Editor: If someone tells us to go jump in the lake, the first thing to do is ask why, instead of rushing off to find the best way to jump.
Similarly, for the Suncoast Parkway 2 proposal, the "why" question must be clarified before more millions of tax dollars are spent on impact studies. These are the same tax dollars not going into veterans' benefits, Medicare, Head Start programs, and social services for Floridians in this budget crunch.
What exactly will the Suncoast extension from Homosassa to Crystal River do for Citrus County that the Suncoast Parkway 1 from Tampa to Homosassa isn't already doing?
For store owners on U.S. 19, how will your business benefit if your stores are bypassed altogether?
For local residents, how many will pay a toll to drive between Homosassa and Crystal River?
For Citrus County visitors (the countless multitudes who are clogging up the Suncoast Parkway 1 daily), what will be lost if this extension is not built?
The pro-forma explanation is that Citrus County needs the Suncoast Parkway 2 to accommodate growth. But will it actually provide anything of real value for us in return for the heavy cost in environmental-degradation that we will inherit?
The Suncoast highway that connects Homosassa now to Tampa is adequate for Citrus County to grow. People will continue to come here regardless. Local traffic congestion can be fixed by improving our local roads. The state Department of Transportation must show that the above are not true to justify the cost of extending the Suncoast Parkway.
What is at stake here are the reasons why we came to Citrus County in the first place: green spaces, clean water and air, nature preserves, tranquility and a rhythm of life without the frenzy that characterizes much of Florida today. What we have here and now is a rare and precious thing, and if we are on the verge of losing it, it is a tragic thing not to stand up and ask why.
The people of Citrus County have the right to question why the Suncoast Parkway 2 is necessary before more tax money is spent. The recommended corridor is viewable online at http://www.suncoastparkway2.com
-- Hanh Vu, Homosassa
A camera is better than a gun for shooting wildlife
Editor: Re: Remaining on top of the game, June 10 Citrus Times.
Wow! I read the Citrus Times article in absolute awe. Leopards falling dead at six inches, charging lions, Cape buffalo, all shot with custom-made hammer-head bullets that break through thick skin and bone, and the animal is not terribly hurt. I suppose the animal told our hunter that, absolutely amazing, incredible, probably hurt less than a broken ankle.
Shot zebra, wildebeest, kudu, etc, the bravery and marksmanship and skill astounds.
Now let me bring a little focus into all this excitement. I have spent time in Tanzania and Kenya, I have been out on many safaris, and I also have shot elephant, rhino, water buffalo, hippo, lion and many other defenseless animals. I should mention I did all this from a truck and my weapon was a camera. Would you believe you can get within inches of all these animals? I have been so close to a pride of lions feeding on a fresh kill I could have reached out and helped myself.
And I did all this without the flow of mucus and the deep and rumbling moan of an animal struck down and in its death throes. And I did not miss any of my shots sending the wounded animal into cover to die an agonizing death in the bush.
So what price marksman skill? Akin to shooting fish in a barrel. Hey, Big White Hunter, get a life and leave the animals and our children's heritage alone.
Now as a final thought and you really want to get ecstatic and brave, do as the Masai warriors do out there in Africa. Go hunt lion on foot with only a spear, and then come back and tell us all how you got on.
-- Geoff Reid, Homosassa
Nudist camp for adults is OK, but not for children
Editor: After reading Jan Glidewell's column, Re: Can't critic see camp is nude, but not lewd?, June 23, Citrus Times, I pondered what he said in regard to a nudist camp for children ages 11-18.
While I find nothing wrong with nudist camps for adults, I do question why children at that age need to be exposed to that sort of situation.
Granted, at 18 you're an adult and you can basically do what you want, but the big question here is maturity. Children, especially young children, are not mature enough to deal with an extreme situation. It's like leaving a firecracker near a hot coal; one way or another something is going to happen.
I don't know if anything has happened, or will happen in the future, at this nudist camp for children, but I know that there is something wrong about it. It makes me wonder what sort of parents are comfortable with it.
Maybe I have a strong sense of morality, or maybe I'm just a prude, but I find this whole idea of a nudist camp for children objectionable, and would like to see the law changed.
-- Peter Stathis, Spring Hill
It might be covert, but a culvert is needed to drain water
Editor: Re: Skies clear as county dries out, June 24, Citrus Times.
Karl LaFollette said he and his wife, Marie, asked the county two years ago where they would put extra water from heavy rains after building Nature Coast Marine. The low-lying area between Proline and Larry's AutoSales, he said, often incurs heavy flooding after storms because there is nowhere for the water to drain.
LaFollette suggested a pump to drain the water from streets and back into the state wetlands or a covert dug underneath W Glenvale Court, near U.S. 19.
Covert definition: adjective: 1. Not openly practiced, avowed, engaged in, accumulated, or shown: covert military operations; covert funding for the rebels. Synonym secret. 2. Covered or covered over; sheltered. 3. Law being married and therefore protected by one's husband. noun: 1. A covering or cover. 2a. A covered place or shelter; hiding place. b. Thick underbrush or woodland affording cover for game. 3. Zoology, one of the small feathers covering the bases of the longer feathers of a bird's wings or tail. 4. A flock of coots.
Why not dig a culvert instead?
-- Chris Van Ormer, Spring Hill
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The Citrus Times welcomes letters from readers for publication.
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Send your letters to Greg Hamilton, editorial page editor, Citrus Times, 301 W Main St., Inverness, FL 34450. To fax a letter, call 860-7320. Send letters by electronic mail in text-only format to Hamilton@sptimes.com
