Letters to the Editors

County must revive Tsala Apopka lake chain

Editor: This letter is directed toward Tsala Apopka watershed and waterfront property owners.

This is an election year, a time when political incumbents receive their just appraisal from voters such as us. Let's consider our county commissioners today.

For years the Tsala Apopka system has been dying. Everybody with the slightest exposure to it knows that is true. As a result, property values have dropped; yet in real money, every single year, our taxes have increased. What has your current Board of County Commissioners, like so many more before it, done to save an irreplaceable resource?

The answer: very, very little, or nothing.

Individuals, small groups of individuals, large-membership civic associations and others have all at one time or another pushed to get something done to return the system to the world-renowned attraction it once enjoyed -- something to truly deserve the ad man pitches about a "Nature Coast" and the ballyhooing of rapidly disappearing tourist amenities for strictly business reasons.

In such efforts, a basic clique of three, which always seems to thrive in Citrus County commissions, manages to either smother or hamstring any such efforts from moving forward. The present lake restoration advisory board, which this letter limits me from fully explaining, with its total lack of progress in more than two years, now exists under a county administrator-communicated muzzle. This obstacle has been ordered by the same county commission clique you'll always see voting in the same way on environmental questions countywide.

Until the aforementioned property owners, among many more, speak as one in the voting booth to say loud and clear that we want better representation, our lives, financially and aesthetically, will continue to deteriorate.
-- L. C. Alexander, Inverness

Flags on road are important tributes to Sept. 11 victims

Editor: Re: Placing flags on State Road 44 in Inverness:

City Manager Frank DiGiovanni was quoted recently as saying "This doesn't have a deadline. That's just a date."

As I see it, Sept. 11 was more than just a date. It was a true deadline for 2,238 Americans, and the number is climbing. To show our respect for these people, and our support for our country in its battle against terrorism, I do not feel it is too much to ask for the City Council to get their gears unclogged and get this project going, as it seems there is certainly enough public support, both monetary and in manpower.

By not putting this project in the forefront, the council is sending a message to not only our youth -- who are ready, willing and able to work on the project -- but also to all residents, that patriotism is not necessarily front and center.

This is not a good signal at this time, or ever, as these are the young people we may need to depend on to defend our country one day.

God bless our veterans, who did not put their other business or life's callings ahead of their country. This is certainly not a time to dampen spirits. So, please, for the good of all, get to it.
-- Carlotta Yancey, Floral City

Doctor outlined hormone risks in a measured, accurate way

Editor: Re: Hormone replacement risks dwarf benefits, July 29 guest column by Dr. V. Upender Rao:

This column details the fact that the current body of evidence does not support hormone replacement for all postmenopausal women. Dr. Rao is quick to point out that this does not mean there are not women who may benefit from such treatment, but the treatment has to be initiated under the close supervision of a physician well-versed in the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy.

Dr. Rao concludes this by discussing two important articles that appeared in the July 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. One article reported the results of the Women's Health Initiative and the other dealt with hormone replacement and the risk of ovarian cancer. This risk and other risks are discussed factually in successive paragraphs in Dr. Rao's column.

The two articles are discussed thoroughly and without fudging the results, which is an admirable attitude in these days of corporate fraud. These two studies are discussed separately as just that, two studies. No more. No less.

But the studies are factually discussed and conclusions are assessed by Dr. Rao. The warnings Dr. Rao puts forth are not only admirable but helpful and caring. This is a doctor with the correct attitude and facts. Please read it for yourself.
-- Millie Mae Wicklund, Beverly Hills

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