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Today's Letters: How about a park from Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart bides its timestory, Feb. 13

Too many dollars and not enough sense.

Wal-Mart should just walk away from this proposal in Tarpon Springs. Anyone with half a brain can see that this environmentally sensitive area is not suitable for a supercenter Wal-Mart. This site is surrounded by water. Why does Wal-Mart need waterfront property to do business?

Now, Pinellas County government has its eyes on this beautiful piece of riverfront land, hoping that this proposal falls through. I might sound delusional, but wouldn't it be really cool of Wal-Mart to withdraw its application and donate this land to Pinellas County for a beautiful park?

Yeah, I know, I'm delusional.

John Thurmond,Ozona

Sad day will pass unnoted at school story, Feb. 11

Tragedy deserves our remembering

This article truly fails to give notice to the real victims of the events that day in 1988 at Pinellas Park High School. Unnoted by whom?

Certainly not my son, who crouched to hide behind an overturned lunch table and witnessed the bullets hitting administrator Richard Allen. He has nightmares today.

Certainly not his friends, who I came home to find huddled in my family room with looks on their faces and fear in their voices that I can only compare to that of my friends on the day that JFK was murdered.

It certainly does not consider the helplessness of parents, who were not able to protect their children, and a system unprepared to assist. When I went to a meeting of parents called by the school, I passed a bloodied cafeteria support post.

I remember the day in 1996 that my son announced to me that shooter Jason Harless had been released.

Unnoted? Certainly not by those who live with the memory of it. Perhaps we should grant this event its due note and talk about it a little more.

Sue Humphreys,Dunedin

Condominium developer sues over rejection story, Feb. 1

So what is the city attorney doing?

At the end of all Dunedin City Commission meetings are updates from the city manager and city attorney. Usually the attorney says, "Nothing to report."

It seems that the city has been in ongoing litigation with Kelly Prior. How many other lawsuits is the city involved in and where in the city budget are they burying the legal expenses?

Tom Tucker,Dunedin

Planned rec center in peril story, Feb. 7

Maybe volunteers can ease crunch

Clearwater City Council member Paul Gibson asked me at last week's council meeting if I would give up some police and fire coverage to keep a recreation center open.

Upon further reflection, I have two scenarios to consider.

If we cut police 10 percent and crime increases 10 percent, I would not favor that. If we cut police by 10 percent and have greater coverage of high crime areas (such as the beach and parks) using 24-hour video surveillance and see little increase in crime, I would favor it.

We need some creative ideas to help us through these times of fiscal tightening. Maybe the city's department heads need to be more creative in using funds and resources.

We might need to go back to the JFK days and ask not what the city can do for us but what can we do for the city.

There are many retired ex-firefighters and police in this city. We can ask for volunteers for non-essential work. In the northeast, most fire and ambulance services were volunteer. Let's work together.

Mark Blanchard, Clearwater

Your voice counts

You may submit a letter to the editor for possible publication through our Web site at www.tampabay.com/letters, or by faxing it to (727) 445-4119, or by mailing it to Letters, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. You must include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

[Last modified February 13, 2008, 23:01:55]