Athletic director
When is the school board and the superintendent going to do something about our part-time athletic director. He's never in school, and you can't reach him by phone. It can take days before he will call you back. He needs set hours.

Advertising
One would think that on Halloween our children would be somewhat free from unnecessary advertising. This was not the case in our neighborhood. Our children were handed M&M bags with a label attached advertising a home-based jewelry business. How sad to think that one has to use a children's night of trick-or-treating for free promotion.

Laundry
To the person(s) who removed our laundry from Miller Street laundromat on 11/8, please do the right thing and return it. While it is possible that you need clothing more than we do, we would really appreciate getting our belongings back. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Alcohol
All the experts say, a child raised in a alcoholic home will most likely become one. A child raised in an abusive home will most likely be come an abuser. A child raised in a drug abuser's home will most likely become a user. So what happens to a child raised in a same-sex marriage home?

Signs
The uninformed hunter blames the shot-up road signs on "young people" — what else do you want to blame the young people for? Nice try in attempting to deflect attention from true vandals. As for deer hunters helping control the "overpopulation of deer up here" that a false belief. A DEC biologist has said if there was no deer hunting, the Adirondack deer population would be about the same as it is now: low. "200 deer yarding up in winter starving" is a myth. Fact: deer survive the winter very well here.

Veterans
Republicans are dumping on vets. Thirteen major military and veterans groups joined forces to try to force Sen. Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to release a hold he has placed on a major veterans benefits bill. He is preventing consideration of S-1963, the Veterans' Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by putting a hold on a bill. Steve Robertson, legislative director for The American Legion, said, "For a lot of family caregivers, delay is costing them their jobs and their savings. It's having a big impact." Republicans will send sons and daughters to war and then ignore their needs when they return home.

Volunteers
As youth commission members, most of us put in hundreds of hours a year into our programs. We make sure our coaches work on skills of the game as well as playing the game. A couple hours a week at practice is not going to make your kid a star. As a parent, go outside and work with your kids. Don't just sit in your cars at practice and talk about the couches and the program; get out and help.

Mist
I went out to Peru for the re-scheduled flu clinic only to find out that because I was considered healthy I would have to get the mist due to a shortage of the shot form. Some people do not like the mist and should have a choice of the mist or the shot regardless of health status. If you were only giving the healthy people the mist, you should have said so in your notice regarding the clinic so people like me wouldn't have wasted time and gas for nothing.

Etiquette
Please get to the hockey game prior to game time. When you show up late or get up for other reasons during the game, you block the view of play. I pay to watch a hockey game, not people going up and down the stairs, blocking my view of the game. The proper thing to do is wait until play has been stopped. Also if you do not understand the rules of the game, don't shout out something you have no idea about. People attend these games because they enjoy the sport, so relax and enjoy the game.

Veterans
Veterans Day is arriving, and I, as a Vietnam vet, am insulted. Many businesses use Veterans Day as a sales prop, great deals for auto, furniture, clothing and just about anything to buy. Problem is, no business offers any deal for the veteran. I have visited a number of these businesses in prior years and did not even receive a thank you for my service. Only wish all people would boycott these users, most of whom never served our country.

Shots
People say Canada's socialized medicine does not work. Yet Canada has public clinics dispensing H1N1 vaccines, whilst we south of the border don't. Go figure.

Priority
I can't see justification in NAC feeling a new football, track field is an asset to students' education or future career. Seems sports take the priority over more important education factors to prepare students for the real world. The staff, faculty, board, whoever makes these decisions, need to listen to majority of taxpayers who are against wasting money that could be used to educate their children in more important matters. A lot of necessary teaching of our children has been overlook due to sports fanatics.

Texting
My teen has a friend who has been texting with her all summer, and they became very close. This teen decides to end the friendship and just stop communicating like that. I have a depressed and broken-hearted teen now. I think parents should watch for long periods of texting. A teen expresses a lot of feelings texting and can share inner thoughts and secrets. Almost a fantasy relationship. But make sure the person they are confiding in is trustworthy. It is so easy to just cut someone off. It can be very hurtful if you are treated unkindly.

