Letters to the Editor: Don’t mourn loss of restaurant. Celebrate expanded library.
Follow our laws
In objecting to Gov. Andy Beshear’s efforts to keep us safe, someone mentioned Section 4 of the Kentucky Bill of Rights, and while the first sentence aligns with Beshear’s efforts to provide “peace, safety, happiness,” the second sentence is problematic for me. I’m no attorney, but I believe this is a hold-over from the post Civil War sympathy with the Confederacy — a defeated rebellion.
As U.S. citizens, no, we do not have the right to abolish our government in such a manner as we deem proper. First, all “the people” wouldn’t be in agreement. Second, we witnessed the horrific mayhem of an insurrection at our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, the result of gullible people believing an oft repeated lie about voter fraud. And finally, the U.S. Constitution is the highest law of the land, and this second sentence of Section 4 is rendered pointless because Kentucky is part of the United States. I wonder if it isn’t time to remove such an offensive and impotent clause from Kentucky’s Constitution.
As citizens of the United States, shouldn’t we respect and obey our nation’s Constitution?
Betsy Packard, Lexington
Library expansion
Instead of bemoaning the long overdue closing of the once popular Long John Silver’s fast food restaurant (“Lexington’s Last Long John Silver’s to be torn down”), the Herald-Leader and community should be celebrating the long awaited and much needed expanded Village Branch Library that will soon rise up as a beacon of learning in this densely populated, pedestrian-centric Versailles Road area.
Kudos to the Lexington Public Library for having the vision to claim the entire strip mall space, while saving the needed Save A Lot grocery store.
The infill and redevelopment needs of our growing community require infrastructure investment -- such as a bigger better library -- to serve residents. The lead for this story is: Lexington’s Last Long John Silver’s makes way for Much Needed Much Bigger Village Branch Library.
Paula Singer, Lexington
Parents’ decision?
Before advocating that the decision whether or not children should wear masks to school should be solely left to parents, perhaps it would be advisable to consider the role of parents in determining Kentucky’s national ranking regarding children’s health and abuse. I wonder if Sen. Rand Paul and his ilk believe parents should have final say over anything which affects their children. The logical extension is a lot of money could be saved by not offering those services to children which could potentially save or make their lives better, but which parents believe are unnecessary or an intrusion on their rights as a parent.
Charles Myers, Lexington
Party standards
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo does the right thing in the eyes of Democrats when accused of sexual misconduct — resigns. Donald Trump does the right thing in the eyes of Republicans when accused of sexual misconduct — runs for president. Unbelievable hypocrisy.
Bob A. Sutton, Springfield
Matter of hope
The British went into Afghanistan and withdrew. The Russians went into Afghanistan and withdrew. The United States went into Afghanistan and is withdrawing. It brings to mind Samuel Johnson’s comment regarding a friend’s second marriage: “the triumph of hope over experience.”
Carole and Douglas Boyd, Lexington
Our true history
As a high school junior, I have been studying critical race theory, and it has opened my eyes to the racial disparities that have existed in our country since its founding, and how those biases have continued to prevail in society.
Kentucky schools that have passed motions to allow for more diverse and inclusive course offerings have done so to teach their students about the roles that racist and oppressive ideologies have played in our past and how they continue to affect America now. Understanding these shortcomings is the only way to move past them and provide future generations with equal opportunities.
Bill Request 60 aims to silence these conversations and perpetuate the divisions in society by banning teachers from discussing topics such as race and sex on the basis it will cause division between students or groups. There is no evidence to back up the idea that teaching a class about critical race theory will lead to stronger resentments towards any racial groups. The bill allows judges to decide what material is suitable for class discussion and has the potential to erase important parts of America’s history from the classroom.
Ignoring a problem will not make it go away. Students deserve accurate teachings of America’s history and the role of race within it.
Ina Mason, Versailles
Vanished hope
For a brief time after the tragic death of George Floyd and the protests that followed, America seemed to have a glimmer of promise when it came to how the nation viewed and hoped to alleviate America’s legacy of racism. Schools, media, businesses, and even professional sports, which had banned Colin Kaepernick just a few years before, finally seemed willing to scrutinize how people of color, and their contributions and histories, have been portrayed, minimized, and even excluded.
