Salty Streets! --- and the Sacrosanct Aquifer?

After all the screaming and bitching about the Sprague gravel pit and how it is going to destroy the Islands aquifer by leaching contaminants into it from just regular old dirt, cement residue, asphalt etc., I was truly amazed to see a huge pile of ROAD SALT stored in the State garage!! How the hell do you justify that, when it seems to be a problem for every other community in this State and others, where roads and highways travel close to their aquifers? 'Splain that to me. I'm very dense! All those people who have condemned the Pit operation for it's NOT VERY LIKELY pollution of the ground water, should be jumping out of their skins in outrage at this total disregard for something that is KNOWN to do damage to a water supply! Where's the outrage here! Could it be that their condemnation of the pit operation is just because of their perceived notion that their property is now worth less than when they bought it? When it was sitting right next to an already operative business? A little bit of selective denigration here if you ask me.

So back too the salt. Ever since there have been motor vehicles on BI, sand has always been the go to device to keep the roads somewhat less slippery and with pretty good effect over that time. I do believe that back in the late fifties,early sixties, salt was tried for a year or two and then was disregarded as a permanent solution for our roads. Somebody back then was pretty smart for whatever reasons.

So come on Town Council, What is the reason behind the use of salt now when sand works nearly as well, and actually, perfectly for this less traveled community? Especially since the advent of the dive in the economy. Shouldn't we be saving as many dollars as possible to spend on really important things like fences and lights for the airport? TIFN

James Suk-a-lot

That is a close approximation of the name of a blood sucker who advertises on the tube relentlessly! I know everyone has seen some of his disgusting ads. The one that drives me up the wall is, "When Doctors make mistakes, I make them pay'! This guy is a true representation of all that is wrong with this countries legal system. Is there some piece of paper that a Doctor gets when he finally finishes all his training that says,"I will not ever, ever, ever, make a mistake on pain of death or worse, legal harassment"? I know of not one person who is totally infallible! ( Sorry all you "O" fans). So people like this just continue to scare young people away from the medical profession. Who would want to go into a job field where there are hundreds of thousands of vultures hanging over your head just waiting in order to pick your bones clean if you happen to incorrectly diagnose even a minor problem? Probably one brought on by your own misguided life style.

It is people like this ambulance chasing bum that are responsible for a lot of the woes of this Republic. Who is it that writes most of the laws of this land? I do believe most of the folks in congress are lawyers of some sort or other.

WSo how do you rectify that little problem? I know! Write a law that prohibits lawyers from becoming Senators or Congress critters! Damn, that isn't going to work, none of them there now has the integrity to vote for such a thing! We're Screwed!! TIFN

Street Lights on BI

Do we really need all the street lights burning away all night long? Most people are home in bed or at least undercover for the most part after midnight. Well, I know there are some night owls who are out roaming all night, but I really don't think we need all the lites going all night!

People back in the days when I was a yo'un managed to get from place to place in the dark without all kinds of lamps to light the way. Granted there were a few lights around, and we usually ran "hell bent for election" from one pool of light to the next! You know, those ghosties and vampires don't like the light so we thought we were safe. It was a long way between most of them though.

In this time of lost jobs and higher prices for virtually everything, it seems to me to be the ultimate folly to be spending $40,000 a year, burning that old fossil fuel, so that the nocturnal roamers, beasties, bugs, and bumbling homo-sapiens can see where they are going. Isn't that what flashlights and headlights are for?

So too the Town Council and Manager I say, "Turn off those lights on the streets and at the town hall, the school, and every other muni building in the town"! And we should also as individuals dump the outside lights on our houses as soon as all are on board for the night! To add insult to injury, they have just finished installing about a dozen huge lights up at the airport which I hope, will NOT be left burning throughout the night waiting to guide some lost wanderer into its luminous arms. It is an unconscionable waste!! And besides, when those street lights are out, I have a much better view of the night sky! Ursa Major is getting unruly! TIFN