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Disabled need better transport

I am totally disabled. My main concern is transportation. I moved to Pasco County from Pinellas. I had lived in a condominium with my elderly mother. She had gotten to the point where I was unable to care for her.

I moved in with family in New Port Richey as my mother had to be on hospice care. She has since passed away.

I volunteer two days a week to give back what little I can. I also need to go to the Veterans Administration to see my doctors often. I just called Pasco County Transportation and was told they cannot transport me to volunteer because it is a low priority. When I was in Pinellas, they offered on-demand transportation.

The transportation issue keeps changing. Am I better off, or do I need to move back to Pinellas where I feel the needs of the disabled are met?

Hi, moms: You all deserve a hug

Merry Christmas to many moms. You know who you are. You are the stay-at-home mom who ruined your child's life because there was never enough money. You are the working mom who ruined your child's life because there was never enough time. You are the mom who loved him or her more. You are the mom whose house was not clean enough. You are the mom whose house was too clean.

Merry Christmas to the moms who "were always on my back" and to the moms who "never cared enough to get on my back." Don't knock yourself out with the gift-buying. You know whatever you get will be wrong anyway.

Get through the Hallmark moment Christmas dinner. But, if you can, avoid it. Make sure you have some strawberries and chocolate, fresh mint for tea and a warm hug for yourself. You deserve it. You survived.

County must plan for water need

On Dec. 1, Economy roars ahead; Dec. 3, Oklahoma developer plans to construct 500 condos in Pasco County; and Dec. 4, a report of a Middle East country running out of freshwater.

All of the above articles relate to Pasco housing and development requiring freshwater for human consumption, agriculture, carwashes, laundries, swimming pools and flush toilets. The list is endless.

The new demands on Pasco's well field should be given a higher priority than we read about in the news, especially in profit-driven enterprises such as these 500 condos with at least 500 toilets to flush.

The well fields in Pasco help furnish freshwater to St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Supporting all of these freshwater usages is the Florida Aquifer, which is fed by rainwater seepage. The freshwater system surely has a volume limit, which is approached every time a house is built, a lawn is sprinkled, a car is washed or a toilet is flushed.

Is Florida's water management system efficiently tracking this situation to avoid a water-out as build-out roars ahead? We citizens need some reassuring as we take a shower, sip coffee or tea and wash our dishes.

[Last modified December 11, 2005, 02:15:36]