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Highlands Today

A Different Kind Of Flood

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By Raleigh Whiteman | Highlands Today

Published: June 26, 2008

Across much of the Midwest there is flooding over literally thousands of square miles and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes flooded.

The memories of Hurricane Katrina and its devastation do sort of make you wonder:
Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers) are?

Why isn't the federal government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?
When will the federal government be handing free credit cards out to Iowa flood victims?
Where is all the mess and vandalism in the emergency centers?

When will Spike Lee say that the government blew up the many levees that failed as the water rose?
Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?
Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage with reports of cannibalism?

Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?
How come in two weeks, we will never hear about the Midwest flooding ever again?

Sidewalks Refused
I probably completely misunderstood the reasoning behind the dismissal of the request to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for assistance in getting funds for a sidewalk extension in my subdivision of south Sun 'N Lakes. Maybe what I heard was not what was said or what was meant was not what I understood.

Here's what I think I heard.

Four-foot wide sidewalks are good for exercise but not safe for walking, or was it that walking safe is not a form of recreation?

Since the request was submitted to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee with wording that stressed safety for people exercising by walking they cannot support approving the funding, it is not eligible for funding from parks and rec but needs to be resubmitted for approval of assisted funding to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and it will have to be eight-foot wide sidewalks. In addition, the existing half-mile of four-foot sidewalk will have to be widened to eight feet. I don't think anyone down here wants an eight-foot wide hunk of concrete across their front or side yard.

I think I heard that it is not safe to exercise by walking on a four-foot sidewalk because bikers may need to get by.

The existing sidewalk was put in for the safety of kids walking to the school. There must not be any kids south of Sweetheart Ave.

Or maybe the kids south of Sweetheart are eligible to ride a bus to school that picks them up while they are waiting on a side street without a sidewalk. Is that considered safe?

It appears after going to the meeting with parks and rec that the extension of sidewalks in Sun N Lakes will not be happening, at least not in the near future if at all. Parks and rec says that because the submitted request stressed safety the DOT is the agency that addresses safety issues.

A lot of work went into making this proposal and now the request must be done all over again.

Raleigh Whiteman, of Lake Placid, is a contributing writer to Highlands Today. You can reach him on the Internet at rwwhiteman@comcast.net

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