Improve clean water enforcement

How about the state using some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in excess taxes collected to beef up policing of the waterways, especially around Lake Okeechobee.  The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says it does not have sufficient staff to go after polluters under the Clean Waterways Act.  Their violation letters are simply ignored.

Clean water is the economic lifeblood of this state. The current situation, which for all effects and purposes, makes compliance optional, is akin to saying “pay taxes if you feel like it.”  Let’s put some teeth in the regulation and make sure the Ag department gets the funds needed for staff to monitor and sanction offenders. Our children and grandchildren depend on us to look out for their future.  For once, let’s not let them down.

Pamela Maldonado, Loxahatchee

FPL bringing back memories

I am in my 70’s and for many years I heard my parents' joy in getting a raise in their Social Security but inevitably complain about how another bill has gone up to take away from their increase. Well, congratulations to FPL for keeping my parents dreadful tradition going.

Carole Lorenzo, Greenacres

Letter gives 'insurrection' new meaning

In answer to the letter denouncing the use of the term “insurrection,” may I suggest that the next time individuals break into his home or business, enter it, and carry off valuable items while urinating on the carpets and smearing feces on the wall, that he should not call the police as those individuals were exercising their right to protest his wealth.  

Protesters shout chants, carry signs and sit or lie down. They don’t shout obscenities, bash people over their heads with signs and flagpoles or vandalize public property. I don’t know what station he was watching on Jan. 6, 2021, but he needs to change the channel. 

Karen Zaremba, Lantana 

Cerabino checks the governor, again

Any voter who supports Gov. DeSantis would be wise to read the Jan. 11 Frank Cerabino column, where Frank includes the governor’s remarks from Friday, Jan. 7 verbatim and debunks every false claim DeSantis made, with data and legitimate guidance from appropriate public health agencies. The governor spouts his falsehoods, backed up by the equally false claims of his surgeon general, another big spreader of misinformation. Floridians deserve a governor who values our lives, speak facts and supports our needs. DeSantis is not that person.

Geraldine Milio, Lake Worth

Cartoon brought back memories

The political cartoon on the Jan. 7 Opinion page literally brought tears to my eyes. It brought back stories about the deaths of family members during the Holocaust, the seeds of which were planted in Germany in May 1933 with the Nazi regime burning of thousands of books that did not support their philosophy. I think George Santayana said it best: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Ira Gross, Boca Raton