<font color="#FF0000">RANT & RAVE</font> Feb. 12

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.

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Let's have all students in Suwannee County Schools make A's on their report cards for math. Simply have the teachers weigh their daily, ungraded work (aka, adequate daily progress) 95% of the total grad instead of the measly 15% as is done now. Of course, they still will not be able to pass their FCAT tests, but, hey, "I'll worry about that tomorrow."

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I'm calling regarding the trash recyclables collected by the students of Suwannee High School. I understand their frustration, and applaud them and the Suwannee Democrat for bringing this issue to the public's attention. The practice of dumping the recycling in with the rest of the garbage has been going on for years, thanks to our county commissioners. Why? Because the county doesn't make money on the recycling. Every community should have access to convenient recycling facilities. When people in a community go to the trouble to separate their recycling and feed it into the recycling bins provided by the county, they should be assured that this is actually being recycled. By placing the bins at the collection sites, the county is falsely advertising a service that they are not providing. Dumping the collected recyclable items in with the rest of the garbage to send to the landfill is not only environmentally irresponsible, it is downright dishonest and borders on political malfeasance. Our county commissioners should be held accountable. Thank you.

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Hello, this in regards to the dress code at Suwannee Middle School and other schools as well. My child has complained numerous times about the boys wearing their pants down past their buttocks. Yesterday, I was told one of the boys was bragging about his underwear. He pulled up his shirt to show his underwear. Shame on him. My child is tired of this nonsense. This is very inappropriate at school. The administration must not care because I myself have seen this type of inappropriate dress at the middle school myself on numerous occasions. Well, school board, enough is enough, what are you going to do to correct this indecent dress of your students? Thank you.

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We have some projects going on that are going to defeat each other if not handled correctly. These all involve grant money that could be wasted on the loop rd., the new industrial park & downtown redevelopment. The loop will get trucks out of town, but probably cars also. If that road was zoned industrial, not retail/comm., and infrastructure put in place for indust. developement,then trucks & future manufacturing jobs etc. would have access to the highways & square mis. of land, eliminating the need to spend tax dollars on the business park. Downtown needs a facelift, entertainment,retail,& recreational type businesses to take hold & grow. This will require the liquor law to be scrapped completely & the civic/ political leaders to provide comprehensive & intelligent zoning. This is something they obviously are not capable of doing, so we must get people who are in these positions. This willy-nilly approach of running around throwing tax $$ in different directions is going nowhere. We need to put ALL purchasing and maint. work up for bid & require at least 3 bids prior to awarding, and award to the low bidder, not your buddies. Keep our younger folks here, encourage growth& competition in retail areas, allow folks personal choices & quit sucking up grant money all the time.

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It is obvious Mr. Burch was added to the city council based on his blind support of OMI.

Mr. Burch is either uninformed or mis-informed. He is worried about people losing their jobs. When Councilmen Yulee, Blake, Boyette, and Deuce gave us OMI they didn't show any great passion for public works employees who were or were about to be vested in Florida retirement. They did however ask OMI to hire the existing workers. If the city were to outsource it's public works to another company they would also be asked to take the existing employees. If you are really concerned about local jobs why not have the city take the public works department back do you think the profit OMI makes stays in Suwannee County? It is obvious you believe everything OMI has told you and don't even care to explore your options or bid process. I would venture to say Mr. Burch you have never seen an OMI bill or an out of scope project. Before spending $2,400,000 do your own homework.

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I have a question for the county commissioners and I would like to have an answer. Does anybody understand the ranking procedure?

If you were to go to the FL BAR webpage and look at the 2 attorneys qualification you would see that the lowest ranked attorney had

the highest qualification? lowest ranked attorney had Administrative law and Workers Compensation? Maybe you could have cut out

some taxpayers money because Suwannee County pays a Workers Compensation attorney in Tallahassee? Maybe the person(s)

that adds up the scores does not understand the ranking procedure?

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The Suwannee Foundation For Excellence in Education recently recognized Mrs. Nannette Bunce as Teacher of The Year for 2009-10. Mrs. Bunce from Branford High School aptly represents the other finalists and dedicated teaching corps from Suwannee County schools. The foundation is another example of the many parents, business and booster organizations that generously support the sincere efforts of teachers, support personnel and administrators throughout the county. Positive partnerships have resulted in this being rated a "B" school district because of increased student performance - keep up the hard work everyone!

