My Two Cents welcomes anonymous commentary from readers. Mean-spirited observations rarely make it into print or onto the website. Constructive criticism with ideas for improvement is greatly preferred. Contributions are reviewed before publication.
A HISTORY OF BREAKING LAWS (8/23)
Chief Cloy, while I join you in mourning the death of Troy Floyd, this was not a law-abiding citizen that committed this crime. This had nothing to do with open carry or concealed carry laws. He was a criminal who had a history of breaking laws.
Do you think if you put something on a piece of paper all of the criminals will jump to follow it? You can’t even get people to drive with insurance, much less enforce stricter gun laws. Your force is understaffed, underpaid, and under appreciated by the board. You should be aiming toward better pay, more positions and retaining officers.
STOP TREATING CRIMINALS WITH RESPECT (8/23)
The McComb police chief was correct when he stated that shooting people “is the direct results of the laws we have.” But he blamed the wrong laws. For him to invoke the policeman’s death was disrespectful in his attack on gun laws. The policeman was shot by a known criminal who was not even supposed to have a gun and was supposed to be in jail. The people and laws you should attack are police chiefs, district attorneys, judges and mandatory sentencing. When will you begin to treat citizens with the respect you treat criminals with?
PROBLEM WAS BUILDING FOR THREE YEARS (8/23)
The incident with Usher Leonard is a prime example of what is wrong with the criminal system. Sentenced to 15 years, to serve six with nine suspended with conditions. Released from custody after two years, violated the terms of his release. He refused to pay fines and fees and refused to report to his probation officer, yet he remained free.
His probation was revoked April 2021 and a bench warrant wasn’t issued until June 2024. The only reason he is no longer committing crimes is because he died in an exchange of gunfire with police. Perhaps if he were dealt with three years ago, officer Troy Floyd would be alive today. Criminals get slapped on the wrist and continue to commit crime and the law-abiding citizens are the ones that pay.
NO LAW WOULD HAVE HELPED (8/16)
I understand the police chief means well by wanting more gun laws. However, the young man that killed the officer was a released convict, and it was illegal for him to own or possess a gun. What new law would have prevented this senseless murder? He had no regard for law or life. Troy Floyd: May his memory be a blessing. Just my two cents.
DON’T ATTACK THE GUN (8/15)
Why not face the facts that police cannot attack the root cause of crime, and so they attack the gun. Under no law will criminals turn in guns. Remember, law enforcement can not stop and frisk without reasonable cause. The root cause? Civil rights organizations teach disrespect, defy, defund, video, sue, protest and destroy. Build the jail, and civil rights groups should preach “Back the Blue.”
CITY NEEDS TO GET MORE STREETS FIXED (8/23)
Now that the McComb mayor and board of selectmen have a better cushion to sit on (namely a thicker wallet) via self-supported raise, I challenge them to answer one question. Why, oh why has the dug-up street near the intersection of LaSalle Street and 26th Street not been fixed? I’ve kept up with it on my calendar and its been occasionally filled, only with rocks, for 17 months. This is past ridiculous. If anyone is interested in how the infrastructure looks in Ukraine, take a good look at that intersection and also at the 700 and 800 blocks of Missouri Avenue, which I have taken to calling “Misery Avenue.” One word: pathetic.
WATCH WHERE YOU’RE DRIVING (8/23)
I hope our mayor doesn’t drive his car on Wilson Drive in McComb. On each block, you have to remember which side of the street to drive on to avoid sunken paving. It’s been like this for years.
PAY RAISE? PAY CUT! (8/20)
It took a lot of arrogance and audacity for the city board to vote themselves a pay raise! I’ve lived in McComb all my life and I have never seen so many terrible streets and overgrown properties, not to mention rampant crime. With their track record this mayor and board deserve a big pay cut!
WHAT IS BETTER THAN BEFORE? (8/20)
Will someone explain how the current city government is deserving of a raise? Is that what you get while overseeing the decline of McComb? Will someone also point out anything in McComb that is better than before?
EMPLOYEE PAY RAISES FIRST (8/9)
No elected officials should even think about salary raises until the city employees are considered. When crime goes down, when streets throughout McComb are repaired and maintained, financial accounting books are finally kept correctly, board members do not donate taxpayer money in their name to charities, schools improve and civil debate is restored to city government, then you may ask without embarrassment.
