Reduce number of visitors to Hilton Head Island — now | Letters
Hilton Head Island needs to reduce the number of visitors immediately.
Residents are using social distancing, but visitors are not.
We do not need to close the bridge to do this.
The hotels and vacation villas need to cancel reservations for the next several weeks.
This is a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic and our residents lives are at stake.
Many of us are over 60 and at increased risk and we do not have access to an abundance of hospital beds.
This is an emergency that needs to be dealt with before it’s too late.
Susan Sigalow
Hilton Head Island
We can beat the coronavirus if we put our minds to it
The March 19 article in The Atlantic magazine, “This is How We Can Beat the Caronavirus,” made a lot of sense and is worth reading in full.
The gist of the article says that we are basically only “mitigating” and slowing the spread down by social distancing, whereas Asian countries are using “suppression” by limiting an infected person’s contact to one person only – not two or three.
This might mean segregating a family member away from the home, but it is necessary.
The article further says an Imperial College report predicts the virus will diminish quickly in the hot summer months, but we should not become complacent, but rather we should use that time to prepare to test our entire population, and make ready facilities to care for the infected, as the virus will roar back in the fall and winter. That happened with the flu in 1918, when tens of millions of people died worldwide.
So, let’s be patient and smart, and heed this advice.
Let’s be prepared, get everyone tested (no small task), and get tested “safe” people back to work, to school and to “normal,” while isolating those who test negative.
We can do it! Stay safe, America!
Michael McNally
Callawassie Island
A noble act at the Publix in a bad time for America
I wish to share an uplifting story in these days of stress.
On Friday, March 13, I was in the Publix at New River, standing in the cleaning-materials aisle, actually in front of the empty shelves for cleaning wipes and sprays when a gentleman approached.
He bent down and found two cans of wipes at the back of the bottom shelf.
He then offered one to me.
I declined but I have tried to tell this “good” story to everyone, proving disaster can bring out the best in us. My thanks and admiration to this true gentleman, whom I hope reads this.
Dona Pavloff
Hilton Head Island
The winning combination of land stewardship and healthy economy
Clean energy and prudent land stewardship are entirely compatible with a healthy economy – not in opposition, as some may fear.
Why? Because clean energy creates new jobs and saves businesses and consumers money, while preserving our significant ecological places protects our vital “blue economy”: fisheries and tourism.
It’s now cheaper to build a new solar farm than to keep existing coal-burning plants running. The Beaufort County Open Land Trust has just proven that we can marry land protection with clean energy development with their first-of-its-kind conservation easement on a solar farm.
For decades, coal ash and fine particulates from burning coal and gas have polluted our communities.
Urban sprawl has gobbled up wetlands and forests that buffered us from storm surges and inland flooding.
We live in a state where monopoly energy utilities are allowed to put their bottom line before their customers’ best interest.
And we live in a country where partisan politics can prevent even the smallest action to stabilize our climate.
Fortunately, leaders like U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham recognize the payoff of investing in clean energy and protecting our natural resources. He cosponsored the 100% Clean Economy Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act.
South Carolina has long benefited from bipartisan conservation support. But to protect what we love most about South Carolina for generations to come, more elected officials need to act boldly to commit to clean energy and conservation goals.
Linda Lancaster
Bluffton
Looking for perfect score at 1600?
According to Google, the highest possible SAT score is 1,600.
“To get this score, you have to get a perfect 800 on each of two sections: Math and Evidenced-Based Reading and Writing.”
It is charmingly and coincidentally apt that the street address of the White House is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In their infinite wisdom, our forefathers sought to have that house occupied by persons who came close to reaching that “1600” level of extraordinary intellect and intelligence. Through the years we have had residents with barely passing grades and some with the highest marks.
Yet none has failed so miserably as the current occupant. Beyond his many other intellectual shortcomings, “Donny One Note” has a vocabulary of just a single adjective, “perfect”: perfect phone call, perfect letter, perfect meeting, etc.
On the 1600 scale, if the White House was a mobile home, it should be moved it to the lower end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Or better yet, come November, served with an eviction notice.
Henry Druckerman
Bluffton
Meet Donald Trump, the socialist
President Donald Trump opposes socialism, unless it’s socialism for political gain.
He recently increased farm subsidies – aka social welfare – to $28 billion. He’s trying to buy back the loyalty of farmers, victims of his disastrous trade war.
Farmers call it, “Trump money.”
Obama had a bailout too, for automakers, that saved thousands of manufacturing jobs and resurrected an iconic American industry. However, the car companies repaid the loans, including interest that earned taxpayers $15 billion in profit. No such strings are attached to the farm bailout. It’s free Trump money.
Trump’s mismanaged tariff war has devastated small farming in this country. Farm bankruptcies hit an eight-year high and farm debt has soared to an all-time high. Coincidentally, average farm income has dropped to a 15-year low. A key Trump state, Wisconsin, has lost 10 percent of its dairy farms.
So why, with all this farm aid, are small farms struggling? A study found the top 10% of recipients lined their pockets with a whopping 54% of the payments. Corporate socialism in action ensures the big corporate farms are getting the lion’s share of the subsidies, not the small farmers most in need.
Has the farm industry’s sacrifice lowered store prices? No. In fact, economists say U.S. consumers are footing the bill for Trump’s trade war at the cash register.
“Trump money” is really our taxes lining the pockets of big business.
Boyd T. McCleary
Bluffton
Joe Cunningham’s Trump invitation for coastal SC unheeded
Among all the news stories surrounding the South Carolina Democratic Primary and the debate in Charleston, one seemed to have not gotten the attention it deserved.
While you had the Democrats picking their next nominee and the Republicans attending President Trump’s rally, U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham did what he does best: put the Lowcountry over partisan politics.
Joe personally invited the president to take a tour of the Lowcountry coastline together. It wasn’t some gimmick. Cunningham sent him an official letter and extended the invitation so Trump could see why so many South Carolinians will never want a single oil rig off our shoreline.
And you know how Trump responded to this offer? He didn’t. Instead, he showed up for a rally and left.
Cunningham has advocated for us in Washington. When the president decided to visit our state, Joe gave him the opportunity to better understand our way of life. Not for politics, but because Joe actually cares about protecting the future of South Carolina.
Marty Fuller
Bluffton