No to tax credits, coal ash cleanup

Tax credits for historic repairs: Fact is, past society and owners did not maintain and remodel or update important historic properties, so now a new generation is expected to pay for negligence of past generations. Cost shifting due to past negligence. Duh.

Film tax credits: La. Gov. Bobby Jindal brags that his state gives $70,000 per episode of “Duck Dynasty,” creating jobs. What it has created is a way to advertise the sale of duck calls so the owners can be rich. Why not give 70 small businesses $1,000 each per “Duck Dynasty” show filmed and let them advertise their small businesses and help them be profitable.

Again, cost shifting. Let “Duck Dynasty” guys pay to film their own show 100 percent. They benefit richly from the advertisement. Duh.

Duke Power made electricity from coal and made coal ash. Duke sold the electricity and made profits they paid salaries dividends and expenses But they failed to pay to clean up the coal ash as they went. If they had, it would have lowered profits, salaries and dividends all along. Now the legislature and governor want them to raise rates to collect money to clean up the coal ash problem.

Again, three disgusting cost-shifting items that will allow others to either make a higher profit or someone to remodel a historic property and not pay 100 percent of what it will cost. Duh.

Wake up, people. Vote out the bums that allow anything like this to happen in our state or country. Disgusting.

— Ed Miller Jr.

China Grove

This is justice?

On Feb. 3, as I returned to my business, Union Furniture Refinishing on Union Church Road, I noticed tire tracks through my company yard. I could that a vehicle had driven off the road and approximately 280 feet through the yard, leaving up to eight sets of tire tracks, some as much as 5 inches deep. There were also mud tracks from the tires in the road.

My nephew and I noticed a large garbage truck passing by back and forth on the road, a total of three times, never stopping.

I called the Sheriff’s Office. I told the deputy the garbage truck routinely used the private driveway to my business to turn around. With this in mind and with the garbage truck driving by numerous times, I suspected the garbage truck had something to do with the incident and shared this with the deputy.

The deputy visited the garbage collection company’s main office and spoke with the manager. The garbage truck driver admitted he had backed into the driveway, the manager told the deputy, and was pulling back into the road when a truck pulling a trailer with a Bobcat on it ran off the road and into my yard to avoid hitting the garbage truck and then left the scene.

The trailer would explain the many tire tracks left in the yard.

The deputy said I needed to contact the Highway Patrol. A Highway Patrol officer came to the scene and said that since no vehicles actually hit each other and there were no other witnesses besides the garbage truck driver, nothing could be done.

I talked to a lawyer and he agreed I had no recourse.

So I will have to spend an estimated $500 plus many hours of labor to repair the yard. Is this American justice?

— Bill Earnhardt

Salisbury

A good leader

Thank you, Dr. Richard Miller, for leading the school board through the difficult process of finalizing the building of a central office for Rowan-Salisbury Schools. When the board met opposition at every turn, you stayed the course and persevered with integrity and dedication. Your leadership on the Rowan-Salisbury School Board is very much appreciated by many people. Job well done.

— Susan Cox

Salisbury

The writer is a member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education.

A suggestion

No matter what the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s new office is named, it most likely will be referred to as “The Ed Center.”

— Yvonne Cregger

Salisbury