Young blood

THOSE REPUBLICANS who have expressed interest in running for Kit Bond's U.S. Senate seat make it apparent the party is in desperate need of some young blood.

Teaching recipe

TEACHING IS about one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.

Baby-sized minority

COLUMNIST WALTER E. Williams may have a Ph.D. in economics, but he has no credibility in the field and certainly not in the area of global warming. He is a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue who doesn't recognize the irrational nature of man and can only explain economics from a nonexistent, perfect and rational view. When it comes to global warming, he and a baby-sized handful of so-called experts on climate change have reached kook status since there is an international consensus among credible scientists that the phenomenon exists and is in need of urgent action. Even President Bush acknowledges this, although belatedly.

Loud trash noise

FRIDAY I was awakened by my dog wildly barking at the back door. I live in an apartment complex. It was 2 a.m. The trash was being picked up at that ungodly hour. The trash container is at the back of the parking lot right where our bedroom windows are. Between the noise of the truck and the dog barking, it took me over an hour to calm the dog, get myself calmed down and get back to bed. The next morning I called the trash company to ask why they pick up trash so early. I was told they always are working at that hour. I've lived her for years, and the trash usually has been picked up between 8 and 10 a.m. Either the trash haulers changed their route or their schedule. Something needs to be done about this. The police say there is nothing they can do. Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. people need to sleep.

School lunch

JACKSON HIGH School has a new rule that students cannot have any food delivered to them at school. The students must eat in the cafeteria or bring something with them. I don't understand why parents are being denied access to their children if I want to bring a hot lunch for them to eat. No class is being disrupted, and the students don't have to get off school property. The new cafeteria is not completed, and the students are not allowed to eat in the halls. But they all won't fit in the cafeteria. They can go outside, but it has been freezing outside or rainy. So what are they expected to do?