Letters: From bars to the Derby, readers question reopening as COVID-19 numbers grow

What are we doing?

Are y’all tired of COVID yet? Our early efforts were effective at keeping the numbers under control. I was proud that Kentucky’s response was the talk of the nation. Am I the only one feeling like those days are long gone?

COVID-19 cases are rising. For weeks, everyone around town has seen outdoor patios crammed with maskless patrons. When the state decided that these establishments can open, they no longer qualified for CARES Act money. To meet payroll and avoid bankruptcy we are forcing restaurant/bar staff into a situation where they’re exposed to crowds of drunk, maskless patrons.

Why are we negating all that we’ve sacrificed to open bars? If Kentuckians had the choice, would we open bars or have our kids back in school next month?

While politicians make these decisions, the entire medical community is united in the opinion that this pandemic has just begun. History tells us that the second spike of the 1918 flu pandemic was far worse than the first. Some 195,000 Americans died in that October alone. People had simply grown tired of isolating and that was the result.

I wonder where the Herald-Leader’s critical analysis is. It’s time we demand a more rational approach from Lexington and the state.

Dr. Clifford Kaye, Lexington

Derby plan

Why, in the midst of a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, is the Kentucky Derby still planned? Instead of continuing its conservative approach to restrictions placed on its constituents in order to “flatten the curve”, Kentucky is now allowing Louisville to invite thousands of people all over the country — and the world — to its Derby, quite possibly to erase all the advances made. Please, please wake up.

Betty Menges, Clarksville, Ind.

Health vs. politics

Shameful, dangerous, and divisive. These are the three words that I have for state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. On the same day that Cameron joined a lawsuit to protest the measures that Gov. Andy Beshear put in place to control the spread of the coronavirus, Harvard University’s COVID risk tracker found there was accelerated spread in nine Kentucky counties. Cameron and Quarles are objecting to public health measures even as coronavirus cases spiral out of control in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Oklahoma.

I wonder why Cameron, Quarles, and the other plaintiffs feel that Kentucky’s success in controlling cases, thanks to the governor’s leadership, is a reason to do away with the very measures that have been so vital to the health of Kentuckians. Why, when what we have done has not only worked, but has been reasonable, should we abandon those practices? By all measures, Kentucky should have been hit much harder by this pandemic. Health parameters for Kentuckians are far below national averages. As a state, we trend older, sicker, and poorer with less access to health care.

I wonder if Cameron and Quarles truly have the health of Kentuckians in mind. Or if they simply are operating as politicians.

Laura A. Kennedy, Lawrenceburg

Dismayed by LPD

I was a Lexington police officer for 31 years and I have to say I am floored and extremely disappointed in our chief and our department to see that they have bowed down to the extremists and protesters in this city and dissolved the chaplain’s office in the department and replaced it with a “holistic wellness program”. What the hell is that? The chaplain’s office has been around for over 50 years in this department and is a staple in every major metropolitan police and fire department in this country. And I would venture to guess that the Lexington Police Department is the first police or fire department in the country to abolish their chaplain’s office. A distinction they should certainly should not be proud of.

This decision is in addition to allowing the protesters to paint graffiti on the sidewalk right in front of the police headquarters front door. Something that once upon a time was an arrestable offense in this state. I could not be more proud to be a retired detective from this department, but also could not be more disappointed in its current administration.

Mike Sweeney, Lexington

Transparency needed

It is not clear to me why the Lexington Police Department has said that they have to wait for a court case to be resolved before they can begin an internal review concerning the alleged assault by Lexington policeman Donovan Stewart on an autistic teenager. I wonder if we would still be waiting for the court issue to resolve if this young man had been killed by Stewart. Furthermore, I wonder why Stewart (who has now retired) was not put on administrative leave until the investigation was completed. If the Lexington Police Department wants the support of its local citizens, it must be transparent in all of its dealings. Moving Stewart from the role of chaplain to that of patrol officer appeared to imply that the police department has already determined that Stewart did nothing wrong.

