I'm sorry, I disagree horribly with Judge John Baricevic's sentencing of Kraig Monroe. If it had been Baricevic's little girl who was beaten, I wonder what he would have done.

Not fit to be a judge

The problem with St. Clair County Judge John Baricevic is that any judge who would be lenient on a grown man who nearly beats a 2-year-old girl to death is not worthy to sit on the bench. It's time for someone new to take his seat.

Tax burden is shared

Time for a reality check for those who vilify the nearly half of the population who pay no federal income tax. The vast majority of these individuals work in low-income positions, which is the bulk of our service-heavy job market. By using the standard deduction and exemptions within the tax code, these people are not required to pay federal taxes. But they still pay sales tax, property taxes, state income tax, gas tax, etc.

Gamble elsewhere

Well Swansea has spoken. No gambling because it destroys families and all the other bunk. Remember when the Casino Queen opened and they talked about the crime and violence that gambling would bring? It turns out you are safer now at the Casino Queen than in Belleville or at St. Clair Square. So if people want to gamble, off to a neighboring community which will welcome them with open arms and open coffers.

Liberals won't listen

I want to compliment Brad Sewell on his wonderful letter explaining how we got into the economic and housing market crisis. But I have to inform Sewell that his letter is for naught. The people who want to blame President Bush will still blame him, the facts be damned; they do not care.

Weak showing

The photo of only 14 vets coming out in perfect weather to a rally for congressional candidate Bill Enyart should have read, "Few vets show support for Enyart." As an armed forces retiree with more than 37 years of service, I can attest that finding a Democrat in the real armed forces, not the National Guard, is challenging as finding a snowflake in Southern Illinois in June.

Falling down on job

The St. Clair County's Sheriff's office is a disgrace to solid, financially responsible police work. Their responsibilities in the unincorporated area are ignored not because of a personnel shortage but because they have established all types of special groups to perform responsibilities in incorporated areas that local police should be handling. You also have a major at the Sheriff's Department responsible for patrols racking up tens of thousands of dollars in overtime to pad his pension. I would hope more attention is given by the media to just how poorly this law enforcement agency is performing. We deserve more, especially since millions of dollars are spent annually on this department.

Mixed-up priorities

Seriously? The American Legion on Eiler Road is being robbed and the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department can't respond? I live in Stookey Township and have two neighbors at war over a barking dog and the sheriff responds two to three times a week; usually two sheriff cars and two officers. They can do that for a barking dog but not for the American Legion? Shame on them.

Revise sheriff cartoon

The editorial cartoon regarding alarms not be answered by the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department wasn't quite accurate. What you should have done is drawn a picture of the half a dozen sheriff's department squad cars that sit at the cafe at 16th and West Main streets in Belleville every morning. That would have been a more accurate depiction because instead of patrolling they are sitting in Belleville.

Bad policies exposed

I am glad that the BND exposed what is going on in the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department. People should have been asking a lot of questions. The sheriff is charging for advertising on the police cars and soliciting for prisoners who don't even belong in the St. Clair County Jail so they can make money. Half the people in jail are in for selling, buying or using a plant product when the real criminals are going free. This is a rotten situation from the top to the bottom.

Rein in rental crime

At the Belleville town hall meeting on Sept. 13, residents from different neighborhoods expressed concern about how renters act like they don't have to obey laws and don't show any regard for other neighbors. It is not right that these renters are given verbal warnings. Three warnings are two too many. What is wrong with the Belleville Police? Can't they enforce the laws? Don't the officers patrol neighborhoods anymore? Ask your neighbors to help form Neighborhood Watch groups block by block and work together to get rid of these bad renters.

Reduce the class sizes

My child is the Cahokia classroom that has 30 kids. This is an elementary grade and I am very upset that they are not trying to lower the c;ass sizes. There is no way that there can be any good instruction going on. The teachers have their hands full with discipline issues. The school says they can't do anything about it. I go to the school board building but I can never get any answers from people. Please look into this.

Their babies, our cost

Out of 133 births listed in the BND, 60 were born to unwed mothers. Those of you that have had babies know an average of a hospital stay per birth is $9,000. So, taxpayers, you just spent a half million dollars to pay for illegitimate children being born and now you are going to have to raise those children. And you want to keep our welfare president in office.

