Is moola for moon trips wasted? Why should public foot college loans? Letters, Aug. 28, 2022

Meal should end with dessert, not upcharge for credit card users

My recent trips to area restaurants were met with an unexpected surprise charge for using a credit card to pay the bill.

First the increase was blamed on the credit card company, but there has not been an upcharge to merchants for their accepting the cards. Was this not an expense in the cost of doing business in past years? It would not have been a surprise if it was stated on the menu or some other conspicuous place that a percentage would be added to the total check for credit card use — but the server informs the customer when presenting the check. Not good business practice.

If the cost of goods and services goes up, the merchant increases the price of the item, and if I wish to purchase the item at the price stated, it's my choice. I believe this is a bad practice and any increase other than tax or a voluntary gratuity should not be a part of the purchase. When a gratuity is added to the check for large parties, it is stated on the menu. So should the upcharge for credit card use be stated.

Mario Laudano, Vero Beach

Rumble of a classic car's V8 is one thing; noisy exhausts quite another

Regarding the new noise laws: Every once in a while I hear a loud annoying car stereo. If it’s music I like it’s OK.

The real problem that that sends chills up my spine are these obnoxious aftermarket exhaust systems they install.

Now don’t get me wrong. A nice V8 rumble from a Mustang, Corvette, or a Challenger is OK, but these V8 wannabes that go screaming down the road making that high-pitched rattling noise make me cover my ears.

I’m good with no state inspections, but come on. I have cars in my neighborhood with no mufflers driving around.

Now get off my lawn!

David Habel, Vero Beach

Property set for Costco, other business not suitable for massive development

When the governor and cabinet met to consider an administrative law judge’s recommended order finding a city of Stuart comprehensive plan amendment “not in compliance” with state law, City Commissioner Troy McDonald urged reversal of the ALJ’s finding and said the unanimous decision of the City Commission to support the Costco warehouse, apartment complex, and retail project reflected the will of the people.

I hope that my city of Stuart tax dollars did not pay for McDonald’s trip to Tallahassee to deliver comments that I believe most local residents would find shameful.

While many support Costco as a business, most residents do not support building a retail warehouse, gas station, shops and restaurants and a huge apartment complex on busy South Kanner Highway, especially when plans include destruction of wetlands, elimination of threatened native plants, wading birds and gopher tortoises. The property, near Martin County High School and the St. Lucie River, is not suitable for such massive development.

The city combined the land use designation, rezoning, and site plan proposals into a single ordinance and now complains that the ALJ should have separated issues related to the land use designation from those related to the site plan and zoning, such as increased traffic.

City resident Robin Cartwright and her attorney, Richard Grosso, have made compelling legal arguments to support the ALJ’s recommended order. But McDonald and his fellow city commissioners who voted to approve the Costco project not only failed to reflect the will of the people, they failed to demonstrate commitment to the city’s comprehensive plan, the environment, and the character of our community.

Virginia Sherlock, Stuart

Could moola for moon exploration be better spent here on Earth?

August 22, 2022: an interesting news day for the Indian River Press Journal.

First, Weather Tiger (Ryan Truchelut) discusses the need to move the beginning of "Hurricane Season" to some date prior to June 1. He makes the interesting and well written case (as always) that hurricane season is getting longer as tropical cyclone initiation dates and potential landfall risks are occurring earlier as ocean surface temperatures continue to rise with climate change. I'm not sure why we even need to have a start and end date for hurricane season but that's another issue.

In that same edition, we read Jamie Groh's article on "Nasa's Big Gamble." Here we consider the Artemis Program for space exploration, one goal of which is to put a woman and person of color on the lunar surface. The estimated cost is in range of $4.1 billion per launch. Do we really need to hit another golf ball from the lunar dust? Perhaps those dollars would be better spent doing the research that would enable us to understand what is happening on this planet.

Understanding climate change, warming oceans and the transfer of heat energy from the ocean to the atmosphere would seem to be a better short-term goal than boots on the moon (no matter whose feet are in them) or a better version of Velcro. Dump the politics, admit what's important and get our priorities straight.

Gary M. Lavorgna, Vero Beach

Invest in your community: Show respect to public school teachers

I was astounded when Gov. DeSantis publicly insulted hardworking, highly trained, professional Florida teachers. I'm No Party Affiliation (NPA), but until he apologizes publicly, I'm questioning his leadership.

Public school educators are teaching the future writers, health care workers, mechanics, nursing home attendants, shopkeepers, truck drivers, police officers, firefighters, grocery store workers, doctors, and more. We all depend on these good citizens every day, and will depend on them even more when we become senior citizens.

