We live in the Old Northeast down the street from Vinoy Park, where they held Ribfest. This past weekend we've been wondering if this is the way that cruise ship got the pirates to go away, or perhaps the way they drive those prisoners at Guantanamo crazy enough from excessive loud noise to confess. Even closing all our windows and turning on the air conditioning did not help much.
On Friday night when we went in to Ribfest intending to enjoy the "music," we were not only driven away by the excessively loud, tinny sound, which seemed to be coming from a cheap boom box turned up way loud, but we were also offended by the vulgar language coming from the performers on stage, particularly David Lee Roth. Can we not invite him back?
We are now glad to be able to park near our condo again, and glad that the empty beer cans, cups, uneaten french fries, etc., will no longer be found on our front lawn each morning. How about finding a nonresidential venue for this event next time?
-- Charles Sexton, St. Petersburg
Proposed pool is not best use of space
Re: St. Pete Beach plots public leisure zone, Nov. 2.
St. Pete Beach needs more green areas, not less. I totally agree with Commissioner Ed Ruttencutter, who would rather see the old City Hall site be left open and green. As he indicated, the proposed pool is something only a very small part of the population would ever use. Most hotels, condos, high schools and colleges here already have pools. And since this is a beach community if someone wants to go in the water, why not take advantage of the gulf?
The pool would occupy almost one half of the 2 acres available, leaving an almost meaningless open green park. The $800,000 for the pool and the total cost of the $5.8-million project could be put to much better use.
Just one example would be to install more islands on Gulf Boulevard so that more would not have to die trying to cross four lanes of traffic. How many more have to die before any meaningful action is taken?
-- Jim Greene, St. Pete Beach
[Last modified November 16, 2005, 01:09:18]
