Letters: Cover the good work that is and can be done to keep our region healthy
The good work to keep our region healthy
Thank you for the timely article about recycling in the Twin Cities. I appreciate the specific information about how to recycle holiday lights and other items. (Need to drop off those Christmas lights at the library by Jan. 22!)
It was especially gratifying to know that recycling efforts in the Twin Cities are worth it. Materials are being reused by local industries and turned into other products. (And that requires jobs.)
Andrea McKiernan, Ramsey County’s Environmental Health Division Outreach and Engagement Supervisor, also reminded us that reducing our use of non-recyclable plastic (plastic that is not number 1, 2 and 5) is probably the best policy as it cannot be turned into other products. Perhaps the paper could print more information about the studies being done about how plastic particles are seeping into not only ground and water but into our bodies, something we do not need or want.
Pioneer Press, please continue to cover the good work that is being done/can be done locally to help keep our region healthy and beautiful. Our children’s future depends on it.
Patrice Schober-Branigan, St. Paul
Seal, good. Flag, bad. So …
On the one hand, we have a proposed new Minnesota State Seal which has stirred little or no controversy – we like it. On the other hand, the proposed new Minnesota State Flag appears quite controversial – we don’t like it. For one thing, that light blue background will not stand out very well against the sky when our flag is flown; just look at its depiction in the media, including this newspaper.
The obvious solution would seem to be a new flag with our new seal on a dark blue background. Wait, that’s essentially what we have now. Just update the problematic old seal and that’s it.
Now, some have argued that the flag should be so plain and simple that a grade school child can draw it. Is that really necessary? Also, some may have suggested that it is inappropriate to put a seal on a flag. Well, our brief online research shows that at least 30 of our nation’s states do, in fact, have a flag with their state seal, or a similar likeness. And, by the way, a majority of those flags display that seal on a blue background.
So, unless we are determined to be different at all cost, Minnesota would still be in good company with those other states by doing just that – our new state seal on a dark blue background. What’s wrong with that?
Kevin & Sue Clark, Mendota Heights
One word, at least?
After reading about the new state flag I have a few observations. First, why does it have to be so simple a child could draw it? Will this become the deciding factor for grade advancement in primary school? Second, when looking at the new flag, will anyone know what state this flag is trying to represent? Would it bother any of the constituents calling for a new state flag if there was one word on this new flag, MINNESOTA. And for the children we could help them spell it.
Greg Kroiss, Woodbury
Other West 7th options
I was disappointed to see Joe Landsberger’s letter about transit options on your Opinion Page. Joe is a long-time, well-respected resident of the West 7th community. So, it was disappointing to see his letter, while entertaining to some, present only a partial picture of the alternatives for West 7th.
Joe has attended many public meetings about this project, since he is on the Station Advisory Committee. I have also attended many meetings about this project. So, Joe and I both know that his implication that there is only one alternative form of transit for the Corridor, and that this sole alternative takes away all parking on West 7th, is only part of the story.
The alternative Joe describes is one of three possible forms of mass transit proposed for the Riverview Corridor. Of the three, only one dramatically reduces parking along West 7th Street. Two alternatives involve modern streetcars, and one alternative calls for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route. One streetcar option does take away parking along West 7th, but residents can voice their opinions about this at the upcoming community feedback sessions planned by Ramsey County. The streetcar options would be planned and executed by Ramsey County, and, if approved, streetcars could be running along West 7th Street. If BRT is approved, the Metropolitan Council would have to step up and plan and execute that project (not a sure thing). BRT is not in their list of projects and would have to fall behind several other projects, possibly pushing BRT out to the 2030s.
Let’s pull the focus back and see the big picture. RiversEdge is a multi-building project, planned for the former West Publishing/County Jail site on Kellogg Boulevard. RiversEdge could attract hundreds of new workers and residents to downtown St. Paul, and they will need a way to get around the Twin Cities. Mass transit will be the new emphasis for transportation planning, as we experience more and more effects of global warming. So, RiversEdge residents and workers will need and will want to use these mass transit alternatives. It looks to me like the streetcar option that allows for parking along West 7th Street is the best alternative for promoting development in downtown St. Paul and reducing possible traffic congestion along West 7th.
