Suwannee Democrat
Live Oak —
Suwannee Countians, it's time to speak your mind! How? By calling the Suwannee Democrat Rant and Rave hotline. The hotline never closes and is your way to let it out. You can let everyone know how you feel -- as long as you express yourself in a respectful way.
Note: In written entries to Rant and Rave, errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation are those of the authors.
~~
Well, City of Live Oak, you have asked for a change and you're fixin' to get it. Tuesday is the new City Council meeting and out with the old, in with the new. The change is going to be made whether you like it or not. Hmmmm. If you think it's you, may be you are right. Come on Live Oak, get into the City Council meetings and speak your piece. See you there.
~~
Since the federal government rakes in BILLIONS of dollars through its oil leasing contracts with BP, perhaps it should share in the responsibility of the costs relating to the current oil problems in the Gulf of Mexico.
~~
I would like to address an issue that is going on at the school board here in Suwannee County. I have been a citizen in Live Oak for 25 years. When I graduated college as an elementary education teacher, my dreams were to teach in my hometown. I am constantly hearing that the school board wants to hire more minorities in our school district, but I disagree. It seems that qualifications have nothing to do with being hired here in the school district. I have been applying for teaching positions here in Suwannee County for two years and the only positions that I have worked are paraprofessional positions. I do not understand how students who have graduated this year from college are receiving teaching positions, and I have not received one phone call for an interview. It is sad that I have to travel back and forth every morning outside of my hometown to teach. Suwannee County needs to do better, and needs to know that a change is on the way
~~
Guess who voted to spend even more of your money while trying to hide that fact? Allen Boyd.
“[July 1st], as part of a procedural vote on the emergency war supplemental bill, House Democrats attached a document that "deemed as passed" a non-existent $1.12 trillion budget. The execution of the "deeming" document allows Democrats to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the pesky constraints of a budget.
“The procedural vote passed 215-210 with no Republicans voting in favor and 38 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote against deeming the faux budget resolution passed.
“Never before -- since the creation of the Congressional budget process -- has the House failed to pass a budget, failed to propose a budget then deemed the non-existent budget as passed as a means to avoid a direct, recorded vote on a budget, but still allow Congress to spend taxpayer money.” Sources: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37893, dated July 2, 2010, and http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll428.xml)
Defeat Boyd in November!
~~
Who made Wed. a "holy day" or Sunday for that matter? The Bible doesn't mention any day by any name except as the Sabbath. The world's "great religions" have never agreed on this & anyone can take passages to justify or condemn anything. It's done all the time with great peril to mankind. Parks & Rec. is gov't entity, you know, that pesky church & state thing. Our calendar months are named after pagan Roman deities & the days after Norse gods, maybe we need to change that too. By the way, this is a newspaper, not a theology forum. Sorry, but "get over it" seems to apply
~~
I thought it was amazing that a church youth group came to Live Oak to fix up a house. However, why don't some of our OWN youth groups volunteer to do some work in our local area! Why does a group have to come from Savannah when we have many capable hands here in Live Oak that could do that work.
~~
The Case of the Disappearing Stop Signs
Citizen Alert! Someone has been stealing stop signs in Live Oak! Suddenly, all those big red traffic signs have vanished at our intersections. Cars and trucks are speeding though the residential areas of our community, crossing through intersections at high speed, and because there are no stop signs, an innocent pedestrian just might be the next victim of a horrible, deadly accident. Oh, wait! The signs are still there! Silly me. People are just choosing to ignore them. How awful would you feel if you failed to come to a complete stop and wound up plowing into an innocent child on a bicycle? How remorseful would you feel if the front end of your vehicle slammed into a longtime resident of your community and killed that person? What if it was your neighbor? Or the neighbor’s dog or cat? Would it bother you in the least? Good grief, people! Those signs are there for a reason. Pay attention to them and slow the heck down! You never know. You may just be the next victim when you’re out and about on your evening walk.
Signed: Concerned Citizen Waiting For a Tragedy
~~
Why don't the County Commissioners finish paving Hughes Highway? Down on the other end of the road is real, real bad when it rains, there is ruts and it is real, real bad and bumpy. They need to start paving the other part of the road.
~~
On Independence Day, July 4, 2010, I drove through 5 local housing subdivisions, looking for homes displaying the American flag, this is what I found.
Foxboro Subdivision - 27 homes displayed flags out of 92 =29%
Savannah Plantation Subdivision - 0 homes displayed flags out of 12 = 0% (awful)
Carriage Place Subdivision - 5 homes displayed flags out of 17= 29%
Greenbriar Subdivision - 3 homes displayed flags out of 14 = 21%
Sugar Mill Farm Subdivision - 6 homes displayed flags out of 56=11%
Conclusion: Patriotism still seems too not be alive and well in the Live Oak area.
Note: A drive through of the Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park showed much better display of the American Flag.
~~
Callers to 386-208-8314 may express their thoughts, good or bad, 24/7 about community issues and politics, but not about private individuals or businesses. If you prefer, you may email your comments to nf.editorial@gaflnews.com. You don't have to give your name, and please, keep submissions to less than 45 seconds (that's about 150 words). We want everybody to have a chance to be heard. Submissions that are overly long will be discarded. If 45 seconds isn't enough time, write a Letter to the Editor. (Guidelines for letters appear on Page 6A of our print edition.)
