Your Comments
The purpose of this site is to encourage comments by Sun readers on topics of the day, especially those affecting Anna Maria Island. We welcome any and all viewpoints and hope to stimulate intelligent discussions. Personal attacks and abusive or vulgar language, however, will not be tolerated. Such comments will be determined by Sun management, then pulled from the site and the posters may be blocked from further use.
Name: David Summers
Date: 2013-05-15 20:10:28
Subject: Tree House
Comments: I don't live in Florida but I may in the near future. I live in Columbus Ohio. If I were to walk along the beach and I saw this, I would look at it as a work of art. It doesn't have plumbing or electricty or bathrooms. But It is a treehouse and a cool one. Don't allow any others but leave this one. The city allready said it was ok. It was done well and is no way and eyesore. As a neighbor I would like it.
Name: Alex Sokolow
Date: 2013-05-08 18:19:28
Subject: Letter to Editor--National Security and the National Debt
Comments: Dear Editor,
Nuclear threats made by North Korea—followed by terrorism in Boston--demonstrate the need for a strong defense. If we let the national debt get to the point where all revenue is consumed by interest payments and entitlements, we will be at the mercy of such nations as North Korea and Iran, (maybe eventually China.) We will also be more vulnerable to terrorists getting nukes, as we would no longer have the deterrent of being able to trace such weapons to their country of origin. We must write to our elected officials about all this.
We should urge them to stop deficit spending, and adopt budgets that will pay down the national debt and looming entitlement shortages. It would help if we sell rainforest owners the expertise for harvesting the rainforests much more profitably and sustainably (perhaps for a lease or share, at least for some term.) This is discussed at www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm. (For subsistence farmers, see www.rainforestsaver.org. And the need for firewood can be reduced by working with Solar Cookers International.)
Sincerely, Alex Sokolow
Name: Ron Hamish
Date: 2013-05-06 17:54:16
Subject: Tree House
Comments: If the owners actually received a waiver from the city, they should publish it on their website. If they merely gave the previous official a verbal summary of their plans, and received a non-official verbal "sounds okay to me" in return, they should stop misrepresenting this as a "city approval". That previous city employee was notorious for looking the other way and that is why he was forced out of his position. Oftentimes, the old saw that "it is easier to beg forgiveness than to seek permission" is true....BUT NOT ALWAYS....as these folks are finding out. They are in the same situation as the many immigrants who came to this country illegally and now, after the fact, want to receive amnesty. All this does is denigrate the efforts of the 99% of our neighbors who seriously attempt to follow the law and behave responsibly.
Name: anton rappold
Date: 2013-05-02 18:57:45
Subject: Noise Root Causes
Comments: Further the notes to the Anna maria newspapers about "Noise" I wanted to relay the results of several conversations between three or four families (two from overseas) overheard while waiting for trolley recently.What may have precipitated the discussion was a noisy medium sized truck carrying deli products without a muffler and diesel truck sporting oversized tires spewing out black unburned carbon exhaust. Upon reflecting on these folks' comments and concerns we should look at the root causes of "noise & pollution." The thought occurred to me that if Florida had mandatory "emissions and control checks" on all transportation vehicles every other year as other states do, then it would get some of the noisy vehicles and dirty polluters off the road- by having faulty mufflers & polluting engines repaired. I believe Anna Maria island's environment would benefit by having a procedure put in place that will identify offenders even if the state of Florida is lacking a statewide roll-out of a comprehensive emission control program. With an ever inceasing number of large vehicles this approach would benefit all those of us that live here and are not passing through to have access to cleaner air not only in the select few streets that are congested and overused on AMI but also in the inner residential areas. A simple test suggested by the French chap in the group in the trolley stop discussion that day (it made a believer out of me) was to run a wad of moist paper towel across my Florida room window screens proved to me that our island had not grayed but become soiled with black pollutants. On a brighter note, I remember my father tellig me that when pointing a finger at some one, one must realize that three fingers point back at you and or others.
.Anton Rappold - Anna Maria island
Name: Gary McMullen
Date: 2013-05-01 08:02:27
Subject: Tree House
Comments: It should be abundantly clear that Building Official Tom O'Brien has his own vindictive agenda concerning the tree house. Of course it doesn't conform to the Florida Building Code! It is a tree house! It is used for personal use. How can O'Brien say that it is an accessory to a public accommodation just because the owners own rental property ? Leave the owners alone. Clearly the residents like it. No one objects to it. O'Brien's continuing agenda paints the city officials as petulant and vindictive. Zaccagino said there must be a way. Find it.
