Monday, Jul. 06, 2009

Sound-off 7/6

Fast food danger

The entrance and exits to the Motomart/ McDonald's in Shiloh are poorly designed. They are accidents waiting to happen. On Frank Scott Parkway, going east is a right- lane entrance, but many people try to cross the double yellow line and go in through traffic lanes. Then there are those being rear-ended when going west from cars flying around the corner from Green Mount. And on Green Mount, the entrance is narrow, one to turn in from the right lane on Green Mount and two going out each way. There at least needs to be a sign on Frank Scott in front to the bank saying, "No left turn." The Shiloh police will always be busy at this difficult corner.

Good point on welfare

I agree with William Lambert's letter of June 26. It does not make sense to reward unmarried women for having illegitimate babies. We cannot afford to continue paying these women for having illegitimate children when women who are married and have children are struggling just as much.

Heat dangers obvious

The handler who left the dogs in the hot van overnight should have known better. You can't leave animals in a hot vehicle. It is sad that this happened and that the owners lost their prized animals.

Where's auxiliary?

What has happened to the Belleville auxiliary police? I heard that most of this volunteer group has quit.

Why no charges?

It appalls me that a Smithton police officer can get away with what seems to be statutory rape, as reported in the June 6 article. The child's father did not want to press charges, and the child was a willing participant. What about all the men and women in prison who also had sex with a willing underage participant? Is this a double standard?

Tribute appreciated

Thanks to News- Democrat cartoonist Glenn McCoy for his lovely tribute to Farrah Fawcett after her death. Most of the media all but ignored her death after her years of cancer treatment and suffering. Instead, they fall all over themselves showing every thing they can about Michael Jackson.

As the song said

I appreciated Glen McCoy's cartoon of Farrah Fawcett being greeted in heaven with "good morning, angel." An appropriate one for Michael Jackson at heaven's gate would be "beat it."

Moment not deserved

How dare they do a moment of silence in Congress for Michael Jackson? He is nobody important. He just sang some songs. What about Farrah Fawcett or Ed McMahon? What about the soldier from Germantown who was killed in war recently? Did they give him a moment of silence? That was just unmitigated gall as far as I'm concerned

Notice the weeds?

While driving on Illinois 15 recently, I noticed that the weeds along the highway have not been mowed in quite some time. Our legislative leaders have caused this.

Let gun club stay

I do not understand St. Clair County's continued persistence of a bogus complaint that the Caseyville Rifle and Pistol Club is inappropriately located next to Scott Air Force Base. A new subdivision is planned just south of the runway at the base. Why was it necessary to buy up all the farmland and keep everybody off the land to the west and north of the base, but south of the base is OK for development? This is an outrage.

What's Kern's motive?

Obviously, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern has ulterior motives for pursuing the issue with the Caseyville Rifle and Pistol Club. There is no logical reason to pursue this matter. The county has already lost in court five times. Kern needs to give it a rest, save the taxpayers some dollars and then resign his post. It is obvious he cannot run the county in a fiscally responsible manner.

Water on the rise

It is bad enough that Ameren wants to raise rates in bad economic times, but then I got a notice with my bill from Illinois American Water saying it wants to raise my rates 30 percent. That is an awfully big increase, especially when most of us have taken cuts in pay.

No need for speed

Why do marked and unmarked police cars freely travel down the interstates and secondary highways at high rates of speed? Recently I was on Interstate 255 going toward Collinsville when an unmarked police car with three individuals inside passed me. I do not believe they were on an official call because they did not have their lights on. As I followed them from East St. Louis to Collinsville, I was doing 75 mph, and they were constantly ahead of me. Why do the laws of speeding not apply to police officers?

Finish the road work

Why does it take small construction projects, such as the stretch of Illinois 159 just south of Illinois 15, so long to be completed? There is a measly 500 feet of road here that is getting fixed, and it has taken weeks and weeks, and they are not even close to being finished. Is it that they want to stretch it out to keep the guys working and getting paid? It is ridiculous that we constantly have to be stuck in traffic for this little bit of work that should have been completed long ago. The city of Belleville should be on them about getting it finished.

