Thursday's letters: Local education under siege, growing evil of deadly gun violence
Horrifying to see school systems destroyed
Growing up in the Tampa Bay area, Sarasota was always a special destination for my family. In 1979, I began my life there and spent almost 40 years trying to be a contributing member of the community.
One thing it seemed we could all agree on was the importance of public education. Manatee and Sarasota counties always supported efforts to make local schools the best in the state.
In 2017, frustrated by the way Sarasota had been ruined by greed, we moved to North Carolina.
I am now watching in horror as your educational systems are destroyed by those who hope to profit from the children.
More: How to send a letter to the editor
More:Teachers close class libraries, fearing prosecution
To see teachers forced to dismantle classroom libraries is to witness an attack on reading itself. To know that all books must be approved by those who wish to keep students ignorant of their history is to watch the suppression of independent thought.
To now see the attempt to wreck New College, previously a point of immense pride for the area, is a crushing blow.
More:Request for prayer at New College denied
Are the people of Manatee and Sarasota counties really going to stand by and watch a few bullies burn down all that they worked for?
Apparently so.
Adam Tebrugge, Cullowhee, N.C., formerly of Sarasota
Getting the runaround from home insurer
I am a resident in a development in Englewood and bought my house new in 2016. Hurricane Ian ripped off 25 roof tiles when it hit last September.
More:Ian causes widespread damage in Englewood
The insurance company sent out an adjuster two weeks after Ian. A report came in a month and showed the cost to repair everything except my roof.
An appraiser from a roofing company in Tampa appraised my roof and sent a report to the insurance company. I called the claims department 20 times and left voicemails that were not returned.
I called the roofers and was told I would have to get the quote for repairs from the insurance company's claims adjuster.
Finally, I got a call back from the insurance company, but the adjuster told me no one there was authorized to give out a quote. He said if I paid my $11,000 deductible, the company would have the roofers scheduled to repair my roof.
The cost appraisals I received from many other roofing vultures – and the cost of lanai screen repairs – were no more than one-fifth of my deductible, so my $11,000 roof repair will not happen.
And I will be trying to find another insurance company.
Fred Bingman, Englewood
Raise awareness of gun toll
The death toll from gun violence in America continues to grow with no end in sight.
We must do something to stop this.
In the 1960s and ’70s, as our society became aware of the evil of the Vietnam War, influential people, not just “peaceniks,” started protesting.
The major television networks began starting the nightly news with a “body count,” the number of Americans who were killed that day in Vietnam. It became a grim reminder of the horror we were allowing every day.
The number kept growing and could not be ignored. It was a daily assault on our consciences. The calls for action to stop the violence mushroomed. We ended that war.
I suggest that all news media today − TV news, newspapers and internet news providers − prominently begin their newscasts or lead their banners with the “Gunfire body count,” the number of Americans killed that day by gunfire and the year-to-date total.
We are not doing enough to create a national consciousness of the growing evil we are doing nothing to stop.
William Anderson, Sarasota
DeSantis: Quit playing politics, run state
Would it be a silly question if I asked why our governor seems unable to just take care of overseeing the everyday job of running the government instead of concentrating on his political agenda?
He has managed to stir up nothing but chaos and dissension in everything he has decided he must interfere in so far.
The governor just rejected a high school Advanced Placement course in African American studies and now he is determined to silence free thinkers at New College.
I sincerely feel sorry for any entity the governor sets his sights on in the future.
Bette Lou Cookson, Sarasota
Surgeon general easy to debunk on COVID
When it comes to stating facts regarding COVID deaths and efficacy of vaccinations, it is clear that our state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, spouts figures that are false.
What you have to do is investigate for yourself, using information that is readily available on the internet.
Find out how much false information Ladapo has been spreading while calling so many other people liars.
Please!
Alan Hopkins, Sarasota
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Education under attack, chasing down insurance agency
