Vox Pop

Vox Pop, voice of the people, publishes Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Submissions are limited to 100 words. To call in a comment, dial 829-2900 or 1-800-547-2909 then enter code 8008. To e-mail a comment, write to voxpop@brainerddispatch.com. Comments, which must meet the newspaper's standards of fairness and good taste, may be edited for clarity, length and libel.

Face lift needed

Brainerd is in dire need of a face lift. What happened to small town Brainerd, small town atmosphere with prime river location/attraction? ... Is the Brainerd City Council so intimidated by Baxter and its growth that Brainerd has become totally stagnant in its growth and thus unwilling to expand and attract businesses and restaurants where you can enjoy a glass of wine without necessarily having to go to some of the numerous bars that seem to dominate downtown Brainerd? Let us take pride in our small community, make it a place that we are our proud of ...

Allergic to yard work?

I totally agree with the opinion of the person who wrote "Tour the junkyards" in Sunday's edition. Welcome to my neighborhood in the heart of our lake country. I have junk next door and across the street. Whatever happened to pride of ownership? I am 76 years old and I keep my yard appealing. My neighbors are all young and very capable but I guess they are allergic to rakes and lawn mowers. Either that or they are just plain lazy.

Why so vocal?

Why are people who do not live in Brainerd or Baxter being so vocal about the new Wal-Mart store? Is it because they are noted for being anti to so many other things in the area and feel they can influence people? People from Baxter who are for the new store should go to the meetings too and show Wal-Mart some support. Maybe these new things will help our property taxes.

Supports the new businesses

I have lived in the Brainerd-Baxter area almost all my life. For years we ran to St. Cloud for decent shopping. It has been nice not to have to do so much of that now. Wal-Mart has been a wonderful addition to this area for a number of years and should be able to expand as other businesses have. It will be nice to have Kohl's here also. There are still many people who travel to St. Cloud for the Sam's Club.

An idea

I've got an idea -- let's schedule a fast moving jet and load Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Powell and Ashcroft on and deport them to Iraq so they can help look for the "weapons of mass destruction" that nobody can find. If they stay there long enough they may propose Bush as president of Iraq so we wouldn't have to worry about him in 2004.

Stupid

There's just one word to describe the protesters at the Purple Heart ceremony and that word is "stupid." You've got to be out of your mind to protest the soldiers who gave their lives or were injured to give you a right to protest.

Wants to understand

It would be nice to understand what the construction schedule is for this year for the Gull Lake Dam Road. It's narrow and not maintained well. The intersection going on to Highway 371 is rough and chopped up and unmaintained. It is my understanding that road is supposed to be rebuilt. We should have started on that road a month ago. It carries a lot of traffic ... if you compare it to the other major roads on the south end of Gull, those roads are marvelous. ... One of those ... is really a dead end road. ... What drives the format here? ...