In case you haven't heard, a developer wants to buy the land between the vacant Atria assisted living facility and the Brookridge entrance and build a strip mall. There being no direct access, he wants to use our entrance as the truck and car entrance on a frontage road to the mall. The other entrance would be Grove Road, a two-lane road already busy with traffic going to and from three schools.
The frontage road would be between the realty buildings. We have 2,394 homes in Brookridge with more than 3,000 cars and trucks using our entrance each day. It's an accident ready to happen. With the added traffic, some of our older residents will be prisoners in their homes.
State Road 50 will have two more lanes added in 2009. What happened to the temporary rule about no new building on that part of State Road 50 because it is overcrowded?
Brookridge residents, you have a right and a duty to express your views to the County Commission before the Nov. 9 meeting.
-- Marie Domek, Brookridge
Truck traffic should be slower than cars
I would like to ask the state of Florida, "Why is it that trucks travel faster than cars?"
As you enter the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, you notice the speed limit for trucks is 5 mph slower than cars. In Florida, on Interstate 75, the trucks almost push you off the highway. The fiery crash of the oil tanker and box truck on I-75 recently again shows the need to slow down these trucks.
Instead of fighting the out-of-control truckers, we take U.S. 19 instead of I-75.
Florida has the highest rate of truck and car accidents of any state. Here, 75 to 80 mph is an accepted speed for truckers.
-- Earl Trongeau, Brooksville
Hernando High School homecoming was the best
I cannot imagine a better homecoming than the one that was held at Hernando High School last Friday evening, and I want to thank Betty Harper, Tom Varn Jr. and Mark Griffith for giving it all a jump-start last summer.
In fact, I am hearing from students and teachers alike that it was a very busy and successful week. The bonfire was brought back after being gone too long, and the "Growl" was one of the best ever. The parade and football game brought it all to a close, not forgetting the dance on Saturday night.
The children's faces during the parade made the work of building the floats all worthwhile. And, I might add my personal note - it was work, but also a labor of love. Maybe "labor" is a poor choice of words. It was not labor for me - Jayne Spradlin, Sally Pebler and "my crew" did all the work - but the love was there!
What seemed to me to be the most poignant part of the evening was a rehearsal in the band room with almost 100 alumni following their leader, Steve Manuel, in the Hernando High alma mater theme. For a moment we went back in time. So many of them came from near and far. Their moment in time that evening was their high school years. How dear all their faces were. Who said you cannot go home again? All of them have grown up, some have gone away and many have children of their own, but for that one brief moment time was frozen. They never sounded better to these ears!
The icing on the cake was when the junior high, senior high and alumni band all joined together and marched with the flag girls and women onto the football field under the direction of Joe Harron. What a beautiful sight to see.
Thank you, Barbara Manuel, for bringing them all together, and thank you Steve and Joe for leading them one more time.
Come back any time alumni; we love you.
-- Julia Jinkens, Brooksville
[Last modified October 28, 2005, 01:35:22]
