Brainerd now has our own, "Bridge to Nowhere."For many residents who regularly travel College Drive a need for change is obvious but the questions we have is how much and when? Frequent hack phrases like, "the kids will be safe this way," and announcement of federal and state grants ($3.4 million federal and $2.75 million state aid) made our city council members swoon and we are supposed to drift into a state of complete bliss believing that we are finally moving forward.

Wake up Brainerd, look at our balance sheet. We think this is all for free but yet who pays for all that federal and state aid -- we do, of course. Our country and state are practically bankrupted going the way of Greece and Ireland and we owe our soul to China and India. For the half of us that pay taxes and all the companies that are trying to keep in business this is a disaster. We need the money in the pockets of the average working person and employers in our area to create jobs - not large unions or construction companies away from Brainerd.

This is a sad day for Brainerd in that we got something we don't really need immediately at a time we cannot afford it. Shame on our city council.

James R. Brown

Nisswa