Letters to the editor: May 3

Gay marriage and cross-dresser stories overblown

On April 28 you published an excerpt from a column by Cal Thomas in which he said, "This constant feeding of ... and fixation on what long ago was regarded as bizarre, even perverted, is contributing to a warped culture and the devaluing of the qualities necessary to stabilize society. It is as if a lid has been lifted from the sewer and all the waste is now flooding the streets, posing a threat to our national well-being."

Your recent front-page emphasis in sections A and B have taken a giant step toward giving Thomas' analysis credibility.

While the story about the gay marriage court hearing was worthy of some coverage, there was more international and national news that was almost ignored. Further, the story about a cross-dresser was overdone.

It will be something for you to ponder as our culture continues to disintegrate and the readership of your paper continues to decline.

There was much more urgent and timely news to report had you the wisdom to do so.

Isaac B. McDonald

London

It is unfortunate that an April 19 letter writer was uninformed about Israel's role in the peace negotiations in the Middle East. Numerous are the occasions that Israel has offered land for peace. Israel gave back the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt without a shot being fired for the sake of peace.

The United States is erecting fences to keep out illegal immigrants. Israel has been forced to erect fences to keep terrorists and missiles from destroying the only democratic country in the Middle East.

The blockades would come down immediately if the people of Gaza would put down their weapons and sit at the peace table.

The writer accuses Israel of horrible crimes, like ethnic cleansing. Perhaps he doesn't see the many Arab women in burkas safely walking the streets of Jerusalem or waiting for treatment at Hadassah Hospital. He also fails to recognize that Israel sends tons of humanitarian supplies daily to assist the people of Gaza. A country wanting to ethnically cleanse another would never act that way.

I for one celebrate with honor a country that has always sought Shalom-Peace.

Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts

Temple Adath Israel

Lexington

Unfair to Paul family

Shame on the Herald-Leader for allowing the recent story regarding Sen. Rand Paul's son to be published on the front page of the Bluegrass section, or anywhere else in your newspaper.

Couldn't your reporters find anything else newsworthy? The Herald-Leader's apparent dislike of Paul should not extend to stories being written about his family.

Judy Rola

Lexington

Get Upper back open

What's the lowdown on Upper?

As a native Lexingtonian and longtime downtown business owner and resident, I am concerned about the closure of Upper Street between Short and Main streets.

With all of our one-way streets, this closing creates even more logistical problems for those of us trying to conduct business downtown.

While the 21C Hotel and Museum is an exciting addition to Lexington, I question whether this project is creating long-term problems for the rest us.

When can we expect the street to be reopened?

Mary Ginocchio

Owner Mulberry & Lime

Lexington

It was so refreshing to get a climatology lesson from Matt Bevin in the April 23 article, "Republican candidates dispute global warming." He points out that the Earth has gone through changes previously. However, those changes occurred over the course of thousands or millions of years. Never in the history of this planet has the climate changed this rapidly this quickly.

James Comer's comments were also laughable: "We've had a very severe winter this year with 12-inch snows, so there is no global warming." He is referring to weather, not climate.

What possible benefit do the leading climatologists from 160 countries have for conspiring to come up with the idea of global warming? They are attempting to salvage a livable planet for future generations.

A majority of those who claim global warming is some hoax are nearly all on the payroll of energy companies. Who has the hidden agenda here?

William Wright

London

CENTREPOINTE CONTROVERSY

Don't trust guarantee

I sincerely hope the mayor and Urban County Council received a personally signed guarantee that the CentrePointe project would actually come to fruition.

The personal guarantees signed by Dudley and Donald Webb on the roughly $90 million in loans were never paid back to Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co. back in the 1990s.

Surely, no one in Lexington has forgotten the loss of one of the largest employers and the loss of jobs to the hands of politically corrupt judges, politicians and lawyers benefiting from the millions taken from a viable company run by greedy individuals with hidden agendas.

Unfortunately, I am still living with these same people on a daily basis. I hope the city follows through with its demand to fill in the hole that would be Dudley's "Lake Lexington."

Kevin Kincaid

Georgetown

ISO lifeguards

How long have the two towering cranes been at the CentrePointe construction site? Hasn't it been quite awhile? Does anybody know when they will actually do something? Aren't they expensive to own or rent? And to just stand there? Who can afford to rent them and not use them?

Have we all gotten immune to them? Do we now look past them without seeing them?

With the recent rainfall, will the project be renamed CentrePoole? Can our sons apply for lifeguard positions? Can we reserve a pontoon for the second weekend in June? Who's in charge? Who do we call?

Andy Strickland

Richmond

Mike Besten

Lexington

Define 'work'

Regarding CenterPointe: The city should fill up the hole and bill the developer for it. Every time Dudley Webb is questioned about the progress (or lack thereof) on the project, he claims work is ongoing, which it clearly is not.

I think his definition of "work" is to have someone show up at the site, put on a hard hat and take a picture. This debacle has been going on for at least seven years.

Enough is enough.

Patricia Pruitt

Lexington

Use the hole

So a hole is there. Use it.

City owned billboards or murals to say "Developers and poor leadership did this to us!"? The world would visit to smile and laugh about this stupidity.

How about a different construction location of a Noah's Ark which may get floods of money from ding-bat Kentucky legislators and a governor willing to provide tax incentives?

Or donate a glassified top like some city fathers wanted for Rupp Arena. This could be a downtown location for another tax-free megachurch property for the mega types in mega homes with mega cars.

Ziplines to ride since entertainment centers are prevented where they may be more logical or attractive? How about a skateboard park that would make jumps in other locations and cities totally insignificant?

The real mistake was made with poor laws preventing such plus elected officials, their staffs and the enabling media leadership that fell for the Webb Cos.' con job once again.

Don Pratt

Lexington

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Letters to the editor: May 3."