I really had no idea the PTC Fire Department was a union shop. Can they strike during a fire? The hubbub about wanting more paid full-time firemen needs to be extinguished by saying no, or by giving them what they say they need. It won’t happen until we can see an official breakdown of the total fire department staff in quantity of people (total), what they do and how much they are currently paid. Am I to understand just because we have built several fire stations in town, that prevents us from getting more than a few people at a time to the fire? Couldn’t several from diverse locations answer the call at nearly the same time, or within a very few minutes? It appears deliberately confusing for purposes of job security.

It appears that Free Speech has been relegated to the wonderful Web. The pressure of those offended apparently has been too great, and a method was worked out to sneak it out of the paper. This is the same kind of politics that “outed” a CIA spy: sic the dogs on them.

There are two reasons I will not be voting for Fayetteville City Council candidate Al Hovey-King: Hovey and King.

A double border fence (to replace rusted barbed wire) with a Border Patrol road between makes good sense now, and if Mexico falls even more under control of violent drug lords, the fence will look even better. Illegal crossers now sneer, “We don’t need no stinkin’ papers,” and some politicos sing the praises of cheap willing peon workers.

For Cal to endorse Paul Oddo for Fayetteville Council based on the current council being too friendly towards commercial development is insane. Check your facts, Cal. Paul’s family owns millions of dollars worth of undeveloped commercial property in Fayetteville they’re just itchin’ to sell for big financial gain. If he gets elected, who do you think he’s going to look out for?

Last I heard, they had medication to help with all of the paranoid schizophrenia that seems to plague our city. The police writing down tag number and comparing them at a later time, just to harass our citizens? I also hear they have databases that house all of your information and can create holographic images. This is great, next time they won’t put handcuffs on you and they can just “virtually” arrest you. Please do us all a favor and get some lithium with a little psychiatric care.

Here we go again. A kid arrested for a knife in his car? What’s wrong with this picture? Did he bring it into the school? No. Did he put it into his car to do harm to someone or something? No. When are we going to use common sense? I have a Swiss army knife in my car that is always at the school with me volunteering as well as a leather-man. Also, look around at games; I see dads in the stands with knives on their belts because it is used as a tool. How many moms have pocket knifes in their purses? Let’s stop wasting time and money and make sure there is intent to do harm before we arrest. When are we going to start thinking and let common sense be used? When is the school board going to stop wasting time and money on cases that have no merit? When is the school board going to stop the principals from wasting our law enforcements’ time on these cases?

Some things are just beyond reasonable comprehension. I noticed where a “Latino” Grammy awards were being held. I think there also is a “Black” Grammy Awards. My question is: how would a Caucasian Grammy awards go over? There are many other programs of this type, also, they make no sense to me, and seem counter-productive to the minority causes. The other problem I have is that in Texas, it seems, that one has a right to a judge in your trial who is of the same political party as you are. Of course that would mean that a judge who is picking a new judge for you would also have to be of your party, and he would also have to pick a new judge who is of your party, and so on. Why didn’t that work well when the Florida Supreme Court demanded a vote recount in the Gore-Bush election and the U..S. Supreme Court said, no, no recount was needed. It would seem the Florida court was Democratic and the U.S. Court was Republican, no? I think we need a Republican Constitution (no abortions, low corporate taxes, high debt, must be fundamentalist Christian, no welfare, etc.) and a Democrat Constitution (doctors decide abortions, high corporate taxes, also high debt, can be a Jew or a Catholic, or an agnostic, or nearly anything). Do you get the feeling that religion and politics need to be separate?

In keeping with the current Pentagon policies for treatment of terrorists, may I suggest that we start the same program here in Fayette County. Every time we catch someone suspicious, like a robber, we send him to Coweta or Forysth County for torture. That way if he knows anything or if any one else is involved, he will tell us.

Thank you, Cal Beverly, for letting the people of Fayette County know how you would vote in places that you can’t even spell; check you Web site, it’s Tyrone, not Tyron. Not only do you give your biased opinions of candidates and their qualifications, you make references to lime slushes presumably at the recently devolved Sonic. Isn’t that site where a developer sued the city and got everything he wanted? I do live in Tyrone and can vote. You also back Gloria Furr and Grace Caldwell with no explanation other than “grassroots uprising” and “forgotten residents.” Last I saw grassroots were being uprooted for developers with lawyers and running amuck and the forgotten resident’s representatives they forgot there was a founder’s day event with their empty RV. At least Nebergall and Dial have a realization that we need to work with all the parties involved for Tyrone to move forward in the right direction.