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Date: 2013-05-15 20:10:28
Subject: Tree House
Comments: I don't live in Florida but I may in the near future. I live in Columbus Ohio. If I were to walk along the beach and I saw this, I would look at it as a work of art. It doesn't have plumbing or electricty or bathrooms. But It is a treehouse and a cool one. Don't allow any others but leave this one. The city allready said it was ok. It was done well and is no way and eyesore. As a neighbor I would like it.
Name: Alex Sokolow
Date: 2013-05-08 18:19:28
Subject: Letter to Editor--National Security and the National Debt
Comments: Dear Editor,
Nuclear threats made by North Korea—followed by terrorism in Boston--demonstrate the need for a strong defense. If we let the national debt get to the point where all revenue is consumed by interest payments and entitlements, we will be at the mercy of such nations as North Korea and Iran, (maybe eventually China.) We will also be more vulnerable to terrorists getting nukes, as we would no longer have the deterrent of being able to trace such weapons to their country of origin. We must write to our elected officials about all this.
We should urge them to stop deficit spending, and adopt budgets that will pay down the national debt and looming entitlement shortages. It would help if we sell rainforest owners the expertise for harvesting the rainforests much more profitably and sustainably (perhaps for a lease or share, at least for some term.) This is discussed at www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm. (For subsistence farmers, see www.rainforestsaver.org. And the need for firewood can be reduced by working with Solar Cookers International.)
Sincerely, Alex Sokolow
Name: Ron Hamish
Date: 2013-05-06 17:54:16
Subject: Tree House
Comments: If the owners actually received a waiver from the city, they should publish it on their website. If they merely gave the previous official a verbal summary of their plans, and received a non-official verbal "sounds okay to me" in return, they should stop misrepresenting this as a "city approval". That previous city employee was notorious for looking the other way and that is why he was forced out of his position. Oftentimes, the old saw that "it is easier to beg forgiveness than to seek permission" is true....BUT NOT ALWAYS....as these folks are finding out. They are in the same situation as the many immigrants who came to this country illegally and now, after the fact, want to receive amnesty. All this does is denigrate the efforts of the 99% of our neighbors who seriously attempt to follow the law and behave responsibly.
Name: anton rappold
Date: 2013-05-02 18:57:45
Subject: Noise Root Causes
Comments: Further the notes to the Anna maria newspapers about "Noise" I wanted to relay the results of several conversations between three or four families (two from overseas) overheard while waiting for trolley recently.What may have precipitated the discussion was a noisy medium sized truck carrying deli products without a muffler and diesel truck sporting oversized tires spewing out black unburned carbon exhaust. Upon reflecting on these folks' comments and concerns we should look at the root causes of "noise & pollution." The thought occurred to me that if Florida had mandatory "emissions and control checks" on all transportation vehicles every other year as other states do, then it would get some of the noisy vehicles and dirty polluters off the road- by having faulty mufflers & polluting engines repaired. I believe Anna Maria island's environment would benefit by having a procedure put in place that will identify offenders even if the state of Florida is lacking a statewide roll-out of a comprehensive emission control program. With an ever inceasing number of large vehicles this approach would benefit all those of us that live here and are not passing through to have access to cleaner air not only in the select few streets that are congested and overused on AMI but also in the inner residential areas. A simple test suggested by the French chap in the group in the trolley stop discussion that day (it made a believer out of me) was to run a wad of moist paper towel across my Florida room window screens proved to me that our island had not grayed but become soiled with black pollutants. On a brighter note, I remember my father tellig me that when pointing a finger at some one, one must realize that three fingers point back at you and or others.
.Anton Rappold - Anna Maria island
Name: Gary McMullen
Date: 2013-05-01 08:02:27
Subject: Tree House
Comments: It should be abundantly clear that Building Official Tom O'Brien has his own vindictive agenda concerning the tree house. Of course it doesn't conform to the Florida Building Code! It is a tree house! It is used for personal use. How can O'Brien say that it is an accessory to a public accommodation just because the owners own rental property ? Leave the owners alone. Clearly the residents like it. No one objects to it. O'Brien's continuing agenda paints the city officials as petulant and vindictive. Zaccagino said there must be a way. Find it.
Next
