Sound Off for Jan. 8

Editor’s note: The Sound Off column for Jan. 7 was inadvertently omitted from Friday’s print edition. The column can be found at www.sunherald.com.

Belk, open your doors

Why must Belk keep their South doors locked to prevent mall walkers from making a circle around the mall? This is very selfish for them to keep these doors locked. The elderly use the mall for walking to keep them safe from the danger and the elements . Why must they persist in this selfish practice? Please stop locking these doors and be considerate to those in need of a safe nice place to walk.

A green fantasy

The Biden administration is ordering the auto industry to make more electric vehicles so that by 2035 no gas powered autos will be sold. It’s not even close to “green.” It takes over 500,000 gallons of water to mine one ton of lithium and there is no practical and safe way to recycle the resultant battery. They will remain vastly expensive on the production, use, storage, replacement and disposal fronts. Charging creates another host of non-green problems. The electricity is produced by carbon based plants and the infrastructure for it to be nationally available for cars and homes is insufficient.

Forgot about COVID?

What is wrong with all the people around here? Does nobody watch the news? The coronavirus is getting worse. But all of you are still having the festivities with many people gathered up without masks. I think they should make everyone get a vaccine, or make them pay high taxes if they don’t.

Railroad crossing woes

I drove once again on Thursday morning across the Creosote Road and U.S. 49 railway crossing. But this time the police were there because a section had collapsed. I have written Sound Offs lately about this dilapidated crossing. But no one is listening.

Submit your Sound Offs for consideration to soundoff@sunherald.com.