Letters to the Editor: ‘Visual pollution.’ Tangled utility wires mar downtown Lexington

Ditch the wires

Lexington will always be my spiritual home town. I went to Transylvania University and taught school there for 15 years. I return every year to visit gifted colleagues and wonderful friends. Annually I revel in the uniqueness and beauty of the city and surrounding farms. I love this city!

However, during each visit, I am repeatedly disappointed that this modern, progressive city remains marred by the visual pollution of utility poles draped with webs of wires. The recent front page picture of a restaurant at the corner of Short and Mill streets put this embarrassment on full display.

When I mentioned this to a person in the visitor center, she said she had never noticed or thought about it. And that’s the problem. Lexington has grown used to it. And that’s very sad!

Utility poles/wires are incongruent with a city as beautiful, historic, and modern as Lexington. They are ugly and one of the worst forms of visual pollution.

Dexter Meyers, Fort Myers, Fla

In whose interest?

The question all voters in Kentucky should be asking Sen. Mitch McConnell is this: “Who do you represent?” There is pending legislation (Build Back Better) which would be very beneficial to the state of Kentucky, especially for the poorest counties. With universal prekindergarten, free community college, high speed internet, extended child tax credits, it would introduce new opportunities to bring Kentucky out of the worst places to live. Better education would provide better jobs. Better jobs would bring better income which in turn would boost the economy. Senator McConnell has drawn a line in the sand saying that this is too expensive. Looking at this in a comparative advantage view point, it would pay for itself. Also, if the very wealthy and corporations who reap the benefits of the country would pay their share of taxes, the additional income would pay for this. Why is this the sacred cow which is off limits with him? He calls this socialism but in fact it is plutocracy. Does Senator McConnell represent Kentucky or the 1 percent?

Cheryl Keenan, Lexington

WKYT firing

First Barbara Bailey retires. Then Sam Dick retires. Then WKYT fires the happiest, most positive person with the station, DeAnn Stephens. Wow....don’t think they will be saying they are the #1 anything station: morning, noon, or night.

Melanie Rhorer McCloud, Lexington

Mural hidden gem

I was told of a large Sweet Evening Breeze/James Herndon mural on a wall downtown. This great mural faces the opposite direction of the flow of traffic on Limestone across from the federal courthouse near Columbia’s. So few will see it, especially in this particular location.

The artist is not to blame and I am sure the building’s owner was pleased to see this on the structure’s backside. Backside or hidden, as has been a lot of Lexington’s history!

I want a prominent display of Lexington’s interesting history and of this person in our history.

At the Blue Heron Mining Community in Stearns, there are speaker systems in skeleton buildings with recordings of residents or explanations of the location and the people’s history.

A statue could include a taped speaker recording of some of James Herndon’s history and contributions to Lexington.

Don Pratt Lexington

Voter regrets?

Surprise, surprise! Some Joe Biden voters are now feeling voter remorse. Besides their self-criticism, they’re complaining to old Joe.

“Gee willikers, Joe! Your performance to date leaves me feeling icky. I am so disillusioned by your callous ways. On day one, you stopped work on the Keystone X-L pipeline and Trump’s southern border wall. Workers lost their jobs, and their families now worry from day to day about house payments and other costs of living with homelessness looming over their horizons like a gathering storm.

“Jeepers creepers, Joe. Over a million illegal immigrants have walked across our southern border, and you don’t see a crisis! Who will pay for their food, shelter, clothes, education, medical care for the next 30 years?

“Gee whiz, Joe! I’ll tell who’ll pay. Working Americans like me, Joe, and we’re just barely making ends meet now, and that won’t last much longer with your higher taxes, higher-priced Middle East oil, and the rising cost of groceries.

“Jeez, Joe! We can’t even blame Trump for your callous shortcomings! What was I thinking when I voted for you?”

Shafter Bailey, Lexington