COVID not dead; DeSantis gospel; Brightline debate; Port St. Lucie growth; Costco; more

'Creature from Black Lagoon' highlighted Florida's natural assets

I come from a very "old Florida" family, which is rare. Most of my neighbors are transplants from out of state seeking the warmth of our swampy paradise.

The little town I grew up in, Jensen Beach, was homesteaded by my great-great-grandfather, R.R. Ricou, in the late 1800s. R.R. Ricou owned the largest fishery business in the South and worked with Henry Flagler to bring the railroad north from the Keys to send his fresh fish, packed in huge blocks of ice and straw, north to New York.

I’m a proud fifth-generation Floridian. Which makes many of the "old Florida" folks still left in the area my kin. We recently lost our cousin Ricou Browning, who was named for our founding patriarch and looked uncannily like my father and his brother. Ricou family genes sure are strong.

Cousin Ricou Browning played the creature in “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” and brought Hollywood dollars to our bright shores. In his career, he highlighted the majesty of Florida’s abundant waterways and our important stewardship of the creatures that live below.

May we remember his environmental lessons going forward. Within this ecosystem, we are all connected. RIP, Cousin Ricou, who was famous for being a fish.

Jennifer Sky, Stuart

Increased freight capacity real reason for Brightline's expansion

What happened in Palestine, Ohio, last month should be a wake up call for Treasure Coast residents. How can Brightline say to its investors that 32 round trips a day between Miami and Orlando will be profitable?

How can local governments think they made out OK because of the upgrades to the railroad crossings after spending millions on losing lawsuits to stop the train? This was and is all about upgrading the rail system to run more freight.

This will undoubtedly include hazardous freight. No way passenger service will be profitable. No way these trains will be safe.

To quote the great Judge Judy: “If it looks like duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.”David Habel, Vero Beach

Look to Italy to see impact of Brightline

What do Florida and Italy have in common? The case for Brightline.

When my wife and I experienced Italy for the first time during our honeymoon in 2017, we couldn’t deny how much the trains made a difference.

We easily traveled from Rome to Venice and then to Florence and Milan. Depending on where we went, our rides were usually only a couple of hours.

During my time there, I was saddened, thinking about how disconnected my home state was and how difficult it was for people to experience it.

When the Brightline project began, I couldn’t help but think of Italy. Like the boot-shaped geography of the country, Florida’s elongated shape reminded me of the similar potential the state could have with a speed train.

Before the train, people visiting our great state would have to fly into a city like Miami or Orlando and rent cars to visit anywhere else. They mainly didn’t drift too far.

But now,we can explore Florida like honeymooners in Italy.

Visitors and residents can discover Florida for all its beauty wherever the train takes us.

Brightline isn’t perfect — we can all agree — but it represents a new hope: for the interconnectivity of Florida as one state united through its beauty and wonderful people.

John Paul Hernandez, Port St. Lucie

Plan ahead for passenger service failure

In regard to the train stop: Whoever loses and gets the stop, make sure they have an alternate use for the building.

In 10 years, the company likely will throw up their hands and say it can't make enough money and run freight on the publicly subsidized second set of tracks.

We all know that has always been the plan. Otherwise the company would have run the tracks out west, where it would have been less impactful.

Dan Braden, Stuart

Only one place best for Treasure Coast Brightline station

I totally support the March 10 editorial regarding a Brightline station for the Treasure Coast to be placed in Fort Pierce.

Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie and St Lucie County have always supported the Brightline project, and it would be fitting that Brightline would reward that support with a station in Fort Pierce.

Martin County has continually fought the Brightline train going through Martin County, and the congressman from Martin County led the fight early on, and continues to this day to fight Brightline and put up any roadblocks to Brightline.

Fort Pierce is being revitalized with the King’s Landing project, and having a station as part of the King’s Landing would certainly give Fort Pierce a boost. Fort Pierce is easy  to get to, and there are handy parking garages as well.

We all remember the never-ending fight to prevent Costco from coming to Stuart, a fight that continues to this day. If Brightline would select Stuart for a station, there would be group to fight it, launch a lawsuit to prevent or delay it, and most likely be supported by the local congressman.

A Brightline station in Fort Pierce will be welcomed and supported by the city, the county and the citizens. It could be built without delays, unlike what would happen in Stuart.

Michael Schubert, Port St. Lucie 

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Brightline must get serious about Treasure Coast stop

Your editorial calling for the establishment of a Brightline station on the Treasure Coast was "right on track."

Those of us who choose to utilize this modern and effective train service, an alternative to our dangerous, clogged and unpatrolled roadways, must travel to West Palm Beach to venture south. With the opening of train service north to the Orlando area (Orlando International Airport) later this year, the need for a more convenient and economically feasible station will further be justified. In virtually every case, the opening of a train station has vastly improved the local economy in the area it was built.

It's time for Brightline, with the cooperation and support of local, state and federal governmental entities, to get serious regarding the establishment of this much-needed station.

Charles Miller, Port St. Lucie

Five words describe higher-speed passenger rail service

Brightline: Florida’s Population Control Program.

