People have a right to smoke
The nanny-state-government action supported by Michael Laughlin terrifies me to my very core.
Nobody can deny that smoking is an unsafe habit, though many can legitimately question whether secondhand smoke is even a fraction as dangerous.
At issue here is the right of private citizens to assemble in private businesses to partake in a legal activity without the iron fist of government declaring an end to any personal choice in the matter.
Several businesses in Fort Mill have already taken it upon themselves, for reasons of profit motive, to eliminate smoking sections from their restaurants. Their patrons have spoken and they listened. Others have chosen to continue to allow smoking, to the cheers of their customers.
The point here is that there is no place for the government to enter into this debate. This is and always should be a market decision. Nobody has ever forced me into a restaurant I did not want to visit, and personal preference is not the place for governmental interference. It is not an issue of health because no one is forced to enter the premises to begin with. I accept my inability to mandate that all restaurants allow smoking, please accept that you do not have the right to mandate they do not. That's just too slippery a slope for me in regards to governmental power.
Christian Hine
Fort Mill
Yard-cart plan is a loser
I am writing to voice my opposition to the proposed "yard cart" idea for handling grass clippings and other yard wastes. We do not need another container to put in our yard or carport. I do not know the capacity of the proposed cart, but I have seen some mighty large amounts of "yard waste" in front of some houses. This point was addressed by Kevin Sutton when he asked "if I fill that cart up, then what do I do?" The answer given was not a good one: "buy another cart for $50".
Also, I cannot justify in my mind why the City of Rock Hill needs to spend $47,500 on a study to decide how to handle the "homeless" situation. I believe the city has been saying for four or five years that the city needs a shelter for homeless individuals. The residual costs of the proposed "yard cart" idea along with $47,500 for a study to justify a homeless shelter would go a long way toward building such a facility.
Lucy Garner
Rock Hill