Helicopter
How much did the hovering helicopter cost to look for the escaped Icelandic woman? What about the police cars and troopers? If lost hikers need to pay for their search crew, maybe the officer accompanying the prisoner should pay for her search. Will we read about the exact details of her escape? I think I once saw something similar in a movie.

Bingo
I enjoy going to bingo in Altona. What would be nice for the new upcoming year would be some changes in games and also some new bingo boards or fix all the bulbs in the ones you have.

Smoking
As for smoking at CVPH, why do I have to go on Cornelia Street to have a smoke if at the 210 Cornelia St. building there are a lot of butts on the ground. Whose job is it to check that?

Leaves
I wonder why it is OK for city residents to rake, blow and sweep the total of their yards leaves, sometimes huge piles, into the middle of the city streets. It is not only unsightly; it's dangerous at times. Why do they not have to dispose of them as the rest of us do without making them someone else's mess or filling up the streets? Wet leaves can be as slippery as ice. Will it also be OK to sweep piles of trash, dirt or limbs or even discarded belongings into the middle of the street?

Fast
Wow is all I have to say to the AuSable Forks Fire Department for their quick response to my house on the Silver Lake Road a few weeks ago. It seemed like I just got off the phone with 911 and, poof, they were there. Keep up the good work.

Truck
People need to realize that there are many rules and laws when getting a new fire truck. We wouldn't ask for it if we didn't need it. New trucks are needed. Maybe some people from the public should attend the monthly meetings of their local fire department to understand what we need and how the system works before you run your mouth about things you don't know.

Light
The stop light timing is horrible on Route 11 Champlain-Rouses Point. The green is so short that only one car gets through. The yellow is so quick on the 55-mph stretch and you cannot possible stop in time. Speed limit needs to be dropped to 45 mph on that three-mile stretch and fully enforced. The stop lights also need to be restructured and calibrated. Also, thank you for the new 30-mph alert signs going into Rouses Point. Still a bit high and too far from the road, but better indicated. How about signs on both sides?

Jobs
Wow, I can't believe what I have been reading. People cry that there are no jobs in the upstate region, but when the city, town, or state hires or pays somebody to do some work, they cry about it.

Crusade
This raising-awareness crusade has got to stop. The Janjaweed have already said any intervention by any other country would be considered an act of war. Should the U.S. commit troops either alone or through the U.N. to attempt to stop the atrocities taking place there, some U.S. soldiers will be killed. Then we'll have liberal-taught college students protesting our soldiers for being occupiers, baby killers, with anti-war demonstrations, when we commit more soldiers, to protect the ones already there, under "humanitarian" causes.

Laughter
I have always watched the news on Channel 5, but I enjoy it even more now that they talk about silly things and laugh a little bit. For people who complain about this, too bad for you. It seems like you're too serious and need to laugh a little.

Phone
I am a registered Democrat who may switch to another party after what you people did this election year. My phone rang non-stop for two weeks before Election Day, sometimes every 5 minutes with your endless "robo dialing" calls (which have been banned by Congress by the way!) playing pre-recorded messages over and over. Sometimes it was a live person calling. Once I called a number back that was on Call ID, and a message played indicating the political call but then the nerve to state that you are exempt from the Do Not Call list.

Cuts
I am in the human-services field. There are major cuts coming from Albany. Due to the crunch, there has been talk of layoffs of the front-line hands-on staff. Why us? How about the administration? Why are there two secretaries in reception? Why does the boss and the assistant each need a secretary? I do not want to see anyone lose their jobs in this recession, but why do the people that actually get their hands dirty be the first to go?

Hawaii
On Aug. 21, 2009, the State of Hawaii celebrated its 50th anniversary of being admitted to the union. NBC, ABC and CBS didn't cover it, even though their favorite son is supposed to be from there. Hence the reason, there is only one FOX. Some people watch news that doesn't put their faith in a false prophet.

Bail
I find it ridiculous that there are people in Clinton County Jail for rape, child molestation or sexual abuse and their bail is only set at $20,000. Then there are other people in there for something they have not done, yet they have probably the highest bail possible. What is this local government coming to?

