Daugherty praised for budget leadership
Thank you, Ben Daugherty, for your leadership in guiding the finance committee toward a balanced budget for the Hamilton County Department of Education.
With that milestone, the school board should begin focusing on the next budget cycle – while also ensuring that the superintendent is held accountable for managing the current budget.
Superintendent Justin Robertson should refocus the central office on its essential role: supporting our school principals. In turn, principals must remain dedicated to managing their individual schools. About student welfare, consider partnering with organizations such as the United Way to bring together civic groups and faith communities to support students lacking adequate family support.
To everyone involved in Hamilton County’s public education system: Stay focused on your roles, work collaboratively and remain aligned with your core mission.
Tom Decosimo
County attorney lauded for work
On July 1, 2025, our county and community will say goodbye to a true professional. Rheubin Taylor will retire from his position as Hamilton County attorney.
He distinguished himself by serving over 32 years in county government under many different commissions and county executives. His professional demeanor will be hard to duplicate by attorneys in the future.
He’s a gentleman and a scholar, and is highly admired by all who had the pleasure to work with him. His staff over the many years would go to the highest level of difficulty to get the job done.
Rheubin, your community salutes you for a job well done. I love you, brother, for making me a much better person by being your friend.
Gerald A Mason Sr.
Biden made decision for good of country
It seems like the current fashion is to bash Joe Biden for not leaving the race in time for the Democrats to mount a successful campaign against Trump. There is some truth in this. Jake Tapper’s book and liberal columnists like Maureen Dowd have skewered the former president and his advisors for allowing this to happen.
What exactly was Biden’s crime? He grew too old too fast and was reluctant to admit to his diminished capacity. What did he do when he was made aware of his diminished capacity and forced to face it? He swallowed his pride and ambition for the good of the country, and he retired.
Contrast this with Trump’s performance in 2020 when the voters rejected his bid for a second term. He fumed and lied and cried foul and initiated dozens of fraudulent claims of voting irregularities. He refused to acknowledge his defeat and incited a violent insurrection, which led to several deaths and numerous injuries.
Joe Biden is a decent man and was a decent president. No one can say that about the current corrupt occupant of the White House because he is neither.
John C Reis
Quarry operations hurt our best assets
Communities in Tennessee are being shattered by quarrying operations that blast and excavate the bedrock of our hillsides and plateaus. Sandstone and gravel quarries leave ugly scars on the terrain, and risk destroying domestic wells, rare species, clear streams and scenic waterfalls.
Pursuing tourism based on this region’s natural beauty is a smart plan. Tourism brings in millions of dollars to this area every year. Outdoor enthusiasts love coming here to hike trails, climb rocks, bike, backpack and explore. They stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants. However, the proliferation of quarrying operations undermines the goal of capitalizing on the scenic advantages of our region. Quarry operations destroy the land, generate irritating dust and noise, and result in heavy truck traffic that unsettles peaceful neighborhoods.
State and local governments seem reluctant to protect the natural advantages of this region from the ravages of quarrying. A laissez-faire attitude by elected officials runs counter to their espoused economic plans to attract clean tourism based on our region’s natural beauty.
It is misleading to claim that quarries bring benefits to the region. Local residents do not profit from these operations. In fact, quarries detract from local economies by ruining the scenic landscape that attracts visitors.
We live in an area worth protecting from the devastation of unbridled quarry operations. Please remind your representatives that protecting the natural environment benefits all Tennesseans, not just those who want to profit from destroying it.
Katherine and Charlie Zammit
Sewanee, Tennessee
U.S. should help lift all boats in Cuba
Your April 27 opinion piece from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on freeing Cuba stated, “the Government should get out of the way.” Yes. Lifting the U.S. government’s isolation policies against the island would get unnecessary statist obstacles “out of the way” and allow tourism, free trade and natural forces to take hold.
Our government’s 60-year-old policy, designed to please Cuban refugees in South Florida, has failed. Havana officials have been able to blame their inefficiencies and shortcomings on Uncle Sam and prop themselves up in power for years.
In an ironic twist, U.S. policy has perpetuated Communist rule, which should have ebbed years ago, as it has in many Eastern countries.
In response to the current crisis, entrepreneurs have pushed ahead. A group of 20 of us tourists in November saw local citizens eagerly running their own restaurants, retail stalls and stores, auto repair shops and small businesses. Cuban people are crying for a lifeline. Getting artificial U.S. government restrictions on travel and business “out of the way” could help lift all boats for Cuba.
Mickey Robbins
Walden
Legislators can amend their Duck River error
I was pleased to see the Earl Velasquez letter to the editor in last Sunday’s paper. He lamented the loss of funding in the new state budget for the Duck River. I agree with everything he said.
However, that is not the only problem that the legislators created for the Duck River, which arises in the Barrens on the eastern Highland Rim. This is a soggy area of wetlands and is the sole source of water other than runoff for it. At the behest of two West Tennessee legislators who are also developers, the legislature stripped the protection from 80% of wetlands in the state.
Proof of wetlands’ contribution to the Duck can be seen in satellite imagery of the watershed of the Duck. The legislature could go back and amend the wetlands bill to exclude the Duck River watershed from the bill. However, I won’t hold my breath. When wetlands are gone, they are gone forever.
Tom Jenkins
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
“Sign, sign/Everywhere a sign/Blockin’ out the scenery/Breakin’ my mind/Do this, don’t do that.”
Our roadsides have become so junky and distracting, mostly from signs nailed to telephone poles. Then there’s the wire ones plunged into the ground at every street corner.
Sometimes it’s one sign. At other locations there may be four or five, too many to even read as one drives by, not that you’d want to read them.
Buying junk cars, pressure washing, tile master, we buy houses, Obamacare, Christmas lights installers, mattresses for sale, tax preparation, etc.
Those who post their advertisement on a phone pole may not be aware – or maybe they are aware – that it’s against the law to nail their sign on a telephone pole. When an electrician or phone company jockey has to climb that pole, a sign is an obstruction, dangerous and inconvenient for the worker.
I would never patronize anyone posting a roadside sign, tackying up our Scenic City scenery for personal greed. Stop! Please.
David Cooper