Invest in your future and your community; let public school teachers know you respect them. (You certainly did appreciate their value during the pandemic!) You need public school teachers. We need them.

Melanie J. Trewyn, Fort Pierce

Signs aren't enough: Brightline needs to pay for more safety improvements

The Brightline has more at-grade crossings than any other railroad in the United States, so I've read.

Signs saying "Trains May Exceed 80 Miles per Hour" are insufficient for real safety of children and adults. It would be cost-effective (compared to lawsuits) for Brightline to install 70 to 100 feet of metal fencing on both sides of each crossing. These fences could have pedestrian gates on the sidewalks adjacent to the arms for vehicles, and the gates could be programmed to lock when the flashing red lights go on, even before the arms come down.

Also, since the trains will likely have to pause before the single track over the St. Lucie River in downtown Stuart, a train station at the county fairgrounds would be a good place for trains to stop briefly to share the track with freight trains and passenger trains coming from either direction.

Brightline needs safety fences first. Both improvements would be a boon to Martin County, and Brightline should pay for both.

Robert A. Gibbons, Stuart

More: $42 million's not pocket change; CDC should have had better plan: Letters, Aug. 24, 2022

Why should public foot bill for those who didn't save, pay for college?

Two points regarding President Biden’s proposal to forgive student debt:

Twenty-five years ago, I ended 17 years as president of a very good small private college. I'm not especially proud to admit that one of the significant factors as we set tuition each year was the availability of student aid, since most of our students received it. Increased Pell grants, state-provided private college tuition grants and increased student loan availability made it possible for us to raise tuition (of course, never quite as much as the increases provided).

Second, as a parents, we were happy that when our three children graduated from college and even graduate school, they had no student debt. It meant that we went without some luxuries we might have enjoyed, but it was worth it.

I really don’t think we should now pay to forgive loans for those families who may not have gone the extra mile. It's even more difficult to believe that the many families that didn’t or couldn’t have the college experience should pay off loans for those who have good paying jobs as a result of their educational experiences. (Actually, whatever our circumstances, we’ve already subsidized them by our taxes that pay for Pell grants and other government programs.) Enough is enough.

Daniel H. Pilon, Vero Beach     

Loan forgiveness sends bad message about personal responsibility

The prospect of forgiving any aspect of student loan forgiveness seems to me a socialist effort to disperse personal liability to the masses in lieu of individual responsibility.

Yes, I went to college (associate, bachelor's and two master's degrees), and I had to play the game. I had professors who could not open a pickle jar. I had to take a variety of classes and go through the "re-awakening" process. I never received a penny from my parents nor did I take a student loan. While I had many friends who did both, they completed their degrees in transcendental philosophy while they partied the nights away. I took on many lousy jobs working through college and ate a lot of white bread and sardine sandwiches while making personal sacrifices too many to mention. Many of my friends could not go to college and became tradesmen, or they went into the military to get the G.I. Bill.

You want to legitimize student loan forgiveness, create a domestic Peace Corps. Allow people to use their degree to serve their community in their degree field, i.e., medicine, education and social services, giving them the opportunity to work off the debt.

Martin Jacobson, Port St. Lucie

Veteran 'appalled' by handling of classified material by former president

As a U.S. Navy veteran who served honorably aboard the USS Kitty Hawk as a nuclear weapons technician, and holder of security clearances of the highest order, I am appalled by the scandalous handling of classified material by our former president. Removal of classified material from its secure location and holding it in the basement of a civilian residential/commercial facility comprises multiple chargeable criminal offenses and it is incumbent on the DOJ to move for indictment of all responsible parties.

Equally appalling is the line of defense offered by the obviously guilty and their supporters, and given credibility by a seemingly uneducated press. The demand that these materials be made public so we can all see if they actually contain information that poses a national threat is both impossible and insane. Anyone who exposes these materials facilitating inspection by persons who were not cleared for access or did not have a legitimate "need to know" would be equally guilty.

It really does not matter what the specifics of the classified materials are. All that matters is that they are classified and they have been intentionally mishandled. There was a crime. It was committed by criminals. There must be a fair trial and, if found guilty, the criminals must pay the penalty.

Of course we must consider the other defense: There was no crime because, while no one was listening, I clicked my heels three times and declared that my removal of these items automatically declassified them. I believe that line will be recorded in the same way as I can only lose if the election is rigged. The election was rigged. I won. I won big.

Liars lie. Fools are fooled. Life goes on. Lock him up.

Charles Grande, Jensen Beach

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Why should public pay borrowers' college loans? Letters, Aug. 28, 2022