But it didn’t take long for the backlash to come. Under the guise of banning “critical race theory,” much of the hope for honest discussions about diversity and racial injustice has diminished. And now there is even an effort to ban CRT on the federal level.
Of course, the transparency of these efforts is obvious. Many of the Republicans haranguing against CRT represent states with some of the nation’s worst educational and health systems, and have the highest rates of poverty. Obviously, they can’t campaign on these facts. But, as history has taught, overt or covert appeals to white supremacy always trumps (no pun intended) everything else.
David R. Hoffman, South Bend, Ind.
Curb school taxes
Stop overtaxing our retirees for a failing school (indoctrination) system. Kentucky is 45th in the nation for education and our taxes continue to go up at the minimum rate of 4% each year. This is more than any employer or retirement program pay increases annually.
When people go to college, there is a defined cost and they know when it will be paid off.
There is no defined cost for primary education. People started paying with their first vehicle through taxation and now through utilities, property taxation, etc. This debt is never paid off. All school system taxation should stop at least by age 60 or retirement. Retirees that built these communities are being taxed out of our life’s works. If their home and vehicle are paid for, they don’t really own them but rent them back from the school system through annual ever increasing taxation.
This needs to stop.
All employees should be required to live within the district they work in as their tax rate will contribute to their success and control costs.
Please contact your local and state representatives. People do have a voice and our numbers count.
Michael Gregory, Corbin
More police needed
I wanted to update the citizens of Lexington on the law enforcement crisis we are experiencing. With the increase in violent crimes and continually decreasing number of police officers, the average response times for police continue to rise. In April of 2020, the average response time was nine minutes and 13 seconds. In July of 2021, the average response time was 14 minutes 59 seconds. That is an increase of five minutes and 46 seconds. A lot can happen in five minutes and 46 seconds. Imagine if someone was threatening you. Imagine if someone was breaking into your house. Even worse, imagine if someone was assaulting you. When you have time, sit in front of a clock and time five minutes and 46 seconds. The Lexington Police Department needs more officers and they need open support from the city leaders and citizens of Lexington. Contact the mayor and your council members and tell them public safety should be a priority. Tell them your safety should be a priority.
Jeremy Russell, president Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4, Lexington
Ultimately, we win
The subject of winners and losers has been a hot topic of debate lately. Not just because members of the Republican Party are repeating that Donald Trump won the 2020 Presidential election. Or because Congress has become so politically polarized that members are willing to let their constituents back home suffer all kinds of unnecessary hardships and solvable problems because they don’t want their counterparts to be able to declare any victories, even though people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. Does not being able to put any serious gun laws on the books that could possibly stop thousands of people from dying every year make us winner’s? How is America doing when it comes to caring for our hungry, abused, homeless, and at risk? Have U.S. women won the right to have 100% control of their own bodies, and the right to earn what men earn doing the same job? These are subjects we can’t seem to agree on, but at least Americans have the opportunity to change things when we put our heads together and really want to. Many countries do not allow their citizens to decide anything. That makes all U.S. citizens winners.
Yolanda Averette, Lexington
‘Foxitis’ to blame
Right wing law and order Fox News has a problem. Many defense attorneys for the U.S. Capitol attackers realize their clients were duped into action by the relentless propaganda of former President Donald Trump and the Fox opinion personalities. The defense attorneys are using the “foxitis defense”. That is that the attackers were radicalized into attacking the U.S. Capitol because they thought that everything the Fox opinion personalities were saying was true.
Laura Ingraham has a law degree and was distinguished enough as a law student to get a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship. In her current position giving her opinion on Fox each night, she decided to mock and ridicule the Capitol police officers who endured hours of hand-to-hand combat with the attackers suffering from “foxitis”.
Maybe those defense attorneys will give Laura and her buddy Tucker Carlson lots of subpoenas to appear in court. Make them explain under oath why they told tall tales on TV that infected their viewers with the “foxitis” disease that drove the afflicted to attack the U.S. Capitol.
Kevin Kline, Lexington