Back to School, Energy Bill and Handicapped Access

Back to School Soon

I spent the day doing the same thing most parents were doing. I was buying back to school supplies for my daughter. Let me tell you it was not cheap by any normal middle or low income family standards. The store was not too overcrowded and the break on taxes helped a little. With the increase in just about every basic need we can use every penny we can get from tax relief. The educational support staffers in K-12 have gone to federal mediation because of a failure of school administration to understand how difficult it is for those individuals to make ends met. I as a higher education support staffer have little or no hope of the college level staff being treated any better after all if you make over one hundred thousand dollars a year why care about people who need to worry about pennies.

Senate comes home without Energy Bill

The Republican Party did everything they could to harm our environment but Senate Democrats blocked their efforts to drill offshore in the Golf Coast. Even with yet another hurricane approaching our shore they are still demanding that we drill in that very area. Nothing like large oil slicks washing ashore to destroy the Golf Coast shoreline if republicans have their way in the future. Why the Republican Party still refuses to look to renewable energy is only to clear after all just look at Alaska and Senator Ted Stevens. As long as big oil companies are spending large sums of money from their obscene profits to buy senators support, we will never have real investment in renewable energy resources until every drop of oil is used and every green area in this country is damaged. Yet, even if they do win the power to drill offshore, we as consumers will not see any of that oil for a decade or more.

Handicapped Issue for Closing Knob Hill to Vehicles

It is time to get the golf carts out for the event on Central Avenue. The city once again shows that it does not plan well for new events when it comes to handicapped individuals. Clearly these individuals would have a problem getting around if parking spaces are not easy to access but it is not a problem hard to overcome. The fairgrounds has the same problem but has dealt with it by having wheelchairs for rent. They could also use golf carts and cycle carts to help handicapped individuals get around during the road closures. The mayor should hire someone who really understands how to meet ADA requirement without making a big deal out of it.