Thank you to those citizens who worked mostly out of sight to make the recent elections go as smoothly as they died, especially considering the record turnout and inclement conditions
A special thanks to the workers at Eastdale Recreational Center.
Sam Jones
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School board has more work to do
The discussion over the MGT facilities report and the community's role is missing a significant step - first, the Hamilton County Board of Education needs to finish the plan it calls Blueprint 2030.
To date, since approving the $500,000 MGT contract in December 2018, the elected school board has had little substantive discussion about Blueprint 2030.
The school board received MGT's final report without having settled on a go-forward strategy to deliberate the recommendations. How can the MGT document now be the community's plan, as the superintendent says, before the board finishes the work and the "community" has had a chance to review?
Why is there discussion about the "political will" to fund build and renovate facilities before the school board has serious discussions around trying to reduce the significant cost of Blueprint 2030?
MGT produced a good, solid strategic plan for the future that has merit. Yet neither Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson nor MGT were elected by citizens to give the community a facilities plan for the next decade. Furthermore, where is the evidence that spending a billion dollars on bricks and mortar will actually improve education, and where in the country has this been proven?
Good government would be the leadership of the school board ensuring the full board does its job and puts its stamp on Blueprint 2030. The community will be waiting.
Davis Lundy, The Good Government Coalition
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A few precautions would do much good
The surgeon general has advised we can greatly reduce the spread of corona, influenza and all other viruses: All we have to do is keep our hands sanitized. Here are ways to do so, using only a few extra seconds:
1. Buy one of those shirt-pocket-sized, squirt sanitizers;
2. While walking to wherever, after you have touched the last doorknob, give your hands a squirt and rub them together for 20 seconds or more as you walk along;
3. As you start back, after your last touching, give your hands another squirt and rub.
I beg you to please, please, please follow this advice. The health of yourselves, your loved ones and everyone else depends on you,
Dr. Tom Herzog, East Ridge
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Change name to John Lewis Bridge
Why not change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to the John Lewis Bridge for Reconciliation. For years this bridge has been a place of remembrance for truth and justice in the voting rights march. Now it's time to move history forward to reconciliation and forgiveness by changing the name to articulate the life and service of John Lewis, who embodies the voice of reconciliation and justice.
When a Nazi flag is displayed at a campaign rally of a Jewish candidate for president, we as one nation need to remember our history. My Walden's Ridge neighbor, Hubert Watkins, participated as a young Tennessean in the second wave at Normandy, then the Battle of the Bulge, where black soldiers covered their retreat with artillery. The soldiers fired their weapon with the refrain: "Here's to you, Hitler." After crossing into Germany, Hubert and his fellow soldiers climbed to the roof and lowered the Nazi flag. This is history of men who stopped a tyrant and a Nazi madman.
We need a physical recognition to make history the story of reconciliation. The John Lewis Bridge for Reconciliation would be one way to begin to save the soul of America.
Kemmer Anderson
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Start Raves column; here's the first one
I do not like the rants section of the newspaper.
It enables people to say mean and hateful things, and they do not have to identify themselves or take responsibility for the words they use.
If you read the list of rants, by the time you get to the bottom, you are so depressed you cannot read the rest of the paper.
Maybe you should change the name from Rants to Raves - funny things people say, funny stories, or why you like something or someone. Not anything negative. The column would probably be only half full.
I will go first.
I really respect, admire and thank all the police for their bravery, protecting us and making this community safe for all of us.
Ruth Cote, Hixson
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Reader not anti-gun, but is anti-stupid
Permitless open carry has a protective aura. Carrying a gun is a statement of and for Second Amendment (2A) rights. The right to keep and bear arms is an inalienable Constitutional right without qualifications.
As a firearms owner and shooter, I question safety and common sense of the lack of basic requirements and training. This bill would have untrained individuals carrying a potentially lethal machine.
Some people who openly carry have flimsy fabric holsters. A retention holster is designed to prevent the gun being forcefully taken. I recently encountered a citizen with a Glock handgun in his belt in the small of his back in such a holster. I could have disarmed him in an instant. I have seen patrons in restaurants with such holsters. I ask myself how proficient or knowledgeable could these people be with this reckless behavior?
In one forum where I shared about the dangers of lack of training, a comment was made that the 2A does not mention training. Generally, comments have to do with training being irrelevant or ignorance of the Constitution. I think this country has gone nuts from top to bottom. I am not anti-gun. I am anti-stupid.
Bill Reed
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Have we stopped appreciating work?
What was the day when a person's word started meaning nothing? When "I'll call you back" stopped happening? When "I'll be there at 9 on the dot to begin work?" ceased and you, the employer, is left dumbfounded when they don't show up. In my day, a job was appreciated.
James H. Sholl
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Bee colony collapse is threatening to us
The threat of colony collapse deserves immediate attention from our state policymakers. Bees are our most important pollinators - hundreds of thousands of plants depend on their pollination. Accordingly, large-scale bee deaths have dire consequences for our environment and global food supply.
Curtis Tomlin