Sound Off for June 28, 2019

Start it up

Bring back the draft. Give young people character while keeping them out of trouble here in our cities. Win-win.

Way to go

Congratulations to the Sun Herald and the reporters who were recognized for their stories this year. There are those who complain about the stories in the paper, but they are not our reporters’ stories. The complaints are about the stories that are picked up from large markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Our reporters do an excellent job and deserve recognition. Maybe the management of the Sun Herald will use more of their stories and less from the big cities.

Work for free?

During a recent conversation with an elected official from a northern town the size of Biloxi or Gulfport, I asked what his salary was as a city councilman. He replied that city council members in his town do not receive a salary. Their work is done on a volunteer basis. Could we ask our local officials to do the same?

Bad appearance

Is this a joke? Gulfport looks like a third-world country. The route to the airport (Hewes Avenue) looks like it hasn't recovered from Camille. What are we paying for?

Lottery blues

What’s up with the lottery? I wanted a ticket for July 4th.

Getting the credit

The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. has just hit the 10-year mark of nonstop economic growth. Hmmm. Now who was in the White House eight of those 10 years?

Misplaced blame

I love my state. Let's look at our long history of last on the good things list, and top of the bad things list. You can't blame the party for the bad things if they haven't been in control for years. The common denominator here is the good ole boys. They are profiting. Let's make changes, let's move out of the 1950s and into the 21 century.

Bad fishing

Really? So tell me, why are you all so worried about the July 4th tourists with the closing of the beaches? What about all of us locals who catch fish to feed our families? I have been doing this for over 45 years, but now I can't even go out to catch any tripletail or anything. I am a concerned local fisherman.

The thinking?

Biloxi's tourist season, already shortened by nearly a month because of early school starts, has once again been deprived of another "high season" weekend by Scrapin' the Coast. This event has locals sheltering in place and tourists avoiding the area as if a tropical storm was forecast for that weekend. Traffic-causing events are not productive for the local economy, especially for Biloxi with its road and street construction debacle. What was the city thinking?