Letters to the Editor: Did Johnny Juzang know?
Did Juzang know?
I wonder if Johnny Juzang left the University of Kentucky basketball team because he foresaw the disastrous year that UK was going to have this year. He led UCLA with 28 points in their defeat of No. 1 seed University of Michigan. I wish he had stayed at UK; maybe we would have made the NCAA tournament as usual.
William B. Secrest, South Shore
Legislature useless
Reading the Herald-Leader regarding the recent antics of the Kentucky state legislature, I wondered why we even have one: 1. The legislature tries to restrict the ability of a governor to act quickly in the event of an emergency to save Kentucky lives, and 2. the legislature votes to ensure businesses which do not adequately protect their employees from COVID-19 from liability. Is this why we have a legislature? They used to only meet once every two years, which was too often for me. With this kind of representation, I wonder why we don’t get rid of them altogether.
Katherine Kellermann, Lexington
Update bias policy
Changes must be made within the Lexington Police Department. In a Herald-Leader article last month, there was an article by reporter Beth Musgrave that highlighted an officer that resigned. That resignation was due to the use of the “n” word by former LPD Officer Tanner Kirby. Among the details within the article, the one that stood out the most was racism within the LPD. Unfortunately, this has not been the first article referencing racism within the LPD.
When reviewing policies on bias within the LPD, the policy found is Biased Based Policing G.O.200-02B effective 6/9/15. There is a plethora of information about bias in that order, including mandated training on a regular basis. The requirement is not specific and has not been updated since 2015. Updates should include a specified number of mandated training on implicit and explicit bias within the police force and administrative departments.
As a Lexington citizen and a licensed social worker, I urge the LPD to partner with the Kentucky Board of Social Work, the local chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and the local chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers to update their policy on bias in an effort to create change.
Sharrion Brown, Lexington
Pett ‘brilliant’
What now seems like ages ago (way back in 2018), I wrote to you folks at the Herald-Leader to say how much I loved reading Joel Pett and believed he was a valuable addition to your publication. I’ve been a long-time subscriber to the Herald-Leader and was fortunate to have known Larry Dale Keeling and Bill Bishop personally and feel like I know Joel Pett — but more to the point, I feel like Joel Pett knows ME. And I believe even more today that Pett is a great asset to the Herald-Leader and to the lives and education of the public.
I think Pett’s illustrations shining a light on the grist of our lives, both close to home and beyond, are thought-provoking while often hilarious. The irony may be deep but the compassion for humanity is great in all of Pett’s pieces. It’s so much harder to ignore and deny our social and political shortcomings when it’s right in your face and all the better when you can also have a chuckle simultaneously.
I think Joel Pett is brilliant and has been even more so lately. I also appreciate Linda Blackford, Bill Estep, and Jack Brammer, though they’re not nearly as funny as Joel Pett!
Ceci Mitchell, Frankfort
Nuclear pacts
Hopefully President Joe Biden will make nuclear deals with Iran and North Korea. However, it is equally to be hoped that he does not repeat the fatal flaw of the first Iran deal: It imposed a waiting period for the inspection of suspected sites. This would have allowed them to move the materials for making a nuclear weapon — such as enriched uranium — to a second site during the waiting period for the first site; then when the second site would come under suspicion, it would have a waiting period during which the material could be moved to a third site; and so on. (That is why a future president may cancel the deal again.)
Alvin Blake, Lexington