Views from readers: DMR funding + mask concerns

Wear your mask

A mask skeptic said he doesn’t believe masks stop the spread of the coronavirus. And that he’s pretty sure mask mandates are a “communistic move” by the government to see how much freedom people are willing to give up.

Such are the conspiracy theories sprinting across social media.

The irony: The mask skeptic makes money selling masks during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, he does business out of a Trump-themed trailer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Debunking two common claims:

False: Masks limit the oxygen breathed into the body and may lead to death. (The prolonged use of masks, when worn properly, do not cause oxygen deficiency.)

False: Masks can cause carbon dioxide poisoning from rebreathing your exhaled carbon dioxide. (To rebreathe your own air, the mask would have to be air-tight. Surgeons wear even heavier-duty face coverings for long periods of time.)

Also, carbon dioxide molecules are much smaller than droplets containing coronavirus, which masks are designed to stop. When breathing out, the carbon dioxide will go through and around commonly worn masks, so it’s unlikely to build up to significant levels.

Mississippi recently surpassed Florida as No. 1 in coronavirus positivity rate.

Be a responsible citizen. Wear a mask. Seek fact-based information, even when it’s not what you wish to believe.

And come November, fire the president and his Senate enablers responsible for willfully ignoring the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in our country. And look hopefully toward a better day.

Richard Harkness

Ocean Springs

Make them pay

Thank you to the Sun Herald for the only information the taxpayers ever get on the DMR theft by Bill Walker.

We are years down the road now and the elder Walker and son, Scott, are still doing it their way.

After stealing at least $700,000, they now have paid back only 20 something percent.

There are at least 2 million people in this state that would love to work with the court on such a deal, if possible.

The paper stated Mr. Walker’s monthly income to be well over $16,000 a month. I think Judge Keith Starrett, the state attorney general and the state auditor should stop this nonsense and do something about it.

At only $5,000 a month, we will never see the money recovered anyway.

Just because this whole thing has been a joke from the start ... it doesn’t have to end that way.

Charles Cooley

Gautier

DMR funding

Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Mississippi is concerned with the status of the Department of Marine Resources, highlighted in the article by Anita Lee (“MS House ‘drew the line in the sand’ on DMR budget. Impasse stalls Coast projects”, August 17, 2020) detailing the position of legislators vis-à-vis the governor.

The impasse that Ms. Lee describes is costly since so many on-going projects depend on the support of DMR, even when the funding is not directly a state appropriation. Staff are covered until the end of August and probably beyond but the projects on hold are the key issue to CCA Mississippi.

Every Coast resident is aware of the devastation that occurred through the mid-part of 2019.

DMR has funded a hydrological study through USM that may be crucial to our understanding of the impact on the Mississippi Sound of the Mid-Breton Sound Mississippi River Diversion project. The Corps of Engineers Environmental Impact Study in progress could lead to approval. Openings of the Bonnet Carre spillway taught us that what happens in Louisiana may have devastating effects on Mississippi. CCA Mississippi and other coast interests should utilize the best available scientific information as a basis for support or opposition. The USM project is part of that scientific information we will need.

CCA Mississippi has concerns with multiple marine resource issues that effect recreational fishing and anglers, making the above project one of many issues we must monitor to fulfill our mission.

The state allocation of red snapper is now under threat; funds and permitting to deploy available reef materials are sitting on federal desks; many of our inshore species need to be assessed so management can be based on the stock; and the menhaden purse seine industry continues to frustrate us with their wanton depletion of this essential forage fish in the Mississippi Sound.

Funding of the DMR is just another layer but can be easily solved – and should be.

Tommy Elkins

Chairman of the Board of Directors at CCA

F. J. Eicke and Kyle Johnson

Co-Chairmen, Government Relations Committee at CCA