Pay for C-470 project at pumps
Re: “C-470 project troubles Wall St.,” Sept. 24 news story
Paying to complete C-470, the Centennial Parkway, is a no-brainer. Raise the state’s gas tax, which has not been raised since 1991.
The General Assembly should challenge the TABOR amendment in court. Given the ignorance of state transportation policy of turning over highways to foreign-owned corporations, who knows if anything will be done.
Kevin Sampson, Denver
Missing the point on emissions standards
Re: “Trump’s bad California rollback,” Sept. 21 letters to the editor
The childish and tiresome President Trump-bashing diatribe from the letter writers seems to be de rigueur in The Denver Post. Their protests regarding this administration’s desire to rein in California’s mileage standards for new cars expose their lack of knowledge about this issue and, consequently, miss the point entirely.
There are two arguments. One is that the state has exceeded its original, exclusive exemption, which allowed the state to regulate emissions. The second is that because California is so large, most auto manufacturers will abide by any state-mandated standards, creating a de-facto national policy. This is asymmetrical federalism and cannot be allowed. Simply put, the governor of California should not dictate policy to the rest of the country.
David Oyler, New Castle
Consider the context
Re: “Trudeau says his privilege made him do it,” Sept. 23 commentary
Brownface/blackface is in the news again, with another public figure assumed guilty of racial insensitivity. I have a confession to make. Once, I, too, wore brownface in public. It was 1954 and I was in the eighth grade at a Catholic school in Denver when the class put on the play “Lily of the Mohawks” at Loretta Heights. I had a very minor role as a warrior and was expected to perform a war dance. To add credibility, my very pale face was darkened with makeup.
I swear I harbored no animosity toward Native Americans! In my world back then, when the nuns said to do something, you did it.
It seems to me that a photo of someone in extreme makeup tells you nothing of context or intent. They may indeed be guilty of disrespect or even spite, or, then again, they might be as totally innocent of malice as we were.
Harry Puncec, Lakewood
The choice is clear: Safety measures should be mandatory
Re: “No one knows if Colorado programs are making schools safer, state auditor reports,” Sept. 19 news story
As a high school student in Colorado, the ineffectiveness of school-safety programs is just another disheartening issue from a long list of repeated neglects on behalf of state or federal officials at the expense of the next generation.
The inconsistency displayed by the implementation is a hard slap in the face as fellow teens hoped that even when gun control legislation wasn’t passed, other measures such as Safe2Tell and technical training would be in perfect form.
One of the scariest parts of this is that the audit ruled the measures themselves, but the state gives schools the choice whether to opt in or not.
The lives of young adults should not be something schools choose to protect — the prevention of school shootings should not be opted into.
Max Link, Westminster