Warm Mineral Springs must be protected. Sarasota County must unite to save it.
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Unite to protect Warm Mineral Springs
Hurricane Ian impacted all of Southwest Florida and one permanent scar in our community is the damage the storm did to historic Warm Mineral Springs.
We should protect the springs from development; and the city of North Port, Sarasota County and our legislative delegation should work together to find a permanent solution to keeping the Outstanding Florida Spring open to the public as a precious natural resource.
I fully acknowledge I am usually the last elected official to suggest a government-driven solution. Admittedly, I know the private sector is more efficient and productive than anything the government tries to do.
However, when it comes to our natural resources and Warm Mineral Springs, we – your government – owe it to you, your children and your grandchildren to act.
I am asking my counterparts on all levels of government to do a joint workshop to find local, state and federal solutions that permanently protect the springs from any development overreach and keep them as an eco-tourism destination to be enjoyed by everyone.
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Together with extensive citizen input, we will establish a plan that enhances connectivity to the broader community while protecting the natural resources of Warm Mineral Springs for generations to come.
I call on all citizens to rally behind saving Warm Mineral Springs once and for all.
Neil Rainford, Sarasota County commissioner
Rainford represents District 3, which includes Venice and parts of Nokomis and North Port.
House speaker leaves town as crises loom
As the expression goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Maybe somebody should tell House Speaker Mike Johnson, because when the going got tough for him, he went home and sent his fellow House members on an unneeded two-week vacation.
Faced with a rebellion by the right wing for a support bill that would likely pass, Johnson abdicated his duty.
Johnson, whom few House members knew when they voted for him as speaker, said he was chosen by God to lead the House at this time in history.
Yet, it appears that God talks to him better at home, so he went home for a private consultation.
Will God tell him to support the people of Ukraine, who are being killed by the Russians, or to support Israel and Taiwan, or to shut down the government?
Does God take sides in our worldly disputes or does God leave the bickering up to us?
Johnson is also in constant communication with twice-impeached former President Donald Trump, who is telling him not to bring the funding bill to the floor for a vote.
We Americans deserve better leadership.
Tyler Cassell, Nokomis
Are killers made in God’s image, too?
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker, in his concurring opinion regarding frozen embryos, said, “We believe that each human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God, created by Him to reflect His likeness.”
Hmm. I wonder if Parker supported Alabama's recent execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith by using nitrogen hypoxia, which was a particularly gruesome and torturous way to execute someone.
So much for God’s image.Kristi Kanellos, Sarasota
Third-party candidate would boost Trump
Columnist Ingrid Jacques’ push for a third-party candidate to run against the former loser and President Joe Biden may ensure that the former will be elected again (“Trump vs. Biden vs. ... Haley? The third-party choice we need,” Feb. 16).
Siphoning votes via a third party worked for Vladimir Putin in the 2016 election. The plan gave Jill Stein a seat at the table with Putin and the disgraced Gen. Michael Flynn.
No Labels is being funded by right-wing billionaire donors who want the former loser – Trump – back in the White House.
I’ll vote for steady Joe, who has a legislative record better than his predecessors all the way back to FDR. A vote for Biden is a vote for democracy.
Vince Staley, Sarasota
Shooting turns celebration into nightmare
Mike Freeman's column on gun violence in your Sports section should have been on the front page (“Rally a celebration, then America intervened,” Feb. 16).
Freeman asks how can the United States be a great nation when it allows hundreds of millions of guns to flow through our streets.
We should all ask the same question.
Lawrence Bagnoli, Sarasota
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County must unite to save Warm Mineral Springs