Leonard Pitts
Tribune Media

The tweet went as follows:
“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a (expletive), right?”
The missing word is a bit of verbal sewage sometimes used to disparage women.

Robyn Blumner
Tribune Media

Sen. Marco Rubio has so much star power these days that his white teeth seem to glint when he smiles. With his Cuban-American heritage and youthful visage, Rubio was the natural choice to deliver the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech. But his performance illustrates a point that Republicans don’t seem to get; a new face doesn’t improve bankrupt ideas.

This week, we were reminded that Osceola County has some of the best public safety employees in the nation.

Bring you own device

To the Editor:

The Osceola School District is working feverishly to make sure all our high schools will have the digital infrastructure in place for students to bring and use their tablet computers, laptops, etc., for the 2013-14 School year. There is nothing of greater significance that we can do right now to improve public education in Osceola County public schools.

Leonard Pitts
Tribune Media

Dear David from Georgia:
I want to thank you for the email you sent last week. It made me laugh out loud.

Robyn Blumner
Tribune Media

“I grew up hearing over and over, to the point of tedium, that ‘hard work’ was the secret of success. ... No one ever said that you could work hard -- harder even than you ever thought possible -- and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt.” Barbara Ehrenreich, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.”

The tangible benefit of high school athletics was on display earlier this month when six local high school football players signed national letters of intent with five universities on what is billed as “National Signing Day.”

And, that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Doesn’t want the intrusion

To the Editor:

I received a newsletter in my monthly bill from my utility company proudly proclaiming that it will be installing digital electric meters throughout their entire service area.

The newsletter goes on to say among other things, that these digital meters will “lay the foundation” for OUC to provide, we the customers, with access to more detailed information about our daily usage as well as “consumption alerts” (sounds like 1984 more and more every day”).

Conspicuously missing was any mention of we the customer being able to opt out of this new intrusion into our privacy by the government.

I am an independent thinking person, capable of making my own decisions when it comes to the well being and individual desires of myself and my family. As an example, my family likes to keep it cool in our home. Our thermostat is pegged at 70 degrees year round. Unless it is very cold outside and then we switch to heat but grudgingly. We are also an active computer family both for business and pleasure including multiple hours of gaming daily. Sometimes in excess of 18 hours a day. We are well aware of our power consumption and the amount of money it costs us. But we have made a decision that our comfort, income and entertainment are worth the expense.

We don’t leave the house much unless necessary for work, shopping, school, doctor, etc. Therefore, we may spend more on power in our home but spend far less than many in gas and power usage elsewhere. We have not been on a vacation of more than 25 miles in 10 years. Our home is our castle and it is also a haven and we prize our privacy.

I have done extensive research on smart meters and am well aware of the potential for wide spread abuse by the government including controlling our dwelling power usage as well as monitoring our family activities through these devises; i.e. how much time do we spend cooking, watching TV, using our computers, times of day and night that we are active. I also worry about our security. Some digital meters are capable of “knowing” what is exactly using power. This information could alert nefarious individuals as to whether we are at home or not by the specific energy output from our homes.

The give away to the power company’s true agenda is the “consumption” alerts. What is it that they are alerting us to? Probably to the fact that they are monitoring our activities and taking more of our freedoms away.

President Reagan once said, “the nine most terrifying words are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” How true that is proving to be in the progressive changing America we live in. Apparently the utility company thinks that we are not capable of making our own energy decisions. So they are here to help.

I want them to stay out of my house. My house is still private property.

If others want the smart meters, I say fine. I have no argument nor is it any concern of mine. However, I would like the same courtesy in exchange – the right to say “No” I do not want a smart meter in my house.

Frank Iaquinto

St. Cloud

Council on Aging CEO a community treasure

I would like to recognize Beverly Hougland, CEO, Osceola County Council on Aging for her dedication and compassion, to not just seniors, but the entire community. We are truly blessed to have someone who not only gives back in so many ways, but instilled in her children the same values of self-sacrifice for others and especially the less fortunate.

Under Beverly’s leadership the council has grown and flourished serving over 100,000 residents a year from all walks of life. Her entire team is top notched, professional, caring and qualified. Relatives visiting from out of state have marveled at the scope of services and commented on our good fortune in having such an active and supportive Council on Aging. On behalf of those who depend on your services to age in place and enjoy an improved quality of life I thank you Beverly Hougland. We are grateful for your generous spirit and empathetic organization where people find fun, acceptance, and even refuge.

Cathy Miller

St. Cloud

Where is the entertainment?

To the editor:

Why is Osceola County behind times?

After calling the OHP office, I was told that they had no decent entertainment whatsoever scheduled for the Silver Spurs venue.

When other cities and counties have venues like the Plant City Strawberry Festival, the Zellwood Corn Festival and the Florida State Fair, they have real entertainment that bring thousands upon thousands of people to their areas.

Entertainers such as Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, Martina McBride, Blake Shelton, Hunter Hayes, Neil McCoy, Chubby Checker, Bobby Vinton,  just to name a few.

How successful do you think those festivals will be?

Now, take a look at the Silver Spurs attractions.

You have a guy with a chain saw cutting logs, dancing bears and a bunch of horses and bulls. Livestock is expected at the Osceola Fair, but chain-sawing logs? Where is the entertainment and just how does the Silver Spurs expect to actually draw an attendance? Last year has nothing on this year’s presentation and I had hoped someone would have learned a lesson from last year’s event. Obviously, they didn’t.

Let’s also not forget that we are probably one of less than a handful of counties in Florida that doesn’t celebrate Presidents Day.  How patriotic is that? What are we teaching our children and grandchildren when the government turns a blind eye to this type of holiday?

There’s plenty of good, hard working people, and a basic goodness in our Osceola County, but can anyone wonder just why our county is sliding downward?

Tony Ferentinos

Kissimmee

Blame yourself

To the editor:

At the end of your recent editorial about the new dress code at the Osceola County Clerk of the Circuit Court office, you suggest that all the media attention over the new policy is a problem for the clerk.

The new dress code was not an issue until the media, including the News-Gazette, made it one. We didn’t put out a press release on the new dress code  – an employee sent an internal copy of the policy to the media, and the media attention began. The media – including your newspaper -- also made an issue about the dress code being six pages long; it is only that length because of the pictures.

You also mentioned the discontinuation of casual Fridays. Many businesses and government offices require their employees to dress professionally every workday, and that is what we have done.

You also failed to mention that the job of writing a new dress code went to my staff – I didn’t write one word of it. My special projects team did the research and wrote the dress code and then the final product was vetted to both the senior management and mid-level management teams. I approved what they approved. Most of the managers are women.

The bottom line is that you certainly have the right to criticize me for any new policy that I approve. However, you forgot that it was your newspaper that contacted me for a story  – it wasn’t the other way around. Your newspaper chose to jump on the media bandwagon and then you wrongly want to blame me for the unnecessary attention.

Armando R. Ramirez

Osceola County Clerk of the Circuit Court