Anyone else notice all the new crosswalks in town? They connect to about a four-foot pad of concrete. What’s up with that?

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Hooray for our new city councilman, Eric Imker, for challenging the mayor and the rest of the City Council to try and develop a new city budget that would incorporate manpower and other city spending reductions and would head off any tax increases to pay for the over-inflated current budget. Seems the new mayor wants to use the millage rate increase to solve the problem with the poor management of this city. Why doesn’t the city manager come out publicly with what he would like to do to adjust the budget for this year? His input, I am sure, would be as the mayor’s: “Let’s raise taxes.” The City Council has to support Eric in this endeavor.

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I think the Post Office should be pressed harder on the ramifications of the robbery on Jan. 29. Their cavalier “response” totally ignores the problems citizens will encounter if incoming bills or outgoing bill payments were lost. There’s no way they can know whose mail was lost and notify them if no sorting/processing takes place at local post offices anymore, by their own contention. But, they could advise people, through The Citizen, if the type of mail stolen involved any personal mail, or whatever, so citizens could take action to head off late payments, etc., if necessary. The attitude of the Postal Service people toward their customers in general continues to worsen, and the Fayetteville Post Office has to be close to the worst.

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Nooo! Barnes and Noble, please don’t leave us! This would be a terrible loss for our community.

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The intellectual level of the city of Fayetteville and the county is reflected by its inability to hold on to the Barnes and Noble book store. It is a sad commentary on our state of affairs. We need to work hard to keep Books A Million and Omega alive in Peachtree City.

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We just can’t lose Barnes and Noble. That is the classiest store in Fayetteville. It would be a terrible loss, so is there anything we can do to save it?

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Everyone with middle school and high school kids should be aware there are some serious rumors going around about the two school levels being merged next year. This is the way it was not so long ago and it was stopped for a reason. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have 11-year-olds riding with 15-year-olds. It might be a cost-cutting measure, but I think this should really be thought about. If the high school day ends up longer, as is being talked about, I am not sure what should be done regarding the buses. Parents be warned, this could happen right under your noses. Neighborhoods have been rezoned in the past without notice; this bus merger could happen, too.

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Attention, Fayetteville and county police: If you want to increase revenue, how about pulling over ALL the drivers that refuse to turn on their headlights when it’s raining instead of pulling someone over for doing 40 in a 35? Both are against the law and sometimes more dangerous. Double the fines on the ones that drive with their emergency flashers.

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Okay, Katrina “victims,” the Saints won the Super Bowl. Now, please, go back home.

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Parents of children in youth sports that do not have time or do not wish to volunteer to coach their children should also refrain from coaching from the sidelines. There’s a huge difference between: “Let’s go, play hard,” “Stay strong,” or “Defend,” to “Go all the way,” “Shoot,” “Dribble,” “Don’t stop.” The last ones mean you’re coaching and telling them what to do, which may be different from the instructions the coach gave them. They only get confused. If you don’t volunteer your time or if you’re unhappy with the coaching your child is getting, set a good example and stop coaching from the sides, respect the people who have taken part of their days to try to coach a sport that they might love or they took up the assignment because some did not want to do it.

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PTC second-grade basketball parents: Tone it down a little, for Pete’s sake. Your behavior at PTC Elementary School was disturbing: Coaches yelling their heads off, parents yelling at referees, kids being poor sports with no repercussions. Very low class. I see why Upward is gaining in popularity.

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I actually got a $158 citation from the Peachtree City Police for having an FOP license plate medallion on my license plate. This FOP medallion is sold to the public to generate local revenue for law enforcement. I found out from the police officer who pulled me over that apparently some police personally do not like them because they think you are trying to say you know somebody in law enforcement, so therefore they should not pull you over. That’s odd; I had it displayed to show support for local law enforcement. It almost appears like it’s a set-up. The FOP sells the license plate medallions; you put them where they are supposed to go (your license plate); then you get pulled over for having them on your license plate. They make the FOP license plate medallions just slightly large enough to cover the top corner of your license plate. So they can charge you with “improper display of tag”? Wow, I had no idea I was going to be “donating” to the local law enforcement twice (once willingly to support them and once unwillingly because I displayed my support). Think twice before you display your support for the police on your car because they may use it against you.

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An email was sent out to the residents of Whitewater Creek Country Club Jan. 30. Apparently this “geese eradication event” wording was used instead of the more obvious “we are going to shoot them.” Apparently there was no attempt to relocate the geese, nor was any attempt made to find another solution to the situation. One resident, upon calling the Whitewater Creek Country Club manager, was told that this is common practice among golf courses. Just curious, does anyone else have a problem with this? This was inhumane, insensitive, and completely without compassion. I, for one, will not be frequenting Whitewater Creek’s dining or golf facilities any longer.

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While we are on the subject of leash laws, how about all the fat people running their dogs on a leash alongside their golf carts? You people are really pitiful. Get out of your golf cart and walk your dog and maybe you can lose some of that excess weight. If that’s not animal cruelty. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

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Rep. Lynn Westmoreland to be challenged by a Tea Party Republican? That is the rumor. Republicans who take delight in the Scott Brown miracle are kidding themselves in thinking that the national anger is directed at just the Democrats. The Tea Party is composed of many dissatisfied Republicans who are disgusted by Republicans like Lynn Westmoreland who mindlessly voted the party line. All empty-suit Republicans in Congress like Westmoreland have done is feed at the trough and do like they are told. We need Republicans who get elected and have the courage to tell their own district “no more pork for our district; no more pork from me as your congressman.” Westmoreland has done just the opposite on each.

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Glad to know that AT&T/BellSouth is still up to its same old games, no matter what name they go by this year. When the guy from the unmarked truck began digging around my front yard with a shovel, my first concern was the sprinkler system installed last year. His assurances that any damage would be paid for by AT&T were not reinforced when he gave me his first name and number scratched on a torn piece of paper. A quick search on att.com revealed a number for Repair Service (1-877-737-2478) that turned out to be out of service! At the phone company! During the next 30 minutes I was bounced from department to department, with no one being able to confirm that it was in fact an AT&T work crew in my yard. Their assurances sounded very similar to the guy out front. And though friendly, the customer service rep offered her “direct” number if I experienced any trouble in the spring with the sprinklers — the very same out of service number from the website. Same stellar service as they had when I canceled ALL my BellSouth lines years ago! Why do I get a bad feeling about this?

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I’m outraged at the oil industry executives. They bankrupted America a few years ago with their excessive prices so they could take home hundreds of millions of dollars while working people who pay them are starving. Now the economy has barely started to recover and they start the same tactic again. We will fall back into the recession just like before. These greedy pigs who never worked a day in their lives intend to live high off the American workers forever, it seems. No wonder there is an element in our society that wants to redistribute the wealth. It belongs to the working people who earn it with hard work but these hogs at the head of corporate America are stealing it right off our table.

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Having lived or worked in PTC since 1998, I am tired of almost every Free Speech being negative or a complaint. If you don’t like it, MOVE or get involved. How many of you have voted? How many of you are involved in your children’s school or activities? It’s easy to throw stones, but are you in a place to? When I first moved to PTC there was nothing between the interstate and the water tower. Change isn’t easy, but we must adapt. Building new shopping locations when others are completely empty does not make any sense. Expanding our roads does. Our schools are very good compared to other counties, but still need our support; let our teachers teach. We have our men and women of the armed forces to thank for our ability to share our views and opinions, but I believe part of the freedom is also the responsibility to provide solutions to our opportunities and not only complain about them. Again, if you don’t like PTC and what it has to offer, get involved, move or deal with it.