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Site improved with homes around rather than Wal-Mart

 
Published March 15, 2006

What an absolute delight to see a gated community with luxury homes being developed along U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor on the site where Wal-Mart previously proposed building a superstore.

Special thanks once again to the county commissioners and all others who opposed its plan.

As I drive by, I envision how this area would look if Wal-Mart had succeeded. In time, it would have taken on the characteristics of its store a half-mile down the road - a massive building surrounded with landscaping, overloaded with cigarette butts and a congested parking lot drenched with oil spots.

Good luck in your endeavors to the Tarpon Springs residents who are opposing the Wal-Mart being planned on U.S. 19 in their area.

Arlene Renda, Palm Harbor

Nonsense to pay woman

for ex-husband's behavior

Re: Family settles jail death lawsuit, story, Feb. 8.

Citizens' tax money, if approved, will be awarded to an ex-wife for the bad behavior of her ex-husband.

He was a lawbreaker. If he had not gotten intoxicated, he would not have been arrested, accused of drunken driving, and therefore wouldn't have been jailed.

According to his ex-wife, the money is a pittance. If so, she should give the money to charity. You know that won't happen.

Jennifer Pugh, former wife of the late Larry Germonprez, said, "But how do you put a price on a man's life anyway?"

Evidently, her ex-husband didn't think a life had much value when he got behind the wheel intoxicated.

If she was so concerned about his life and his well-being, how come she's his ex-wife?

This nonsense has to stop.

Joseph J. Bloznalis, Clearwater

Difficulty in obtaining

passport baffles citizen

In September, my wife and I applied for our passports at the Clearwater post office.

We had our birth certificates and photos and filled out the necessary forms. The postal clerk said everything was in order and sent them in.

A few weeks later, we received our passports, only mine had a stipulation on it that it was good only until this September. There was also a form that stated the evidence we submitted was not sufficient to claim I was a U.S. citizen.

It said because my birth certificate was a delayed one, it wasn't acceptable. It stated I could get school, census or baptismal records. I wondered how these documents would be more reliable than a certified birth certificate.

I asked if my discharge papers that stated I was a U.S. citizen were acceptable, and the office said no.

I also contacted U.S. Rep. Bill Young's office, and a lady there called me and said I should contact the Census Bureau. I thought it would help me out, but that's all I heard.

I have been a law-abiding citizen, paid taxes all these years and served in the Army. It amazes me how some people can come into this country and receive all kinds of benefits even though they are not citizens. It doesn't seem right.

I don't know where else to turn.

Robert L. Tinsley, Largo

Articles help children

dream up own adventures

A good deal of information from the St. Petersburg Times is sent to our family in southern Maryland.

Pictures at the top of the classified ads are collected and arranged in notebooks for land and sea nature. The notebooks are made for the benefit of kindergarteners at Greenview Knolls Elementary School in St. Mary's County, Md.

Articles regarding science are mailed to our daughter, who reads them with her sons. This enhances the boy's reading skills and interest in science.

Staff writer Terry Tomalin's articles about kayak journeys on Florida waterways are enjoyed by our eldest grandson's fellow Cub and Boy Scouts. It is a big jump from a canoe on a lake to a kayak journey on a river. These articles give way to dreams of their future adventures on Maryland waterways.

As you can see, I hold newspapers in high regard. For the benefit of our family, it is best to read the St. Petersburg Times with a pair of scissors at hand.

Barbara J. Sansbury, Largo