Cindy Frase, Lexington

Capital mess

I read with amusement the lengthy Herald-Leader article about Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer being unhappy with the response time to address the hanging effigy at the Capitol grounds. Doesn’t he know his righteous indignation falls on deaf ears in Frankfort? Just ask all the Kentucky residents that have been unemployed for months and can’t get their unemployment benefits. Our governor would rather teach sign language than address real problems for needy Kentuckians. I hope the mess he has created is remembered when it’s time to vote again.

Allie Gammon, Nicholasville

Gun charge

The Lexington police cited a man for pointing his gun out the car window at the July 4th protesters. The law of menacing is on the books and needs to be utilized far more vigorously. I find it sickening that people can, with impunity, flash their weapons at the state capital, on the governor’s front porch, and just about anywhere their macho delusions take them. There is only one reason to flaunt military-type rifles or any other gun: to intimidate onlookers with the threat of implicit violent action, including serious bodily injury and death. Our educational system has failed this country: Children grow up with a distorted sense of their rights without any sense of personal responsibility.

I am sure the man cited is fully vested in what President Donald Trump calls “his Second Amendment” without any interest in, or knowledge of, the protesters’ First Amendment rights to march, sing, or shout in public streets. If Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts has the guts to prosecute this case, I suggest an appropriate sentence include a strong educational component, including but not limited to Black history, what we used to call civics, statistics about “accidental” gun deaths, and of course, the Constitution.

Sally Wasielewski, Lexington

Keeneland ‘timid’

This is in regards to Keeneland’s recent decision to ban Tom VanMeter, “while Keeneland further reviews the circumstances related to the recent reprehensible comments VanMeter made on social media.”

I find this statement no less problematic than Mr. VanMeter’s own comments. In what way could his comments be reviewed and deemed acceptable/appropriate/(insert nicety here) that would then allow for his reinstatement to partner with Keeneland? Mr. VanMeter himself has acknowledged that he in fact made said comments, so the only thing left to review is when it will be deemed socially acceptable to allow their relationship to continue on.

Keeneland’s approach to racism is timid at best, having had my own experience on their property just last year. When I raised my concerns the offender was put on leave and loose language was provided about working on diversity training, with no definitive details on outcomes. I found the response from The Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to Mr. VanMeter’s comments to be swift and firm by contrast.

I felt compelled to share my feedback directly, given that Keeneland has once again been faced with an opportunity to rise to the occasion and continues to fall short.

Nola Johnson, Raleigh, N.C.

A history primer

I earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky and for 20 years directed the preprofessional engineering program at UK.

Arriving from Charleston, W.Va., as a freshman in 1967, I remember vividly my first encounter with the “mural.” I was stunned, enlightened, and immediately aware that I was in a different culture. A semester class in Kentucky history couldn’t have equaled the information gleaned from the mural.

I did notice that, unlike home, there were very few African American students on campus. However, the percentage of minority students at UK reflected the minority percentage of the commonwealth, and the same is true today.

Upon reading the Herald-Leader article which stated that “the university should have developed a long-term plan to combat systemic racism on campus in 2018, and it should investigate on campus racism,” I immediately questioned the lack of specific examples to substantiate this claim and would like to hear supportive evidence. During my tenure on campus, I personally witnessed a dedication through various programs to support and mentor African American students in order to increase their numbers and promote success.

Please do not remove a unique piece of history which may broaden someone else’s understanding, the very purpose of art.

Donna Tickle Hewett, Lexington

Artist’s reasoning

One day, about 1983, my husband, daughter and I joined a group of people assembled at Memorial Hall to listen to Ann Rice O’Hanlon, the creator of the fresco inside. Her story of creating an uncompromising portrait of pre-Civil War Kentucky has stayed with me: She described the roles of Blacks in producing the wealth that rolled to whites. She said that someone within the Otis Singletary administration asked her to repaint the scenes showing Blacks in demeaning roles. As I recall, O’Hanlon said that she thought that painting over those scenes would be even more demeaning to Blacks. Her intent, she said, was to show that the Black people brought wealth to white people — tobacco crops were raised on the bent backs of Black slaves; that they were the engine behind the wealth. She said she would periodically clean and touch up the fresco, but would not paint it over.

This fresco should be considered the grandmother of the series Lexington artist Marjorie Guyon has created around Cheapside and should be proudly exhibited in the entryway of Memorial Hall for as long as that beloved building stands.

Joyce Evans, Midway