The Santa who every December would visit our county commissioners, Richard Conover passed away this December. Our Christmas card greeting card sent to Richard at the nursing home in Clewiston was returned, marked "Deceased." A phone call verified the sad notation. This gregarious, fun loving, sometimes serious personality that so marked Richard is gone, but the many little jokes and jabs, directed mainly at our county commissioners, will linger on as we recall them. Many of us will miss getting an unexpected birthday greeting card from Richard, accompanied with a line or two, kidding (with kindness,) the fact that we are one year older. Why Richard's family decided not to have a memorial service to honor Richard's time amongst us remains a mystery. We hope that this little notice will remind people of this big bear of a man, whose gruff demeanor sometimes masked his "soft" side. ...more

January 10, 2009

All creatures, big and small share the world around us, trying to live in harmony with each other. Man, being the dominant "creature," at times takes liberty to kill without provocation, thus exerting his power over nature, while exhibiting the worst in man. An example of this dominance was reported recently in this newspaper, when two men used a combination of .22 caliber and .45 caliber guns to kill a rattlesnake found in a backyard. The snake, minding its own business, was probably seeking the warmth of the sun in order to reach "operating temperature." When approached and threatened by the humans, the snake assumed a defensive posture as it coiled and moved its head from side to side; saying in effect, "leave me alone, go away, I do not want to harm you." Unfortunately for the snake, the humans did not wish to admire this creature for its beauty and place in ecology, but wished to destroy this perceived threat to "children, dogs and cats that might be in the area." ...more

February 8, 2008

The editorial of Dec. 20, titled "Balancing Needs For Cash And Land Critical As Area Grows," covered an important subject and the reference to the fact that endangered species need certain habitats in order to survive, was a statement all of us should ponder; as wildlife is such an important segment of our "quality of life." Thank you for your thoughtful opinion. However, a headline in your Dec. 17 issue screamed, "Grove Owners Want Development Of 4,600 Homes." ...more

December 31, 2007

Several editorials in the Highlands Today have come out against the Florida Hometown Democracy ballot proposal. That is unfortunate, but not surprising, as a newspaper is a "business" and depends upon the number of paid subscribers it has. The more people moving into the newspaper's area, the better chance there is to increase sales. This may be called the "gold" factor. I call it the "greed" factor. ...more

December 5, 2007