NO RAISES TILL THE CITY LOOKS CLEANER (8/14)
Are you kidding? So they want a $5,000 pay raise for the mayor and $9,240 for themselves? When McComb’s streets are as nice as Brookhaven’s, when the city is cleaned up of all the derelict properties, when city property is kept up and we look as nice as Brookhaven, then we can look at raises.
PRINT THIS ONE, TOO (8/22)
Sounds like former Summit town councilman Kenneth Johnston is upset about something else. Maybe it’s the way the presidential polls are going. I don’t think that he should be working the voting polls with an attitude like that. And as he said, I don’t care if you print this or not.
BETTER BUT STILL NEEDS WORK (8/21)
Once again I drove from Alabama via Meridian and Hattiesburg. Again I noticed how clean, trash free and neatly mowed the highway right of ways were. I-55 is much cleaner than it once was, but I still wonder why our highways are not as clean as other areas. Is there someone at the Highway Department who is neglecting their responsibility?
PREDICTING ROUNDABOUT ACCIDENTS (8/13)
Thank you, Mr. Bridges, for your recent letter regarding the Summit roundabout and how it is being shoved down our throats! It will be interesting to see how many accidents begin to happen there. There are many roads in McComb and Summit that need attention but that isn’t going to happen. I realize those are city streets, but where is all the casino money going?
LOWER DRUG PRICES? NOT YET (8/8)
I keep reading about Biden lowering drug prices for seniors. I have not experienced lower prices yet. My doctor gave me a coupon so my new prescription would cost me $20. Because I have Medicare drug coverage, the coupon was not allowed. My cost was $129. When I tried to buy it with no insurance, I was told, “They will catch us.” The $129 was the co-pay. The total price was several hundred dollars for a tiny bottle of eye drops.
A DISAPPOINTING START (8/7)
Let’s start off better, McComb School District. Denman Junior High had a meet the teacher and schedule pickup last Thursday, but the computer or printer wasn’t working. The only thing given was an opportunity to meet with the homeroom teacher. When parents miss work to attend school events and things are not working, it’s extremely upsetting and disappointing. I’m seeing the same old excuses.
THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS (8/6)
We would like to thank the anonymous man sitting next to our party of 5, on a recent Thursday evening at the Santa Fe steak house, who picked up our tab, and we never knew or had a chance to thank him before he left.
EASE UP, SPEED RACER (8/1)
Are speed limits around here posted just to be ignored? A little hint: Leave a few minutes earlier. Besides, school buses will be running again soon.
STOLEN MONEY REPAYMENT (8/1)
How much money has Greta Patterson paid back to the city of McComb since stealing $1 million?
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (7/31)
There are two large construction projects ongoing at the Gateway Industrial Park. There is not but one local contractor working there and no minority contractors.
RUSSIAN WARNING SIGNALS (7/31)
President Biden sent weapons that allows Zelensky to reach inside Russia. There are Russian subs in the Gulf of Mexico. Hope this isn’t the beginning of World War III.
WATCH BOTH CONVENTIONS (7/23)
If you did not watch the Republican convention, shame on you. I will also watch the Democratic convention. Everyone should watch both conventions for information and education. I have said many times that this country needs a religious revival. The name of God was invoked so many times by so many speakers I pray that this could be the beginning of a spiritual awakening in this country.
A CONVENTION REBUTTAL (7/25)
In response to the My Two Cents on Tuesday 7/23, you mentioned how many times the Lord or God was mentioned at the Republican convention. But I guess you closed your ears to how much hatred was being spewed. There was an overwhelming amount of vile disgusting language coming from many of the participants. I watched this convention and came away utterly disgusted.
NOW IT’S THE DEMOCRATS’ TURN (8/2)
I am in slight agreement that both sides spew too much hatred, but before jumping ahead let’s wait for the DNC (if they have a legitimate convention). It will be interesting to see how the Democrats bring “Our God,” abortion, the sexually confused alphabet, unwed mothers and disrespect to “All who have served my country.”
