Castillo parents fighting for safety of students
Re: “Parents seeking records, not cash,” March 14 news story
Instead of taking the money and running, the Castillos are choosing to honor their son, Kendrick, by getting and sharing information that may save other students. Good for them!
Peggy Caughlan, Fort Collins
Assault rifle lapel pins disrespectful
Re: “GOP’s filibuster sought to stall gun, safe-drug-use bills,” March 11 news story and “GOP digs in against gun bills,” March 7 news story
In light of the near-daily shootings and killings of Americans at our own hands, often with assault-type weapons, doesn’t it seem insulting to the dead and wounded, both present day and past, that any elected representative of any party would wear an assault rifle insignia on their lapel?
It is a disrespectful affront to any survivor to vaunt the instrument of destruction that deprived them of loved ones. Parents and school children fear attending what should be one of the safest havens for kids. Yet, in seeming ignorance and disregard for those killed and their families, some elected officials proudly display banal disrespect on their chests.
If they were personally affected by the loss of a loved one, what would their attitudes be? I doubt they would be so unconcerned.
Both sides of the mouth talk about mental health, and this utterly flagrant lack of care for public safety clearly shows where the mental health issues are. Obsessiveness over an inanimate object might be an indicator.
Richard D. Babcock, Colorado Springs
“Affordable for whom?”
Many people seem to swoon when they hear “affordable housing.” We may all think we know what affordable housing means. Many seem to think that affordable housing solves myriad problems vexing Denver. But the notion of affordable housing raises many questions. Affordable for whom? Affordable at what point in time? Affordable for how long? On what basis is affordability measured? Who determines affordability? What proof is required? In comparison to market-rate housing, is affordable housing as well built, and does it have the same amenities?
Affordable housing is an opportunity for the already housed, i.e., renters. Affordable housing offers an opportunity for the already housed to move into ownership. Affordable housing does not address the issue of the unhoused/homeless. Addressing the issue of the unhoused is a completely separate issue from building affordable housing. In swooning over affordable housing, we need to be very clear-eyed about what it is and is not, and what it does and does not.
MaryLou Fenili, Denver
Let’s slow down the reckless drivers
I just don’t feel safe driving on the streets of Denver anymore. What is it with all these reckless drivers?
Denver already has one of the longest yellow lights on its traffic signals compared to any other city I have been in, yet drivers frequently speed through red lights.
In northwest Denver, the city has added a number of roundabouts to slow down traffic. Yet despite the yield signs on all four ways of the roundabout, cars often speed through them, paying no attention to the other drivers.
We need cameras on intersections that have frequent accidents. And in place of roundabouts, either keep the stop signs or put in dips or speed bumps. Sadly, some people are more afraid of damaging their cars speeding through a dip or speed bump than they are of killing another person.
Catherine Hanisits, Denver
When the government tells you not to worry …
Re: “Government races to reassure U.S. that the system is safe,” March 14 news story
Monday, the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system was secure after the second and third-largest bank failures in the nation’s history happened in the span of 48 hours. I’ve been around long enough to know that when the federal government tells you don’t worry, you better start worrying.
Leroy M Martinez, Denver
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