Clearcutting not for birds but for money
Gov. Bill Lee and his greedy, non-conservative, pseudo Republican pals in our state legislature, and their servants at the helm of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency are procurers of anyone or anything they can exploit for their immediate financial gain.
They are attempting to grease the wheels of their equally greedy pals in the timber industry to clear cut 2,000 acres of virgin hardwood forest in the publicly owned and extremely popular Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness Area in White County, Tenn.
They say it is to increase habitat for the Northern Bobwhite quail. That is a lie.
They want to rape this virgin hardwood forest, not for any publicly environmentally beneficial reason. It is only for their own personal wealth and greed.
Locally elected public leaders are universally opposed to the plan. In Tennessee's right-wing government, greed obviously outstrips personal and professional integrity.
Bowater has already clear cut thousands of acres of Tennessee hardwood forest within less than 100 miles of the proposed virgin forest clear cut. Those thousands of acres of Bowater property were replanted with a quick-growing, yellow pine monoculture. Why not re-clearcut that land for the quails' grassy Savannah habitat and leave the virgin forest alone?
Hank Hill
Check out Trump on Wikipedia, CNN
So, what is the plan, if the "wingnuts" in the Republican Party take over the government? Who is going to make sure taxes are refunded, Social Security checks are sent out, veterans are taken care of, food programs are funded, clean water and energy are available, our safety is protected if we get attacked by Russia or China? There is more to government than people realize, and putting someone like Trump in charge is frightening and dangerous.
Trump isn't going to take care of people. Yet Trumpites blindly follow him. I ask you to read in Wikipedia about the "Big Lie."
A National Enquirer reporter called him a "carney," a carnival person who cheats people and lies. Watch the CNN documentary about the National Enquirer; you'll see Trump in many segments of the show, the real Trump.
Is this what we want for our great democracy? How many people have gone to a country where a dictator is in power? I have several times, and this is not what we should be embracing. It is dangerous and wrong. Be careful what you wish for; it may come back to haunt you.
Monica Augustin
Soddy-Daisy
Include librarians in book choices
Librarians, the reading experts in every school, should be on the school system's special committee to consider how books are chosen for each school. That committee cannot be effective without librarians from around the district explaining how they select books for their particular school and what criteria they use for those selections.
As a classroom English teacher (grades 7-9) for over 35 years, I learned so much about children's and young adults' books while building my classroom library. I could not have chosen the many books I added without the help of librarians.
I find it ironic that a group called Mothers for Liberty are trying to ban books from their children's libraries. I hope the system comes up with a way to help those mothers understand the purpose of those libraries and find a way to talk with their children when they find things disturbing in the books.
Shannon B. Mowrer
Hixson