Dictionary dilemma: W-H-Y? And why is Trump railing about shoes? Letters, Sept. 22, 2022

Words escape me: Why would a school district halt dictionary distribution?

I was shocked and horrified by two articles in Sunday’s paper.

Sarasota County is not allowing Rotarians to distribute dictionaries to students. Dictionaries. Seriously — for fear of the words they might find there.

And teachers in Vero Beach are afraid to open class libraries for fear of firing or lawsuits. Fahrenheit 451 here we are. What’s next — book burnings? Salem-type witch trials?

How are our children ever going to learn to think for themselves when

reading material is either censored by local groups who assume they know more than educators, school board members, superintendents and administrators? And doubled down by Tallahassee where they apparently no longer believe in local rule — just big, crushing, autocratic government.

Ironically, some of these parents homeschool their children and don’t even have any in the school system. Yet they think it’s fine to impose their values on everyone else’s kids. If you’re afraid to expose your kids to anything you deem improper, then don’t. But who are you to demand it of everyone else’s kids?

Somehow, we all grew up unscarred by exposure to all kinds of information, age appropriate or otherwise. And I still remember my father never giving me a definition. It was always “Look it up in the dictionary so you really learn it for yourself.” And it was a very big dictionary.

Arlene Jamison, Vero Beach

We can shape the landscape by making most of what we already have

It’s clear that “foolish growth and overdevelopment” will remain a hot political and economic conundrum here in Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties –– until the more innovative strategy of “renovating the space we already have” prevails.

As a lifelong architectural, agricultural, and commercial real estate student and professional, I found Blake Fontenay’s June 15 article titled “A Tale of Two Counties: Martin and St. Lucie Approach Development Differently” insightful.

Fontenay argues: “Counties can control their own destinies. They don’t have to just accept development as inevitable, and loosen their land-use regulations to the point [overdevelopment] becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

While I firmly agree with Martin County’s brilliant height restriction in perpetuity, the reason why foolish overdevelopment is such a problem today is because nearly every Florida town and neighborhood are riddled with dilapidated and outdated “1973 construction,” or worse, instead of updated, value-adding structures utilizing “2023 architecture.”

No matter how loudly longtime residents kick and scream, humans and companies will continue migrating northward from “south-South Florida” just as steadily as international snowbirds winter and homestead here.

Bottom line: Today's residents, small business owners, and large employers as real estate customers are desperate for updated, modern-functioning, desirable buildings and landscapes.

Instead of foolish new growth, why not employ regional architects, construction experts, and interior designers to completely renovate everything dilapidated, outdated, and irrelevant throughout Florida’s aging built environment?

Tomorrow’s migration patterns and demand for updated home, shopping, and workplace designs ultimately require a voracious Florida architectural renaissance from within, either historically preserving or rebuilding anew as much outdated square footage east of I-95 as possible.

While the first strategy of relocating industrial-commercial developments west of I-95 is underway, proactively “renovating the space we already have” is the second strategy that needs our widespread leadership, communication, and implementation most.

Baron Christopher Hanson, Stuart 

Postmaster General delivers with vision for improved service

I recently attended a gathering in St. Louis, Missouri, sponsored by the United Postmasters and Managers of America (UPMA). I was honored to represent Jupiter as one of more than 1,200 other local postal leaders gathered from all around the nation. ​

One of the highlights of the conference was a keynote by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. He addressed the ongoing implementation of the Postal Service’s bold and innovative 10-year plan, "Delivering for America." The plan lays out a clear vision for improved service and is now being implemented in communities across the country.​

The goal of the plan is to invest in our people, modernize our network, provide service excellence, and create financial sustainability. ​

I’ve proudly served in the Postal Service for 28 years, and I am honored to lead a group of dedicated postal employees, who are such a vital part of the Jupiter community. ​

To see how the Postal Service is changing, I encourage you to read the full plan at: "Delivering for America: Our Vision and Ten-Year Plan to Achieve Financial Sustainability and Service Excellence," at about.usps.com.

Angela Byers is the postmaster in Jupiter.

Migrants look neatly dressed, groomed: How does this happen?

How can the migrants never look dirty of disheveled after they have walked hundreds of miles? After they wade across a muddy river, the appear neatly dressed and well-groomed. Their young males are always clean-shaven, their clothes appear clean and pressed.

Where do they go to the bathroom? Where/when do they eat? They appear clean and neat after a four-day bus ride. How can that be?

David Hubert, Stuart

While queen was being laid to rest, Trump complains about FBI's shoes

Much to my dismay, i am writing this but I feel this should be recognized. While the whole world was paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth, our egotistic, arrogant ex-president was concerned that the FBI didn't take off their shoes when they went into his bedroom at Mar-a-Lago.

Can't he control himself and show some respect or is it always that everything is about him? This shows that he has no dignity and is a disgrace to our country.

Shame, shame.

Barbara Nickas, Stuart

Calling on Steve Forbes for update on cost of 'Big Bank Bailout'

Steve Forbes says the moratorium on student loan debt has already cost our Treasury $100 billion in lost revenue. “Doing away with all student debt would cost more than $1.6 trillion," he warns.

But the Big Bank Bailout of 2008, may end up costing us $16.8 trillion, with $4.6 trillion already paid out, I read in a Forbes magazine article by Mike Collins some time ago. Perhaps Steve Forbes can give us an update?

Founding Father John Adams said the education of “every rank and class of people, down to the lowest and the poorest” had “to be the care of the public” and “maintained at the public expense.” Its importance required that “no expense . . . would be too extravagant.”

Helen Frigo, Jensen Beach

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FBI, shoes and Trump; dictionary D-I-L-E-M-M-A: Letters, Sept. 22, 2022