Balance out cartoons

Why doesn't BND cartoonist Glenn McCoy ever say anything about Mitt Romney and the mistakes he makes? His cartoons are mainly about President Barack Obama. It just seems so racist and malicious that he picks on one side only. This is supposed to a be a newspaper covering both sides. Why not Romney's mistakes? People in the black community would like to know that.

Speed patrols needed

I am calling about the fatal hit and run that happened on 25th St. in East St. Louis. I have been complaining to the City Council for years about how people drive through the city at 50-55 mph. They take East St. Louis as a highway instead of a city. Yet the city fails to have police out monitoring traffic. Until that changes, 25th Street is a disaster waiting to happen.

Not easy to end crime

Anyone who thinks they have the answer to the crime rate and violence in East St. Louis, Washington Park and surrounding areas need only read a recent news story. When somebody gets gunned down while cutting his grass, there really is nothing that anyone could have done to anticipate this. When the core of the population, particularly the younger population, kills someone because of a disagreement, there really isn't anything you can do. The culture has collapsed.

Screen phone calls

To the lady who complained about telephone sales calls: I know several people who, after unsuccessfully looking for a job, became telephone marketeers. Several times they have come home in tears from the cursing and yelling directed at them. Perhaps she could get an answering machine and get caller ID and screen her calls. This has helped us a lot.

Bias for Obama shows

Pointless I suppose to ask a newspaper filled will liberal bias to put a stop to it, but why are you publishing articles about Mitt Romney's income? To distract from President Obama's failed domestic programs and his failed foreign policies? Unless wealthy Americans gained their wealth illegally, only those engaging in class warfare are interested. Romney paid the income earnings rate on his money when it was earned, now he's paying the investment rate on the same funds. That's double taxation. Add those rates together and tell your readers what he is really paying in taxes if you are interested in honest journalism.

Looking for a leader

I've come to the conclusion that I don't want a president who is my buddy or my pal. I don't want a president who can sing or dance. I don't want a president who flies himself and his family, at my expense, for jet vacations all over the world when it's falling apart. I don't want a president who is on TV talk shows constantly, and a wife who has buff arms and is loved by the celebrities because he and she can schmooze with them. I need a president who is in the White House working for our country and one that loves his country.

Where to go for help?

I would like to see your reporters do a follow up story on where to get help for heroin addiction. I know of programs in St. Louis, South St. Louis County and in St. Charles. Please let people who are dealing with this know where they can go get help

Teen night is a joke

I read about all the shooting going on at the VIP Club in East St. Louis and also about the outstanding man from East Side High who was shot. His mother said he went there with his older brother, he was 19. This was supposed to be a teen night; how many of the attendees were actually teenagers? Apparently there was not much age checking done. The Club VIP should have had security and cameras. Teenagers should have to be home before 2 a.m. It is asking a lot of police officers from other cities to take care of the crime that the mayor and the people of East St. Louis do nothing about.

Too late for teens

I read in the paper about the tragedy that happened in East St. Louis with the shootings. Where are these people getting the guns? This needs to be stopped. These young kids should not have guns. What are they doing out at that time of the morning if they are teenagers in high school? If a person is out that late at night, I don't care who he is or what he is doing, he is just looking for trouble. I do feel for the family but these are the consequences people face sometimes when they go places like this at that time of night.

Keep change going

Thanks to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and the St. Clair County State's Attorney's office for change in East St. Louis. Night clubs closing by 1 a.m., a law enforcement board for communities that can't manage their police departments, TIF money going to law enforcement instead of the East St. Louis Community Development black hole, landlords being held accountable for their properties in East St. Louis, help from other law enforcement agencies to support our East St. Louis Police Department. We will defeat the East St. Louis election board issue and use those funds for more police. We need to help ourselves in East St. Louis.

Hands off the pecans

The past two years we have not gotten pecans off our trees due to squirrels eating them green off the tree. This year we stopped the squirrels and our trees are full. Now we must watch the two-legged stealers. Yes, these people walk their dogs and pick pecans off the limbs they can reach. Isn't this stealing? We spent a lot on water this summer to save our pecans for us and our three children's holiday baking. I know that these pecans are tempting but they are ours and not for the public.