Trump, DeSantis, Moms for Liberty help? Pols play us; Brightline; Florida Dems | Letters

Stop fertilizing lawns as of June 1 to help Indian River Lagoon

Please accept this reminder that fertilizer restrictions will go into effect on June 1.

We are coming into our rainy season when more nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous (as well as herbicides, pet waste, etc,) are likely to be washed from our lawns, driveways and roads into the stormwater system and, ultimately, into our already impaired Indian River Lagoon.

The fertilizer ordinances passed by our communities prohibit the use of lawn fertilizer between June 1 and Sept. 30. No fertilizer containing phosphorous is to be used at any time. All fertilizers must contain at least 50% slow-release nitrogen. Finally, no fertilizer is to be applied within 10 feet of any water body, a wetland, or from the top of a seawall.

If you use a lawn care provider, please discuss these regulations with the company and ask its employees not to blow grass clippings onto the road or into storm drains. This vegetation contains the nutrients from fertilizer that only adds to the pollution of our waterways. For details regarding the ordinance and fertilizing tips, please see Indian River County’s video at ircgov.com/publicworks/stormwater/fertilizer.htm or email Alexis Peralta, the county’s stormwater educator and fertilizer enforcement officer, at aperalta@ircgov.com.

For your health and the health of our waterways, complying with the fertilizer ordinance is more important than ever as excess nutrients encourage the growth of harmful and possibly toxic algal blooms. These blooms are already being reported in other parts of our state. Please do your part to improve water quality by obeying the fertilizer ordinance.

Jean Catchpole, Vero Beach, serves on the Water & Lagoon Committee of the Indian River Neighborhood Association.

What'd it say? I asked ChatGPT where it'd put Brightline stop on Treasure Coast; here's what AI bot said

Fried brings passion for hope, change in Florida

Nikki Fried, Florida Democratic Party chair, recently spoke at an event in Martin County. I was one of more than 200 people at the Martin Downs Country Club at a unity event sponsored by the Martin County Democrats. I was impressed by Fried’s energy and her hope for change in Florida.

Fried began her talk to great applause by saying: “I guarantee that Ron DeSantis will not be president of the United States!”

She said a majority of Florida voters oppose abortion bans, yet DeSantis pushed this through the Florida Legislature. She went on to say that because of the bills signed by DeSantis, people are leaving Florida. Teachers, members of the LGBTQ community, students and professors are leaving. Professors do not want to come to Florida because there is no academic freedom.

Fried asked Democrats to get active now in reaching out to their neighbors to urge them to vote, saying: “We need to elect Democratic legislators!“

Organizations represented at the event included the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, Connected Martin, PFLAG Palm Beach, unions, LGBTQ organizations and women’s organizations.

Fried concluded that the people of Florida need to unite in common purpose to protect freedom and democracy. She urged the crowd to, “be that force of energy to swing the pendulum back” in Florida to the Democratic Party.

Louise Cunha, Stuart

'Perceived deprivation': Shame on us for being 'played' by political extremes

In “Americans are being scared stupid by the political class,” columnist Cameron Smith claims “outrage makes us less intelligent.”

He explains that, because “we’ve been warned (falsely) of our looming demise” — for all kinds of questionable reasons — “we’re treating relatively remote political possibilities (we don’t like) as a present reality.” Political psychologists call this behavior “perceived deprivation.”

Because perceived deprivation can raise our stress levels, some of us have become impatient and politically short-tempered. Many Americans live with the fear their preferred way of life is threatened by cultural changes, a fear politicians shamelessly exploit via exaggerated culture war and other hot button issues. Smith argues: “When we don’t immediately see the political relief from those potential hazards” — often inflated by political nonsense — “we become frustrated and angry.”

Our prefrontal cortex is responsible for our highest-order cognitive abilities; however, this region of our brains is sensitive to the detrimental effects of stress. Thus, when we allow ourselves to be stirred to anger by external influences, we’re often pressed into fight-or-flight mode. When we react like this, we’re less capable of rational thought devoid of negative emotions.

Clever political operatives have been scheming diligently for decades to drive Americans toward partisan polarities— far right or far left. Their successful efforts have destroyed the political middle ground, where reasonable compromises are possible.

(For me, this divide-and-conquer strategy began in earnest in 1980, when a niche issue — abortion — propelled by one of America’s first potent political action committees was weaponized to target and defeat four moderate Democratic senators. Once a hole was bored through our political center, both sides started slipping toward more extreme positions.)

We’ve been “played” shamelessly. But it’s our fault for giving in to intense political manipulation.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Cray Little, Vero Beach

Stuart perfect location for Brightline stop

Since the Brightline train will need to slow down substantially near the bridge in Stuart, it makes sense Stuart should have a train terminal.

Slowing down is major part of stopping.  Why waste the deceleration?

Bob Gazdowicz, Stuart

Put Brightline stop in Treasure Coast's biggest city

Port St Lucie is ready to have a train station, with a ticket booth. The city proposed it and got denied. I spoke to the woman that worked on the proposal.

It has a full parking lot. Benches. Everything ready to go. All set. We have the most people in all of the Treasure Coast, including the most in need of affordable transportation.

Not Vero Beach. They are rich. We are poor. We have more than five times the amount of people, and are growing with corporations coming here.

So I ask you, why Vero Beach?

Tova Hornung, Port St. Lucie

Brightline: Why do leaders accept bad things for Martin County?

