Sound Off for March 20, 2021

Not much difference

Since the governor lifted the mask mandate I really have not seen a change in people volunteering wearing masks. Every store and government building I visit most visitors are wearing mask. The ones not wearing them were most likely the ones who didn’t wear them during the mandate.

Responsible citizens?

I shopped at three stores yesterday and observed lots of scowling maskless faces in two of the three stores.

St. Paddy’s Day

Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not Irish, but hey, I celebrate everybody’s heritage! This is America, a country inhabited by immigrants. And you don’t have to give up your culture.

Traffic jam

Gulfport should do something about the traffic light at Highway 49 and Creosote Road in order to improve the flow of traffic leaving the outlet mall. Traffic leaving the mall is always backed up and at a standstill because the light changes so fast. On Saturday, it took me 35 minutes to get out of this traffic jam.

Property tax relief

All states, counties and municipalities are looking to the federal government for monetary assistance because of lack of tax income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet I see no tax relief for local businesses from the full property taxes and other business-related taxes from their local tax collectors as their income was been disrupted by the virus as well. What’s good for the goose...

Fuel cost

Can anyone explain the spiraling cost of gasoline to get to work? 75 cents per gallon in only two months in office.

Royalty

Don’t understand the big deal about Megan and Harry. Nice people but they are figureheads who actually do nothing. They had no more power than the king and queen of the Gulf Coast Carnival Association.

Living wages

When is this “living wage” thing going to stop? I remember, years ago, the minimum wage was $4.25 per hour and people said $5 per hour would be a “living wage.” When it increased to $5.15 per hour, those same people insisted they needed $7. And now, the same people are demanding $15 per hour. It won’t work because every single time you increase minimum wage, the cost of living increases.

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This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Sound Off for March 20, 2021."