Robert Dowgiall, Vero Beach

Three years shows PSL going downhill

Why is there no control on the building growth in Port St. Lucie?

It is going to put such a strain on schools, fire and police departments. The roadways are so congested now and it will get worse. Builders seem to care only about profits; after the builds are finished, they are gone.

We have lived here three years and love PSL, but we can see the quality of life going downhill.

William Jones, Port St. Lucie

This 'rotten apple' not against Costco in Stuart, but ...

I am writing in response to the recent letter from Maria Salamis of Jensen Beach, where she claims she is all for the Costco to be built on Kanner Highway and says "there is always one rotten apple that doesn't want the traffic."

In my letter the same day, I stated I would welcome a Costco here in Stuart, and I am a Costco member; I just do not think Kanner is the right spot.

She further states that a Costco there will make Stuart clean and neat, and classy, not trashy, instead of some gas station or storage unit or car wash. Perhaps she does not know that with Costco comes an 18-pump gas station, the possibility of a car wash (as other Costcos have them) plus 378 apartments. I would like to know her definition of "classy."

And just for the record, I believe her tax dollars are indeed going to law enforcement, teachers and firefighters.

Egads from "one rotten apple."

Vera Cavallo, Stuart

Can you imagine DeSantis as leader of free world?

We seem to have our own Putin & Politburo in Tallahassee. Instead of helping Floridians with real issues — homeowners' insurance, affordable housing, gun violence, polluted waters, etc. — he wages culture wars. Despite his new claim of "Florida Freedom," we're losing freedoms everyday — voting, reproductive, LGBTQ, and perhaps worst of all, educational rights.

What happened to conservative Republicans' belief in small, local government? Ron DeSantis meddles into everything — what employers can tell employees, attacks Disney and the New College, (an honors school) and appoints his own board to both organizations (including  ridiculous choices for Disney, an entertainment company).

He wants books banned, forbids whatever might open students' minds, attacks educators, administrators, the teachers' union, tenure, college professors, AP courses and academic freedom. 

He promotes payment for private and religious schools, potentially decimating public schools — as if they could sink any lower. With substandard salaries and fear of subject matter, it's no wonder we have a severe teacher shortage.   

But now he's outdone himself — saying a highly respected high school principal and town mayor be purged from the Indian River County School Board! He inserted himself into the last school board election by backing a Moms for Liberty candidate, and some of them don't even have children in the school system. Now he's taking their advice! School board elections were never partisan, but he's a bully, punishing anyone who disagrees with him.

He wastes taxpayers' money sending migrants to Massachusetts, now pledging to take them from anywhere in the country to send them elsewhere. Heaven help our country if this autocrat, referring to himself as "the new sheriff in town," defeats a fair-minded, non-divisive Republican in the presidential primary. I can't even imagine him leader of the free world — it's too frightening to contemplate.

Arlene Jamison, Vero Beach

Follow Gospel, not politicians, on abortion

Years ago, when it became evident the Republican Party was going to be the anti-abortion party, I thought how appropriate it was. It made the Republicans seem like good people without the prospect of it ever costing them a dime.

This brings up the current and expected push to make abortion illegal after six weeks. These people know most women won’t know they’re even pregnant at that point, but that’s doesn’t matter. Forcing their fake morality on others is the point!

All this brought back an episode when I was 8 or 9 years old, a girl in my class asked the nun why God allows bad things to happen, which I thought was a good question, and the nun replied that we don’t know God’s intent, which I thought was a good answer. Evidently, some of today’s “men of God” know God’s intent and are intensely focused on implementing it regardless of the human toll. And make no mistake, two things apply here: Women will suffer and die and these Republicans will not care at all.

I wonder if our own Erin Grall, a state senator and anti-abortion leader, thought about the impact of this law on the lives of women not fortunate as she. I’m betting she didn’t. The law as she proposes includes exceptions for rape, etc. But it won’t when Republicans pass it.

And then there are some churches. Mostly “conservative,” they insist they’re “pro-life” when what they are is pro-fetus. The living deserve more consideration than the unborn.

None of this will make a difference. I'd suggest church-goers follow the Gospel of the Christ, which dictates love and forgiveness, instead of following the politicians.

Joseph Desmond, Vero Beach

COVID not over, but folks live like it is

In case you were wondering, COVID's not over. At covid.cdc.gov, you can find weekly updates for our area.

In St. Lucie County, there were more than 700 cases reported the week before I wrote this; Martin had around 74 cases. Only 10% of St. Lucie County residents have had all their vaccines, with Martin at 13%.

I am sure glad I got all of mine, after visiting my sister, who got COVID when I was there. I isolated for 10 days and after doing four COVID tests, I was unaffected and negative. I've heard people say, "I'm done with that," which means no more vaccines for them.

I missed two big jobs during that time, and scared my customers as well. No one is even wearing masks anymore. I'm sorry that the science is so obsolete for many people.

I quit teaching in March 2020, and haven't been back since. Students have not been getting their vaccines, but that is the parents' fault. No wonder there is a teacher shortage.

Jenene Skrupky, Port St. Lucie

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: COVID not dead; DeSantis gospel; Brightline debate; PSL growth; Costco