The present St. Petersburg Pier, historically known as the "Million Dollar Pier" because it cost almost that much when it was built by the city in 1925-26, was the brainchild of Lew Brown, who was editor of the Evening Independent newspaper and an inveterate city booster.
The idea of a city pier as an anchor for downtown development, tourism and community recreation actually dates from at least 1913 when the Municipal Recreation Pier was built on the same site.
St. Petersburg's city piers have long been a magnet for tourists and residents alike, attracting 2-million people this past year as the article notes. Historian Ray Arsenault calls the Pier "the most striking waterfront improvement" of the city's history. It is also the site from which the world's first commercial airline, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, was launched in 1914.
The city has assured the public about the current safety of the Pier, and is starting early to look at options and plan for a new pier well before deterioration due to weathering becomes critical. Hopefully a new pier building will complement our downtown historic ambience but also offer an edifice that is distinctive in its own right. A marketing study would help assure the new pier building meets future needs of residents and visitors. As in 1926, the presence of a downtown pier is still of great importance to the city's economy and the enjoyment of residents and tourists.
-- Will Michaels, executive director, St. Petersburg Museum of History
Residents want a say in fluoridation
Pinellas County residents weren't permitted to vote on the fluoridation issue or hear a debate about it before our county commissioners voted it in last August. And requests for subsequent open public debate (made by Citizens for Safe Water) have fallen on deaf ears.
I have to believe that our county commissioners have not seen the big picture where fluoridation is concerned, or else they would not have acted as they have. And they have certainly not allowed the public to be exposed to both sides of this important issue.
Let them know we want to hear a public debate on fluoridation and we want to have a say about whether our water is fluoridated.
-- Susan Stockton, Clearwater
Fluoride in water is good for public health
Pinellas County is on the threshold of a monumental public health event as our entire water system will be optimally fluoridated beginning June 1.
According to past and present U.S. surgeons general, optimally fluoridated community water is one of the greatest American public health achievements of the last century.
Traces of fluoride in water occur naturally when water filters through mineral-rich soil. At ideal concentrations of fluoridation, dental health benefits abound. Today, over 66 percent of Americans benefit from optimally fluoridated water. In these water supplies, varying trace amounts of fluoride are added to increase the fluoride concentration to ideal levels.
Optimally fluoridated water is safe, proven so by repeated scientific research. Young and old benefit. Fluoridation helps keep dental costs down.
Pinellas County now has the largest public water system south of the Mason-Dixon line that is not fluoridated. That ends in June, thanks to the wisdom of our County Commission.
Children's and adults' teeth will be strengthened. Parents who do so can stop giving their children expensive supplements.
Decay will be lessened. Everyone will benefit, and at no additional cost to citizens.
Our community can be proud to be taking this monumental step for the greater good of our dental health.
-- Mary Ann Pittman, D.M.D., president, Pinellas County Dental Association, St. Petersburg
We should get a vote on our water
Next month, the County Commission will turn the switch that starts pumping hydrofluorosilic acid in to Pinellas County's drinking water supply. The acid is a toxic waste byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer industry in Florida. The county will buy this stuff and put into our water and call it fluoridation. County officials will do it because they were told it might fight tooth decay.
Whether it does or doesn't is not nearly as significant as the fact that the residents of Pinellas County did not have a direct vote in this matter. In other words, we, the residents of Pinellas County, should be able to vote on what is put in our water for any purpose other than potability: to have safe drinking water.
-- David Plyer, Clearwater
Parents bear some blame in assault
Re: Man, 26, accused of sex assault on girls, May 19.
I am shocked, disgusted, angry and appalled that such a thing can happen while parents are working and no adult is left in charge of the sleepover.
What interest or knowledge did the parents of the girl under 16 have that their daughter was having a physical relationship with a man 10 years older?
What interest or knowledge did any of the parents of any of the children have regarding this sleepover?
The parents of these girls should be placed in the slammer with Christopher Bird. They are all at fault.
Let this be a warning or lesson to all parents. Know your children's friends, their whereabouts and don't allow activities outside of the family without knowing the friends and their families. This is not the world we once lived in.
It is because of such a lack of interest in our children's everyday activities and especially their friends that some are impregnated, kidnapped or murdered.
-- Dee Jackson, Palm Harbor
Teens learn from mistakes, fight policy
Re: Teens plead to walk with their graduating class, May 12.
I was pleased to see the article regarding students at Norwood Secondary School being granted appeals for discipline problems that allowed them to walk for graduation as seniors with their referring high school.
I am proud that the Pinellas County School Board followed through and changed the policy as promised. My daughter and I fought very hard to change what we thought was a previously unfair policy that did not allow seniors in their second semester who made a mistake, usually their first, and reassigned them under the "zero tolerance" policy, ultimately costing them, and their families, the right to walk for graduation with their class.
I hope others will take the time and energy to stand up for what they believe in by following the proper channels and rules of society to effect change. My daughter learned a difficult lesson last year but hopefully she has also learned that if you don't believe something is fair, it is never enough just to complain about it - actions speak louder than words. Congratulations to those seniors that benefited from our fight. Even policymakers make mistakes; we just have to be willing to listen and change.
-- Rhonda Curp, St. Petersburg
[Last modified May 26, 2004, 01:00:46]
