Turn arrows, offshore drilling and school budget discussed

Nice turn arrows, but why different?

Hooray for the new arrows at the stoplights! I am talking about all of the lights with the yellow arrows, but most specifically Carolina Forest Boulevard at both Gateway and Postal Way.

However, wouldn't we all be better served and safer if the lights were consistent? The light shows the green arrow first, green light, then turns to yellow until the light changes to red. But some of the time, the green arrow comes last.

Folks who are used to the green arrow first often anticipate it and start out in error. This “false start” could cause an accident or a fatality. Why not keep it consistent, period?

Offshore drilling a forever decision

Kudos to the editorial board for the position taken by The Sun News opposing offshore drilling. And many thanks to Emily Weaver for her excellent reporting on the issue.

The decision whether or not to drill for gas and oil off the coast of South Carolina is critically important. It is a forever decision.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “I don't give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity but I will give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity.” Most folks I've encountered have instinctively thought on this side of complexity that offshore drilling and the South Carolina coast don't mix. You have helped us work through the complexity to come to the same conclusion on the other side.

School contract explanation silly

Re Horry County Board of Education goes $53.3 million over budget for new schools, Tuesday:

I had to laugh out loud when Joe DeFeo justified a 25% budget overage with this: “That budget was put together over a year ago and it was never adjusted for inflation.”

Here are some pertinent figures: U.S. Inflation Rate 2013, 1.5%; U.S. Inflation Rate 2014, 0.8%; U.S. Inflation Rate 2015, 0.0%.

Taxpayers of Horry County, where's the $53.3 million coming from? And more importantly, where's it going? That's right, to a North Carolina contractor.

Immigrants do jobs Others won’t fill

Americans have became a society of people unwilling to work in the lowest fields of employment, such as gutting fish and laying a concrete driveway.

It's became easier for Americans to draw unemployment than work a minimum wage job that's the lowest rung on a ladder. Due to this issue, immigrants have been working jobs that Americans can't handle, but they are jobs that have to be filled in order to go through our day-to-day lives.

I've considered the facts, I've worked side by side with many immigrants that were harder workers than I could ever be. I don't believe that people should abuse our government, but Americans shouldn't complain about immigration when they aren't able and competent enough to hold the jobs immigrants work.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Turn arrows, offshore drilling and school budget discussed."