Destroying paradise
Unfortunately it has taken me awhile to comprehend the recent decision by our Collier County commissioners on growth in at a recent meeting which I attended. The proposal by our commissioners to limit growth along Immokalee and Vanderbilt roads was rejected.The legacy of these commissioners should be destroying the paradise we all so much enjoy. Hopefully Collier Country voters will select new commissioners when their terms are up. Immokalee Road is total gridlock for miles from 6:30 to 9:00 and 3:00 to 6:00. Over 4,000 additional homes have recently been approved in east Naples and current solutions will do little to resolve this problem. Voters deserve a solution!
Bill Mason, Naples
Fluoridation of water
As a former university professor of health sciences, I read with great interest (and disdain) The News-Press article “Collier to end fluoridation of water.” The county commissioners’ decision to end fluoridation of county water was largely based on citizen allegations that fluoride causes brain damage and thyroid insult and that the fluoride practice violated the county’s Health Freedom Bill of Rights ordinance. What these two forces share in common is a repudiation of sound scientific research. The national recommended allowance of fluoride is .7 milligrams per liter (.7mg/L is equivalent to .000025 ounces). To achieve fluoride toxicity, a 150 pound adult would have to consume 120 gallons of water at once − the man would surely die from the water overdose long before the mineral in trace amounts would have harmed him.