BND readers sound off on naked bicycling, hospital move
Late look
About 18 months ago, when St. Elizabeth’s decided to move and build in O’Fallon, why weren’t the issues, like the traffic problems that O’Fallon is going to take on and the loss of business in the downtown Belleville area, discussed? None of this was brought up back then. All of a sudden, it’s an issue after the hospital is built and the decision to move has been made.
Withering Dems
We’re losing this city bit by bit under the control of the Democrat party for the last 75 years. Now, St. Elizabeth’s is hurting the local businesses as it leaves. Take into account all of the car dealerships that have left. Nothing seems to be able to survive in Belleville. Stop voting for your party and start voting for what we need to turn this around.
Depressed market
I agree with Mayor Eckert in that St. Elizabeth’s move to O’Fallon will not impact my downtown shopping habits because I never shop downtown Belleville. With Fairview Heights and O’Fallon so close, I do my shopping there. I almost always find what I am looking for, save money and enjoy shopping. Downtown Belleville is depressing.
Sick city
Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert says that he doesn’t “believe we’re going to be dramatically impacted” by the departure of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital from Belleville to O’Fallon. Yes, you read that right. So why did Mayor Eckert and the Belleville City Council spend hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to try to prevent the hospital from moving? Our elected officials, in their infinite wisdom, actually filed suit against the hospital hoping to prevent the move. Now, Mayor Eckert is excited about the potential for new development. Look around, mayor. Our streets are deplorable, our taxes are high and our elected officials are self-serving. There are not many people or businesses standing in line to live or work in Belleville. Wake up.
Naked bike riding? Yikes!
I can’t wrap my mind around why people are allowed to ride their bicycles naked on Missouri streets. Shouldn’t they be arrested for indecent exposure? That’s not legal, is it?
Judge safety patrol
I’d like to recognize the wonderful St. Clair County judges for keeping Kevin G. Helfrich on the streets after he’s had five DUI charges. You put him on the street to endanger me, my family and everyone else. Good job.
$2,000 rent
The story about rent prices in Shiloh and O’Fallon was a little misleading. There’s a lot of property, rental houses and apartments that are cheaper than $2,000 a month for a 3-bedroom. Just because somebody builds something at that price, doesn’t mean that they’re going to keep them rented or even can rent them. Shiloh and O’Fallon are not Ladue. It remains to be seen if this will even be built.
Veteran taxes
One more letter about VA disability and property tax: Ted Farmer isn’t too far off in his claims about what a retired disabled veteran is entitled to. Military pay rates and VA disability rates can be viewed online. What Illinois did for disabled vets is admirable, but it is a law that should be based on true need. Simple greed has a price and our schools are paying for it. Medicare rates and federal income tax on Social Security is determined by income, so why not property tax rates?
Biased picture
If you want to portray someone as a criminal, show only his arrest picture on local and national news. If you want to portray someone as a good family man, show a picture of him holding his little daughter. That’s exactly what the news media did to Jason Stockley. He’s the criminal, apparently, instead of the drug dealer, Anthony Lamar Smith, who had an outstanding arrest warrant, rammed police cars, struck a police officer with his vehicle and drove 87 miles per hour on wet city streets. According to the press, Smith was the good family man just because he was holding his little girl. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Shooting lesson
Arsonists, learn from the Las Vegas shooting. Make sure that the next occupied building you torch is set on fire with a government-approved match.
Home for homeless
Isn’t it a shame that while everyone is celebrating a new stray rescue ranch in O’Fallon, there’s no place for the homeless to go anywhere in St. Clair County?
ID to vote, shoot
I think we should have voter identification in Illinois. If you need identification to own a rifle or gun, there should be voter ID.
Shot 9 times
In an article about a man convicted of murder, after he shot the victim nine times, it says that his sentence may be a maximum of four years of probation or a prison term of 4-20 years. How can you get four years of probation for killing somebody? And killing somebody is only a prison term of 4-20 years?
Immigrant kids
Because my parents didn’t take the proper financial steps, I am denied the privilege of being a rich trust fund kid. Likewise, because their parents entered the USA illegally, DACA applicants should not be given U.S. citizenship unless they earn it by serving honorably in our military. I am open to DACA applicants becoming legal residents, except for the ones who applied using fraudulent documentation or identities, estimated at 40 percent, but not citizenship. Also, any illegal person who demands citizenship while waving the flag of a foreign country should be immediately deported.
St. Louis resolve
It’s a good thing the Las Vegas shooter didn’t commit his dastardly deed in St. Louis. Otherwise, the St. Louis City Council may have been inclined to pass a resolution honoring him.
Go back to Europe
I just read a letter to the editor in the paper about football players kneeling during the anthem and the writer said, “Go back to Africa.” I haven’t heard that kind of talk since the ’60s. Just because our president is moronic, does not give us the right to promote white supremacy. I think anybody who does not believe Americans of any background don’t have the same rights as the whites, should be the ones to leave the country.
Their time, not mine
I watch pro-football for entertainment, not to engage in a debate about why police officers shoot people resisting arrest or carrying sandwiches, which turn out to be the same gun in pictures they posted online. I can’t protest at my job; they can protest on their time as well. You can’t tell me men who make hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for 7-8 months playing a game which has no bearing in real life can’t protest on their own time.
Trump’s party
Trump is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He is a “Trump-ite.” We have a third party president with Steve Bannon as his vice president.
Airport Amazon
I’m surprised we haven’t heard about an attempt to get Amazon to build at the proposed NGA site on our side of the river. They would have access to MidAmerica and be close to St. Louis without being in the protest- and high-homicide zone.
Parking fees
I have a way to pay for parking at MidAmerica Airport that would not cost the taxpayer a penny: Just add $5 to every ticket for a total of $397,500 based on the 79,500 folks MAA says used the airport last year.
Cultural ignorance
I’m not a Belleville native. I’ve lived all over the United States from New Hampshire to California. I’ve never lived in a city as culturally ignorant as what I’ve found here. I can’t believe that the Midwest is a part of the country that is considered important. It is very sad.
Missing multiplier
In Sound Off, there was a call in about the county changing its tax multiplier. The BND promises that they will hold officials accountable. I didn’t read a single story about that. Thank you to whoever called in and told us that our taxes are going up. In silence, we think we’re secure.
Change news
Nothing more newsworthy to report than Sunday’s front page story about a transgendered person? I don’t want to read about a couple where the wife has decided to be a man. There’s a lot better things that could be put on the front page of the paper, besides that.
Drill down
About the subsidence underneath the Swansea school, if historic maps were available, why weren’t they taken into account when the school was built? Why didn’t they pursue this? They should have analyzed and done some preliminary drilling.
This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "BND readers sound off on naked bicycling, hospital move."