In response to the news Brightline will shut down Stuart's Confusion Corner more than a week on top of closing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge for three weeks:

Railroad barons seem to do whatever they please without any discussion. It was all decided a long time ago.

I write letters, picket, march and talk at meetings against things that are not good for our lives in Martin County. It seems to do no good at all.

Follow the money. That is the only answer that makes sense.

I try hard not to be cynical, but the longer I observe the political and governmental scene here, it is difficult.

Karl Thonnes, Stuart

Put Brightline stop in-between Treasure Coast cities

My view on where to place a Brightline station would be to avoid crowded downtown areas.

Put it halfway between two cities, where it's still close, but has ample room for parking and expansion. Feed it with local buses if need be. That way it serves two populations well and not just one.

Halfway between Stuart and Fort Pierce is my pick.

The downtown areas in Stuart and Jensen Beach near where I live are already overdeveloped and most citizens in the area do not desire more growth. Sure, it would be nice to place a train station in a crowded area as it would boost property values nearby and make ice cream shops, etc., more profitable, but that's not what I or many folks want.

Jim Knape, Jensen Beach

Will Moms for Liberty, anyone else help Save the Americans?

I expect to take heat for this, but here goes:

I am addressing the elephant in the room, assault weapons. I'm not looking to ban your rifle for hunting or your handgun to defend your home or self. I would like to see the sale of assault weapons banned temporarily, if not forever, to see if the killing stops or slows down.

Thoughts, prayers, the whys or the hows of the incidents are irrelevant. Americans are dying. Our government officials are ineffective. Is there one of them that will stand up and address this problem?

Animals in the woods seemingly have a better chance of not getting shot than Americans at the mall, in schools and churches these days. Maybe Moms for Liberty and other such organizations could use their political clout to Save the Americans.

Mildred Bernier, Vero Beach

Recent mass shootings show issues with assailants, not guns

The gun grabbers will use the shooting at the Texas mall as a reason to call for confiscation of all guns.

Well, they need to fix the system. This is a failure of the system. The shooter was discharged from the Army, related to mental health issues. He was being treated and his family knew he had mental health issues. Why was he able to purchase guns, ammo and body armor? He should have been in the database preventing him from purchasing anything related to guns.

We have to change the HIPAA law to require mental health professionals to report patients and their prognoses to the FBI. The Army should be required to report anyone discharged for mental issues. This is the same issue that applies to the transgender grammar school shooter.

When are we going to realize it's not the weapon, but the shooter?

Bob Heckman, Vero Beach

Ongoing border mess shows nation has lost sovereignty

Anyone who crosses our border without full and complete authorization is in violation of our country’s sovereignty, which states “a country that does not have absolute rule over its own domain is not considered an independent national power.”

Obviously, our government does not care. Any given day, people cross our southern border in staggering numbers, recently more than 2,000 a day, with absolutely no authorization. We have thousands of unauthorized people in our country with more on the way.

The security of our people and the country concerns me, especially with all the serious crimes that we are experiencing. Our world is in great turmoil. I believe that our country has a long way to go before we can claim sovereignty of our border.

It has been more than a decade since our government threw our border law under the bus. This was the only law that carried a criminal charge. Now that it is not illegal to cross without authorization, there is no reason not to cross the border. If this is not illegal, then it must be legal.

We cannot adopt so many people from the southern hemisphere without doing our own selves in. With our present economy, most of those people crossing are not going to be self sufficient. Obviously, our government has surrendered our sovereignty.

Frank Reynolds, Vero Beach

Trump, DeSantis epitomize, 'What's in it for me?'

Gov. Ron DeSantis exposes his insecurity by seeking to hold his office as he campaigns for president on our tax dollars.

He and Donald Trump are conjoined at the cerebrum via "What is in it for me?"

The state of our state is defined by the one GOP vote against the DeSantis Disney bill by Sen. Joe Gruters. The constitutional checks and balances are of no use in Florida. The demigod of Florida removes from office seemingly anyone who opposes his Draconian rule and appoints "yes-governor" stooges. He presides over a legislative bunch of drones who give him dictatorial authority.

I remind you of his appointment of the yes-doctor who approved his demand for no COVID mask protection as millions of kids, parents and grandparents were dying for his way of promoting Florida the Free State. Is residual COVID a reason young adults go on killing sprees?

Perhaps the almighty behind the curtain will take away our guns, or will dissenters start falling from 10th-floor windows?

DeSantis smells of his authority at Guantanamo Bay, as in giddy with power. The disagreeing of a newspaper should be a headline expose, not an editorial on the Opinion page.

Lowell Sasser, Fort Pierce

Who is behind riots? What impact do drugs have?

It may be way past time to ask, and find out, how many of these shooters and troublemakers are on drugs. All we hear about is guns, but it isn’t always the guns.

The chokehold has been taught and used to restrain bad guys forever. However, today's drugs haven’t been around and used so permissively forever. It’s a different world today, unfortunately.

So before condemning the marine who took action on the subway, and even the policeman in the Floyd case, check for the use of drugs first before going on a rampage. Taking down a drug user is a whole different ballgame.

We hear about inciting a riot in the Jan. 6 case: How about the often-paid hoodlums inciting the street riots we’ve been watching?

Who’s putting up the money, who are the leaders of these riots, and of course, who’s using the drugs?

Joan Hall, Vero Beach

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Trump, DeSantis, Moms for Liberty; Florida Dems; Brightline | Letters