor.

It seems as though the County Commission has held Sheriff Blair to his campaign promises and he will keep his budget flat.

I’m confused. Is the Sheriff’s Office in need of a budget increase or not, Sheriff? Are we loosing deputies or not? Is the public at risk because of the lack of funding? Is there a real and immediate need for additional funding in order for the Sheriff’s Office to run properly or not?

The sheriff rallied the people to support his efforts, and now seemingly overnight he concedes. I want to know what’s up with that?

I feel like somebody is or has blown a lot smoke up my skirt!

Mary White


Not adding up

Sheriff Blair has ended his battle with the county commissioners over the much-debated sheriff’s budget.

After a closed-door meeting with County Commission Chairwoman Kathy Bryant, the good sheriff agreed to keep his budget flat with a modest increase for patrol and investigations. I have read conflicting reports thus far that they may have even cut his budget by $2 million!

Really? Are you kidding me? How do you raise such a big stink then say forget about it? What happened to the sheriff taking his budget to the governor, if necessary? What happened to “the public was at risk?”

I don’t know about the rest of you people out there, but I smell a big, fat rat in the wood pile somewhere.

I’m thinking we should call for an independent investigation and get to the bottom of this. Something is drastically wrong here.

Chris White


Too much tech

The apathy in this country is astounding!

Why, if there was a way to measure the IQ of a smartphone, the phone would surpass anyone in our populace and could be a member of MENSA.

The country awaits with baited breath for the next iPad, iPhone or anything “I” except the inner soul of the self.

It seems like the whole globe has had their brains transferred from the head to the fingertips. You cannot go anywhere without seeing fingers dancing across some kind of keypad in the frenzied dance.

Try to wrap your head around this one: There are PJ’s that have patterns of dots on them over which you hold your smartphone, and the phone reads whatever story it picks up from the dot pattern!

Give me the good old days when we curled up in bed with Mom or Dad and they had their arms wrapped around us while we fell asleep to the melodious sounds of their comforting voices.

This PJ story was on cable news and really sent a chill up the spine. Do we really need a device to say, “Once upon a time ...?”

Just imagine if people went back to sharing conversations, a handshake or better yet, a hug backed up by a warm smile.

Maybe our youth would experience what being loved is really all about and not have to spend whatever childhood they have dodging bullets.

If Apple, Samsung, etc. would promulgate a device to grow hair, a third set of teeth and something to evaporate cataracts and middle-age bulge, I would be the first to jump on this high-tech highway.

Oh how we will be annoyed when our grandchildren prefer the Droid!

We are in a tough spot when we have to compete with a dot.

Sheila McCartney


A Greenway history

Did you ever wonder how the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway came to be?

Visions of a canal across North Florida stated in 1824.

After many studies, in 1935 Democrat Franklin Roosevelt approved a route from Inglis to Jacksonville using the Withlacoochee, Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers.

It would be called the Atlantic-Gulf Ship Canal. Congress would not fund it, and the Army Corps of Engineers advised against it.

Roosevelt started it anyway, using Works Progress Administration tax dollars.

The ditch would allow salt water to flow coast to coast, and it would be deep enough to ruin the aquifer and wells.

People complained and it was stopped.

In 1964 Democrat Lyndon Johnson restarted it as a shallow draft barge canal. Millions were spent on huge bridges and miles of man-made ditches and dams.

In 1971, Marjorie Harris Carr and her many supporters got Republican Richard Nixon to stop the project.

In 1986, Republican Ronald Reagan signed a law to preserve the section from Eureka to Inglis to save the Ocklawaha from further destruction.

In 1990, Republican George H.W. Bush ended it by giving the 107 miles of partially destroyed land to Florida for a state park.

When you see huge bridges over nothing and miles of canals that go nowhere, thank the Democrats.

When you enjoy the Marjorie Harris Carr Greenway, thank the Republicans.

One Democrat who did do a little to stop the project was Jimmy Carter.

But I don’t think Carter likes canals anyway since he gave away the Panama Canal that was paid for with American lives and money.

Dennis Morgan



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