Paul O. Hardt, St. Paul
Our tax dollars being wasted
Ukraine defense official accused of embezzling $40M. That’s the article headline in the Dec. 24, 2023, Pioneer Press. The Defense Ministry official set up an elaborate scheme where he contracted to purchase artillery shells at inflated prices, canceled the contract and bought them from the same manufacturer at a reduced cost by 30% and shortened delivery time and pocketed the $40M difference. The shells have not been delivered nor the money recovered.def
How many others are doing the same thing and living in luxury? That’s our tax dollars being wasted while President Zelenskyy comes to the U.S.A. and says we, the taxpayers, should be giving more. This is another example of this administration’s policy to throw money at a problem without knowing where or how it is really being used.
Larry Hilderbrand, Woodbury
Curious
In a Christmas Eve letter to the editor, a writer, in addition to praising the election-denying U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, extolled the virtues of Wisconsin’s conservative legislature’s attacks on the presumed evils of DEI efforts undertaken by the UW system in recent years. This gerrymandered legislature held pay raises and funds for needed projects hostage until the UW system capitulated to its demands.
I began my academic career at the UW-Madison campus more than a few years ago and have many fond memories. Although opportunities pulled me away to another university after three years, I’ve stayed in touch with colleagues and followed Wisconsin politics since. What I found curious, if not ironic, is that as part of its ransom demands this legislative body at the same time required the university to create a position that focuses on conservative political thought, assuming such thought does not exist on campus.
So, they want to diversify thought, to be more inclusive of such thinking and thus create more equity amongst philosophies which they assume to not exist. Even more ironic is they required funds previously used to recruit diverse faculty to pay for their version of diversity. To quote Alice, this gets curiouser and curiouser as she, like this legislature, chases an imaginary rabbit into wonderland.
James R. Stone III, St. Paul
Is he serious?
As a long-time, subscriber to the Pioneer Press, I’ve been reading Joe Soucheray’s articles for well over 20 years. He pulls no punches, usually talks common sense and writes things others may not want to say out loud. But his column on Dec 31, “Are we headed for another ‘Year Without Winter‘”? left me asking … is he serious? He writes that “there is no such thing as a climate crisis” and calls it a “childish notion”.
He discusses the unusually warm winter of 1877-78 as though the occurrence of that winter negates the piles of evidence demonstrating the obvious and continuing warming of our Earth.
Has Joe noticed the year after year of extreme weather events? Maybe he hasn’t read his own newspaper which writes of rising global temperatures, decreased snow cover, rising of sea levels and glacial retreats, to name a few.
Maybe Joe simply disagrees with 97% of published climate scientists worldwide who agree humans are causing global warming and climate change.
Joe has a right to his opinion and I will respect that. Unfortunately, I have now lost respect for Joe and will no longer be reading his column.
Linda Marie Thayer, Lake Elmo
Missing, but not missed?
DOD Secretary Lloyd Austin disappeared for four days and was not even missed. This is the same military wizard who, along with Joe Biden, orchestrated the disastrous exit from Afghanistan.
That colossal blunder cost many millions of dollars in weapons and equipment, armed the enemy and took 10 American lives.
The fact that Biden didn’t know that Austin went missing is not surprising since he doesn’t know where he is.
Jon Swenson, Eagan
Related Articles
Letters: The proposed new Minnesota flag is so simplified it has no meaning
Letters: Superintendent of the Year, with these achievement levels?
Letters: Why was Nikki Haley afraid to counter the ‘Lost Cause’ narrative?
Letters: There’s nothing sustainable about endless tax increases
Letters: No snow, no woods nearby, but reminded nonetheless of Frost’s famous poem