Smoking still goes on

When you enter Memorial Hospital's lot, you are met with a giant blue sign that states the hospital is a tobacco-free campus and that smoking and tobacco products are not permitted on the property. Why is it then that at any time you can find numerous employees smoking on campus?

Six years of waiting

Six years ago I began complaining to the powers that be in Swansea about an unfinished fence in the yard adjoining mine. I got the runaround from Village Administrator John Openlander. If this unfinished fence were in Openlander's back yard, he would do something about it, and it would not take six years. Just pay your taxes and keep your mouth shut, I guess.

Drive slowly in Troy

I live in Troy, and people are afraid to drive through town because the Troy police are constantly pulling people over and writing tickets for every little thing. They write between 100 and 180 tickets per week. I advise people who drive through Troy to make sure they read their driver's manual and be prepared to follow every rule as they go through, because the police are nothing but traffic cops.

No to nepotism

Why don't they pass a law that would abolish nepotism in the Illinois? This law would allow only one person in a family to work for the state. That would get rid of thousands of people who probably don't work anyway and only got the job because they knew somebody. It would also save the taxpayers a ton of money.

Job requirement

I am upset over the constant hiring of family members within St. Clair County. I have attempted to get a job with the county jail for years, but I am always told they are not hiring. Then a friend of mine who I met through classes at the college, and whose uncle and cousin already work for the county, was just recently hired. I guess this will continue until we get all the good old politicians out of there. There is no way of getting a job within the county unless you are a relative or good friend of someone who works there.

Building's still useful

So what about the old YMCA building in Belleville? The mayor is gathering information from an appointed committee, but it is still all about another parking lot downtown. The county needs parking, so the city has offered up the Y building. Can't Mayor Mark Eckert's administration come up with options that make downtown a destination while preserving an 85-year-old historic facility?

What's to fear?

In response to the Sound-off caller who is unhappy about Belleville embracing the gay pride event, I do not understand why he or she won't come to Belleville anymore. Is it because it is contaminated by gays? Or is it because he or she might turn into a gay person? That was the silliest thing I have read in my life. I am not gay, but I have many gay friends who are some of the kindest people on this earth. They do not choose to be gay; they were born gay. It is a shame they have to hide because of people like the caller.

Not a disorder

In the Sound-off last week, a caller said that homosexuality is a mental disorder. I disagree. They say God creates us all in his image, so maybe we should question God's sexuality. It is not a mental disorder, but it is something you are born with. The people who say they are going to stay away from Belleville because it hosted the gay pride events are the ones who really have the mental disorder.

Avoid consequences

Smokers, please try your best to get help and stop smoking. Even when you crack your window, it blows back into the car. When you go outside to smoke, it hangs on your clothes and comes back inside with you. Would you kick your family in the face and hurt them? Heck, no. But when you smoke around your children, friends and family, you are killing them, just like you are killing yourself.

Bad for business

I think many businesses are going out of business because so many employees are totally indifferent about the success of the business. They do not care if it survives.

Taxes never end

I hate to tell letter writer Mark Smith this, but there is no such thing in Illinois as a temporary tax. Once the tax is on the books, it is there to stay.

What drugs can do

Goodbye to Michael Jackson, an awesome entertainer who died long ago. Little by little, the surgeries and prescription drugs whittled away at the Jackson we knew as the entertainer. When he died he was a frail being, barely able to walk and hiding behind umbrellas. Could the prescription drugs have done this to him? Prescription drugs are still drugs and can be just as deadly.

Model of cleanliness

I was recently in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area and was amazed at how clean their streets were. As I approached Fairview Heights, it got dirtier and had more weeds, and it continued to get worse as I went through Belleville. Clean up your streets. Go look at Edwardsville if you want to see nice, tidy streets and commercial areas. Maybe that is why they have seen growth in their area and we have not.