VOX POP

Brainerd hosted a very successful 48-team youth baseball tournament the other weekend. Nearly every team that attended the Brainerd tournament stayed in Baxter hotels, spent money in Baxter shops and ate in Baxter restaurants. Next time you find it convenient to make the argument that youth organizations don't add value to area because all of the revenue goes to Baxter, such as what has been argued in the civic center debate, remember to lay responsibility squarely where it belongs. Simply ask the Brainerd City Council why is this happening and what are you going to do to fix it?

Applause and protests

I applaud the law enforcement men volunteering their time to advertise the Special Olympics. I do protest the unsafe manner of tying up Highway 371 and the use of police cars and fire trucks that my taxes pay for. Surely there was a cheaper and safer way to advertise. Brainerd is looking for a way to cut expenses - start right there!

Hypocritical

Gov. Pawlenty telling taxpayers to live within their means. Well, what he's saying is actually he should abide by his own words. For the last eight years, he's been spending lots of money on trips overseas and around the world and he's not living within his own means. That's being hypocritical.

Not justifiable

Nobody is saying parking is ideal around the Washington Educational Services Building. However, in the grand scheme of the difficult times, taking $200,000 away from our students to pave a parking lot just does not seem justifiable to many people.

Vox Pop, voice of the people, publishes Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Submissions are limited to 100 words. To phone in a comment, call (218) 855-5888 and leave a message. To e-mail a comment, write to voxpop@brainerddispatch.com. Comments must meet the newspaper's standards of fairness and good taste.