Editor's Note: These featured comments are the most thoughtful or eloquently stated comments from our Facebook page and crestviewbulletin.com and do not necessarily reflect the newspaper management's views.
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The Crestview Police Department has 26 patrol cars breaking down at the same time, but no money to replace them. Readers shared these thoughts about the issue.
Start planning for it
This is a prime example of the city not planning for capital expenditures. If you know a car needs replacing in eight years, you start planning for it. All servers need replacing every four years. This isn't rocket science, folks.
Silvia Clem Womack
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What about next time?
So why wasn't there a phased replacement program and maintenance program to prevent the need to replace that many (cars) at once? If all 26 are replaced now, won't the same thing happen years later as well?
Mark Hilton
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Tax increase OK
I'm okay with paying my fair share of a tax increase to support the (police and fire departments). I'm not okay with the tax breaks that keep being given to new businesses and developments who use the same infrastructure I do.
Kurt Burgess
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Try used cars
Buy used cars and keep them maintained. Put some (officers) on motorcycles. Put some on bicycles. Have running limits during the months of March through May and September through November.
Sheena Faircloth
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Ride bicycles
Switch (cars) out for bicycles in the suburban areas! Cops can really have a chance to interact with the community and stay in shape and save the city money! It's a win-win.
Julio Escobar
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Police should hoof it
With the amount of traffic in the poorly planned and managed city, a patrol car is not needed. Responding on foot is way more efficient.
Dennis Luczak
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Learning that at least six Crestview High School football players transferred to Baker School raised readers' concerns. Here are some of their thoughts on the issue.
Everyone wants the winning team
It's funny to me how the tables have turned. When my child played football at Baker, we had a mediocre team due to our most athletic players playing at Crestview High School under Matt Brunson as coach, who had just had a team go to state playoffs. We could have had a great team if our Baker athletes had stayed at Baker.
When you take three to five good players from a small school, you hurt their program greatly. They have to play younger, smaller athletes on varsity because of the small amount of kids left.
Now, the situation is reversed! Coach Brunson is at Baker and has just had an outstanding season there and went to the state playoffs. Players from Crestview are transferring to Baker. After Niceville had a great season and went to the state playoffs, some of Crestview's players transferred to Niceville!
Point is: Everyone wants to play on the winning team! It's not right but that is what is happening.
Steffanie E. Cook
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Good for those who transfer
Crestview has so many kids on the football team that most of them don't really see any play time during the season. So if they want to transfer to a school that has opportunities for them to play, then good for them.
This is the last chance most of the kids will have playing a team sport. They grow up and go on to other things in an adult life. They all can't play college ball or be in the NFL. They're not hurting anyone or Crestview by playing a team sport at another school.
Jennifer Graham
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That's what parents want
I think it's the parents, ultimately. They want their kid to be on the "winning" team. Today's society is breeding a bunch of kids who never learned what it was like to lose!
Jackie Pritchett Flavors
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Academics come first
Where are the parents that want their kids to become great hardworking citizens who have respect for people, laws and our country?
It all comes down to "Let's make sure your kids are getting academics first and then extracurricular second."
Haley Stone Caraway
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Not an educational transfer
This should be investigated as to why the students transferred. No recruiting may have occurred but they should not be transferring because the football program at Baker has been more successful. That is not an educational type transfer.
Gisela Harper
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HUBBUB: Try used cars, everyone wants the winning team