No e-bikes? Try a non-electric bike
As a cyclist who regularly uses the bike trails from downtown Winter Garden east to Ocoee and west to Minneola, I have been paying close attention to the Orange County School Board ban on e-bikes and e-scooters (“Orange school board bans e-bikes, e-scooters for most students,” July 29). I encourage parents to consider exchanging the e-devices for an analog bike so students can experience the joy of cycling to school. The slower pace allows friends to socialize on the way, and the exercise releases doses of endorphins, dopamine and serotonin to improve student’s moods and brain health for a better day. Commit to wearing a helmet for an added level of safety. One of my favorite views on the trail is the grin of a young person riding a bike. I hope to see more.
— Sheri Heitker, Winter Garden
Amendment 3 will hurt Floridians’ safety
Imagine it’s the middle of the night and the smell of smoke awakens you from a sound sleep. You quickly jump out of bed and realize your house is on fire. You call 911 and through a haze of smoke you call out to your family, “Fire, get out!”
Your family and pets anxiously wait outside for the firefighters, counting on the heroes that will soon discover the source of smoke and save your home. In less than 30 minutes flames begin shooting from the rooftop. By the time the fire department arrives, your home and everything you own is gone.
This hypothetical scenario is what can happen if Florida’s Amendment 3 passes. Property taxes help fund public safety (police and fire departments). Your community, especially rural communities, will suffer. Billions of dollars currently set aside to fund things like public safety, public hospitals, EMTs, libraries, road maintenance, children’s services, sanitation, parks and recreation, and disaster preparedness will take a hit.
Tallahassee lawmakers must think their constituents are idiots. What Floridians really want to see is legislation that will address soaring insurance premiums, affordable housing and lower utility rates. Amendment 3 is just another “smoke and mirrors” trick to distract from the real problems Floridians face.
I believe our governor and legislators are in the pockets of corporations and do their bidding for one reason and one reason only: greed.
Vote “No” on Amendment 3 in November … keep Florida safe.
— Violet Irminger, Mount Dora
Healthy living, vaccines can coexist
The writer of a July 28 letter to the editor (“RFK Jr. is doing the right things”) asserts that “no one ever brings up” obesity and suggests diet and exercise are the simplest solution to our nation’s health problems. That would be news to Big Pharma, which has invested billions developing wildly popular obesity drugs, not to mention the decades of public-health campaigns devoted to diet, exercise and weight loss.
But I’m more curious about the other part of his argument. Which fruits and vegetables eradicated polio in the United States? Was it broccoli that nearly eliminated measles? Perhaps a brisk daily walk took care of mumps, rubella and chickenpox?
Diet and exercise are enormously important for preventing chronic disease. Vaccines prevent infectious diseases. We don’t have to choose between them, and the importance of one isn’t evidence against the other.
— Julie Leatherwood, Lake Mary
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