Outdoor-area closings lacked common sense
Thank you for the April 16 editorial, “Keep Florida’s great outdoors open (as much as possible).” To me it was mind-boggling and made no sense of the closings that were done. I encountered the closing of Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and could not fathom the reason for that. I have done that trip many times and have not seen evidence of people getting out of their cars and gathering together.
The other item was closing the boat ramps, so any fisherman or small boater was denied the freedom of getting out on the river to enjoy Florida’s outdoors. I am a kayaker and I don’t recall ever seeing fishing boats with more than three people in them and even seeing sports boats on rivers, I usually only see three or four people enjoying the outdoors.
The other closing that lacked common sense was closing the Econ State Forest. Because of all the closings and only having a few areas open, what happened was this caused more people to funnel to the few remaining areas that were open, which to me made no sense at all.
Personally I believe when unusual things happen like this, the “powers that be” feel they must exert some kind of show of power to prove their worth, so the public usually suffers.
Pamela Daniel Oviedo
Virtual learning: What about performing arts?
In his April 17 column “Use COVID-19 crisis to revamp public education,” Dr. Joseph Wise does well in explaining the need for better virtual education in Florida. What he doesn’t address is arts education.
He, as a former high school band and orchestra director, should recognize the near impossibility of having performing and visual arts education in a virtual format. It most likely can be done, but not without equipment and connectivity that would probably make it a wealthy student’s class, and also would take away the community feeling of performing together with your fellow actors, singers, or instrumentalists.
Dana Irwin Winter Park
Trump now has deniability for crisis
Following his indisputable claim of total authority to determine the times and methods to restore business to normalcy, President Donald Trump has timidly ceded that power to the states.
Previously, he emphatically stated, concerning the fight to slow the pandemic, that he is “not responsible.”
So, we’re back to where we started. When problems complicate progress in phasing out the pandemic restrictions and restoring the economy, Trump has deniability. He will be able to argue that his rightful power was wrested from him by the progressives’ dark agenda.
Those of his staff who were complicit in persuading him to relinquish his rightful omnipotence will be identified. They will be the ones fired for any connection, even obliquely related, to setbacks in progress toward economic restoration.
James Weatherspoon St. Cloud
Cngress must form pandemic plan
We don’t need tweets, politics, finger-pointing, name-calling or the incitement of protesters to form a pandemic strategy. We’re getting near the goal line and Donald Trump has fumbled the ball.
Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell must now step up and pass an emergency bill funding a unified national strategy and project for testing and contact tracing. Bring out the National Guard, volunteers and military. If Trump refuses to sign the bill, he’ll surely lose his job. I wonder where he’ll then go, New York or South Florida?
William Higgins New Smyrna Beach