Letters to the Editors

Time to find solutions to bay area's water woes

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 8, 2001

Editor: We have only to look at the burnt lawns, brown fields and dry brush to see up close the effects of the drought we have been experiencing for the past two years. Other than saying "it sure is dry," I don't believe most of us realize just how dry.

The weather guessers on television tell us we are about 23 inches of rain short of normal rainfall. Twenty-three inches of water spread over a square mile turns out to be 408,399,360 gallons. That is what has not been available to go into the aquifer. If all of this absent water could be loaded into tanker trucks of the size that are typically seen delivering gasoline to your local service stations (approximately 7,500-gallon capacity), there would be a convoy of 54,453 tankers for each and every square mile of area under drought. Imagine the traffic jam this many 18 wheelers would cause.

I am sure there have been times in the past when things have been equally parched, but in none of those times has Florida had the population and demands for water that exist now. I don't consider myself to be blessed with a crystal ball, but it doesn't require a rocket scientist to understand that when there isn't enough water, it doesn't make much sense to go on approving housing developments until something is done to solve the problem.

Even if rain in biblical amounts should start tomorrow, it would only alleviate the immediate problems. Sometime this situation is going to repeat itself. By then the population will have grown even larger. What then? It is unthinkable.

I have spent some time in Kuwait as a civilian. While there is a lot I don't agree with in the way they do things, they have made a city flourish in the desert with desalination systems. They work just fine. I don't know where they get rid of the resulting brine, but if they can solve the problem, so can we.

For openers, the Gulf of Mexico is reasonably shallow. It looks like a possible solution would be to extend a pipeline a required distance out into the Gulf to disburse the brine in deeper water than just pumping it off the beach. In any case, it is time for our elected officials to start looking for solutions rather than looking for problems. After all, this is what we elected them for.
-- Gene Hanna, Spring Hill

Book banning violatesU.S. Constitution

Editor: I can't tell you which year in school, or even the teacher who said it, but I was taught that banning books from libraries was bad news and against the U.S. Constitution. Of course, I'm a high school graduate of 1975, which was a time when the Constitution was looked at in a different light than it is today.

It's terrible that the Hernando County School Board felt intimidated by one mother so much that it caved in to her and removed a book without even reading it.

I have a solution. Perhaps each parent can sign a statement saying whether their child can view the book's contents. If they say no, then the child could be removed from the class while the book is being read and discussed.

Of course, if the School Board is going to remove the book because of stuff like "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the door and kill all the people," then they better get rid of all the newspapers that are delivered to them each day. There is more filth in the paper than in any book. I often wonder what the difference really is.

I don't appreciate the mother saying that because parents won't do what's right for their child, someone else must. This excuse is so lame it's sad. Sure, there are parents who don't care what their children do, but to lump everyone in that group is an insult to everyone and uncalled for.

Perhaps she should make a public apology, as I'm sure that mother wouldn't like it if someone said that about her.
-- Calliope Snow, Spring Hill

Builders' group has clout in county

Editor: Hernando County Development Director Grant Tolbert and Planning Department Director Larry Jennings finally woke up after 11 years in charge of the Building Department to do a little more than to ensure a homeowner's house would not fall or burn down around them. Now the county wants a citizens dispute council to have authority over civil disputes between builders and homeowners.

Don't hold your breath. Hernando County is a builders' haven, and they have strong influence over the Building Department through the Hernando Builders Association.
-- Frank Vicchiullo, Brooksville

Two ceremonies honoring war veterans are overdue

Editor: More than 380 Korean War veterans and their families from the Tampa Bay area filled the Tampa Convention Center Feb. 2 for ceremonies and honors presented under the theme "Winter Event 2001 from Korea," by the Korean American Cultural Foundation, Seoul, Korea.

It was called "Korea Comes to You," with some 56 students flown in from Seoul to present ancient sword dancing, drum sounds and ritual dancing. Costumed in ancient Korean dress, these players and dancers placed 50th Anniversary Freedom Medallions around the necks of the Korean War-period veterans to row after row of graying, aging men and women, along with family members of those killed or missing in action.

Spring Hill's Korean War Veterans Nature Coast Association Chapter 174 commander, John McMillan, and former commander Steve Ackerman brought chapter members to the event to join other chapters and veterans organizations in which Korean War veterans are members, including the Military Order of Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Marine Corps Leagues, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS and others. Each was presented with the Freedom Medallion.

On Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. in the VFW 10209 Veterans Hall, an auspicious presentation, the Jubilee of Liberte medallion ceremony, will recognize some 18 Purple Heart veterans from the Tampa Bay area who were wounded in the beachhead landings at Normandy in June 1944. Flags flown over the Capitol with certificates of authenticity will be offered each recipient from the office of Rep. Karen Thurman of Florida's 5th Congressional District.

Special recognition by the French Deputy Consul Didier Samson in Miami and Sonia Denham is scheduled in appreciation of these World War II veterans for the liberation of France.

Ken Wrinkle, director of the Office of Veterans Services in Hernando County, is master of ceremonies with Paul Conde, commander of Chapter 560 of the Military Order of Purple Heart, sharing in the presentation of the medals and awards.

These two events honoring our veterans who wore the uniform in the liberation of nations oppressed against their will are long past due.
-- Deron Mikal, Brooksville

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