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If our voter turn out wasn't so pathetic here, we might just be able to do something besides gripe. We have commissioners in office year after year with less than 20% of the possible vote. This is majority rule? We need term limits and salary caps on all elected or app't. officials at all levels of gov't. We also need run off elections on a local level requiring a clear 51% majority, period! These people take it for granted that the positions they get elected to are lifetime careers, not public service. I don't know about you, but they sure as hell ain't "serving" me, unless you like being ripped off and told what to do by a very small group of the "good ol' boys". GO VOTE, every chance ya git!

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What kind of lesson are we teaching our young people when students at Suwannee High labor to collect recyclables only to have our county officials send them to the landfill! Shame on Suwannee County! No wonder the sides of our roads look like a dump. I faithfully take newspapers, metal cans and glass to the collection site ("dump") and place them in the igloos, thinking I an making an effort to help our environment. I guess the joke is on me, just as the students. At least, I got smart and collected my aluminum cans and drop them off at the local recycle business, and receive a few dollars in return. No wonder people lose faith in government -- at all levels.

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Today (2/5/2010) on my lunch break (around noon) I was driving down Hevelston St. in Live Oak. In front of me was a brown truck going about 20 mph (assuming it was because of the rain). Behind me was a vehicle that kept swerving trying to pass. I didn't intend to pass because of the wet roads and I would be turning soon. Right before the pet store (about 50 feet or so) I turned on my L blinker. When it was clear I started to turn going to Dr. Mantooth's office. As I was turning the crazy driver behind me sped past and tore off my front bumper. Instead of stopping or slowing down he hit the gas, somewhat fish tailing, and passed the brown truck that was in front of me. It was a 4-door burgundy car w/ dark tinted windows (maybe a Pontiac?). The year was probably late '90's early 2000's. They would have damage done to their front right side. I couldn't get back into the lane to get the tag # because of oncoming traffic. What really gets to me is there were several other cars in the area and no one else stopped. If anyone knows anything about this accident I would appreciate the help of someone coming forward. The cops didn't find the other car. I drive a black 4-door Jimmy (w/ a now torn off front bumber).

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I just can't understand it. A couple of weeks ago some neighbors and I spent part of an afternoon picking up garbage from one of our neighborhood roads. We only got to clean 3 or 4 hundred yards but at least it was a start. It was the usual selection; fast food boxes, wrappers and cups, beer bottles, beer cans, beer cartons, and the occasional full bag of household garbage, strewn about by animals. We had cleaned here before so this trash had all been thrown out of cars and trucks in the last year or so. Still, we collected a full pick-up bed worth. Within a week a new fresh bag of garbage had been dumped in the stretch we had cleaned.

What I can't understand is the mentality that makes a person think that throwing trash out on the road is acceptable. I've heard beer drinkers blame the open container laws. I guess others feel like 2 miles is too far to drive to the dump. And heaven forbid that the KFC packaging has to stay in your car all the way home.

To the litterers: Your community is ashamed of you. Your neighbors are ashamed of you. If your friends know you litter, some of them are ashamed of you. If you family knows you litter, some of them are ashamed of you.You should be ashamed of yourself. And I don't know a whole lot about Jesus but I bet he doesn't approve, either. PLEASE TAKE YOUR TRASH HOME.

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How was the economy stimulated by the federal government giving money to the Live Oak Police Department to purchase items like tables, vests, printers, and a 'gator?' Who now has a job because of this grant?

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Can anyone explain to me why a single person who has no job, no income, no education and no husband willingly gets pregnant? Then, she expects others to provide the food (WIC and food stamps,) clothing (churches, relatives, friends, FREECYCLE,) shelter (living with relatives, Housing Authority of Live Oak, Section 8, free or subsidized utilities,) medical (free pre-natal, birth, well-baby checkups, MEDICAID) and free breakfasts and lunches at school, as well as free after-school care? She's 'poor' yet has a car, air conditioning, and cigarettes. The 'poor' in Haiti would love to change places with her.

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Hats off to SHS and their Environmental Club, I also am a avid recycler.

I was appalled by the info I read on this issue. If the newspapers go straight to the landfill then why have a bin for them.We think we're doing something good for the environment & then we find out NOT.Let's ALL sign this petition, so we can make a difference in Suwannee County.

A concerned resident

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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.)

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