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Homeless issue is all over county

I read about the tent city set up in St. Petersburg by the homeless and wondered, what do we do with the homeless people in this area? I more specifically wonder what to do about the homeless people in my own back yard.

I live in Palm Harbor in a subdivision off of U.S. 19. There is a wooded area between U.S. 19 and my back yard where several homeless people are living. We first noticed they were there last summer when we could see their tents from U.S. 19. The police came and made them move.

We thought they were gone but didn't know for sure until about two months ago, when we had our back doors open and heard them screaming obscenities and threatening one another on and off for well over two hours.

The police told us they know that this is a problem. They make them leave, but they keep returning. We've seen these men crossing U.S. 19 and figure that they are working for the day labor agency across the street. We've seen them numerous times going into the woods carrying cases of beer.

We bought this house a little over a year ago and moved onto what we thought was a quiet cul-de-sac so our children could play outside without worries. We have no idea who these men and women are. Are they criminals? Pedophiles? Mentally unstable? We realize that not all homeless people are these things, but maybe these people are.

Years ago when my parents lived in Tarpon Springs there were homeless people in the woods behind their house also. My brother works in Clearwater and there are homeless people in the woods behind his office. The point of my letter is that it's not just 50 tents in an empty lot in St. Petersburg. The problem is all over this county and I'm willing to bet most people don't realize it. I doubt the people who live across the street from me have any idea that we have this problem in our neighborhood, simply because they're not in their back yard.

This is a huge problem that needs attention. I have no idea what the solution is, but then I'm not an elected government official. I just want to feel safe in my own home.

Shelly Worden, Palm Harbor

Re: Our helpers need help as middle class slips, Diane Steinle column, Jan. 21

Middle class tax burden too much

Thank you for reminding all of us just how much the middle class has suffered under the George Bush administration. For the first time since the Great Depression, more middle-class citizens have slipped into the poverty level. Bush continues to give tax cuts to the rich people while the middle class bears the burden of holding up our society on our backs, and it has become a burden too much to bear.

Bush told us that the oil from Iraq would pay for the war. Now, we find out that oil production in Iraq is around 40 percent (of its previous production level). Our grandchildren and their children will bear the cost of this unnecessary war.

We have now reached the "tipping point" on how far down the middle class will go. We may never be able to recover from this economic mess that Bush has put on our backs. We may, indeed, become a society like Mexico, where you have two classes: the rich and the poor.

As Karen Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Safety Harbor Neighborhood Family Center, put it so well in your column, "The middle class provided the balance in our society ... it was the pulse you could count on." Soon, we may no longer exist.

Margaret Hyde, Clearwater

Golf course's new look is appealing

Having played in a golf league at Largo Golf Course for more than 15 years, I had an opportunity to walk around the new layout. You will be amazed at the new look.

The golf course has been impressively redesigned from what was becoming a pasture to a well laid out, challenging golf showpiece. The fairways are challenging; the tee boxes are flat and longer. There are rolling hummocks in some fairways with many trees and shrubs added to challenge your accuracy. The greens are larger and look ready for play.

At this point the fairways still need substantial growth before the course can open for play. However, if we continue to have this mild weather, it should help the grass to spread and become stable.

Our league looks forward to returning and playing this course again. I predict what has been done there will attract more golfers than ever before. Congratulations to Don Brannon and his team.

Peter B. Ferrara Sr., Belleair Bluffs

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[Last modified January 30, 2007, 06:53:29]