Bikers
On Sunday, Nov. 8, and my wife and I are out for a bike ride along Point au Roche Road enjoying the air. It seems like the whole world is out enjoying themselves — cars, trucks, motorcycles and bikes. Most everyone on motorized vehicles behaved very courteously, giving us a wide berth, even crossing the double line to give us more room on the shoulder when visibility permitted. Then some thoughtless dolt couldn't wait two seconds to pass a farm vehicle and scared the bejeebers out of us as he and the farmer and we bikers tried to share the road.

Comments
Coaches who make comments about other teams should really look at their own team. About how good or bad the players are on another team when their players aren't any better. If a team got to playoffs apparently they deserved to be there.

Cat
I would just like to thank the two very nice women who stopped on Route 3 in Saranac to let us know our pet cat of 10 years was hit by a car. They were even kind enough to remove it from the road so we didn't have to witness the aftermath. Our family is very appreciative and grateful for your very kind deed.

Hasan
So you want to know why Captain Hasan was never discharged from the Army despite his pro Jihad views that were continually expressed, even to soldiers returning from the Iraq war with Post-Traumatic Stress syndrome plus his negative performance reports? Very simple answer. It's the same reason my 83-year-old Anglo-Saxon mother-in-law had to take her shoes off last time we flew. This country has absolutely no common sense, and God forbid anyone is not vehemently politically correct.

Medicare
My reading of the House's version of Obamacare has Medicare morphing into a Hospice program for elderly patients, regardless of the recipients' treatment preferences. This being accomplished through fixed, government-generated reimbursement schedules based upon statistical outcomes. I don't see flexibility in place to allow for a physician's judgment or a recipient's desire for treatment. As a 70-plus Medicare recipient, I am alarmed. I know that AARP is philosophically liberal, but I don't know how they could have backed this monstrosity.

Test
I think once a senior citizen reaches 65, they need to have to take a driver's test again. There are too many out there that are a hazard to the streets. Move to the right for slow traffic.

Workers
I know this is Plattsburgh and the pay scale is not like some big city, but if you are busting your hump at your job and the supervisor is not knowing what they are doing, should they be paid the big dollars?

Cell phones
For a state that does not allow persons being on the cell phone, I sure see enough of them. When caught, they need big fines, not a slap on the wrist.

Funeral
I just read an entry titled "Notice" regarding the not-so-timely submission of a funeral notice. I think the family had other things on their mind rather than whether or not someone had a ride to attend or could get time off work or were able to "budget" for this. I'm shocked that you would even submit such a thing.

Obituary
This response is to the person who was upset with the Press-Republican because they didn't get obituary info soon enough. This problem lies with the funeral home and the family. Some circumstances don't allow the info to be given to the press until a later date. Please contact a family member for the calling hours and funeral date and time if you are aware of a death and have not seen anything in the paper. Sometimes, the family must wait for other members to make travel arrangements before decisions can be made. No one is at fault.

Housing
It's great that the city is getting after Lakeside and improving the living conditions there. How about getting after the slumlords that are renting the same caliber apartments to students? Let's get those places up to par.

Troopers
I love how lately all you see in the Speakout is people harping about state troopers' speed or road behavior merely because these "concerned citizens" have nothing better to do. Hopefully the next you have an emergency, the troopers abide by the speed limit just so you'll have something else to complain about. I'm sure we'll be seeing the Speakout about it.

Bombardier
Pfizer took over Wyeth and 300 jobs will be lost. The politicians and the community are in an uproar. Where's the outrage and offers for assistance for the 300 Bombardier workers who are losing their jobs? The layoffs have already begun and by December 18, they will conclude. There have been no meetings with the outgoing employees to discuss what their insurance options are. Will they be able to receive benefits through COBRA or will they be eligible for any of the NYS plans? What happens to 401K? It hasn't been discussed?

Signs
Kudos to all the candidates who removed their signs from the roadsides so quickly following Election Day.

Shooter
Poor Major Hasan; some claim Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome caused his behavior even though he never saw combat. Seems he didn't want to be deployed to do his part to fight radical Muslims. Strange, I never thought psychiatrists carried weapons.

Purse
To the woman who turned my purse in at Walmart, words cannot express my thanks and gratitude. You are one special lady. God bless you.