My El Paso neighborhood does not need helicopter patrols
Why is there so much helicopter traffic over my house and my Cielo Vista neighborhood? Every day it’s like a war zone. Isn’t this a safety hazard for commercial airlines?
If most of these helicopters are from ICE, Border Patrol, or military, shouldn’t they be flying out of Fort Bliss, Santa Teresa or Fabens if they are patrolling the border? My El Paso neighborhood does not need helicopter patrols!
Sid H. Searcy
East El Paso
Leadership is doing right thing, not popular thing
The recent allegations against Cesar Chavez, and they are unproven allegations and accusations, have resulted in a slew of local and state leaders calling for the renaming or abolishing of all references to the days of celebration established to recognize Chavez and his work on behalf of farm workers. Regrettably, this also includes the local leaders of El Paso County.
El Paso city and county government leaders failed to acknowledge that the accusations and allegations levied against Chavez, dead since the early 1990s, are, in fact, unproven and untested. True leadership would have reminded the public the allegations involved acts that allegedly occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s, and that Chavez died in 1993.
True leadership would have reminded us that it is easy to accuse a dead man, who is not present to confront his accusers and defend himself. Chavez, or any person accused for that matter, is entitled to confront his accusers, even if not within the legal system, but in the court of public opinion.
True, genuine and moral leadership involves doing the right thing, and not the popular thing. It involves taking the right stance, and not the popular stance demanded by social media. To say that an accused person is presumed innocent is the right thing, even if not the popular thing.
Genuine, courageous leadership would have stood up, knowing there would be controversy and resistance.
Eduardo Solis
Downtown El Paso
Are we stupid or what?
Every day I read another article about how Artificial Intelligence is going to kill off jobs, yet we are giving up land and water and gas to companies to build plants that will facilitate more Artificial Intelligence. Are we stupid or what?
The only thing that makes even less sense is to build a park in the air over six lanes of speeding semi-trucks, creating a dark tunnel through a blind “S” curve through downtown.
I have yet to meet anyone who thinks this is a good idea.
John Justice
Northeast El Paso
Border wall good thing for Mount Cristo Rey
Martha Pskowski’s report, “Blasting begins on Mount Cristo Rey,” gives every reason to oppose building the border wall on Mount Cristo Rey but totally ignores any support for it. Pskowski writes that air quality, wildlife and pilgrims hiking up the mountain would all suffer from border wall construction in the vicinity. She reported that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces has urged construction there to cease as it would “deter those pilgrims and migrants from exercising their religion as they have done for almost 100 years.”
Wrong. These pilgrims climb Mount Cristo Rey to pray, especially during the Easter season, but they are often deterred by people who prey on them. Pilgrims have been robbed and attacked along the dangerous trek up the mountain.
One would think that the diocese would thank President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, and the construction company building the wall for making Mount Cristo Rey safe for people to worship there.
Paul Hoylen
Deming, New Mexico
Why the credit card fees?
It’s not unheard of for some businesses to charge a fee to use a credit card. The bank doesn’t charge a fee for anything, the credit card companies charge the merchants a fee for accepting their cards, that fee should not exceed 3.9%.
Any business that charges a fee for using a card has a legal obligation to post that they charge a fee. It is also a requirement that you see this fee amount on your receipt. Lately, some new card processors are leaving the fee amount off their receipts. You should question this. It’s bad enough to be charged a fee but not to be shown how much it is, should not be accepted by the consumer.
The fee was made up by the card machine companies to help merchants pay for their processing equipment. The easiest solution is spending your hard-earned money at a business that does not charge a fee or pay cash and ask for a discount for paying cash. It’s your money.
Lourdes Sanchez
East El Paso
Red light cameras were a good thing
Not sure why the red-light cameras were done away with, but they are desperately needed in El Paso. Motorists are endangering not only themselves but other El Paso drivers by brazenly ignoring and running red lights with impunity. These motorists have no fear of getting caught and endangering all citizens abiding by traffic laws. City Council needs to step in and fix this!
Gilbert Gomez
East El Paso
YMCA will be missed in Northeast
The YMCA on Will Ruth is closing permanently May 15. They need sponsors. What are we going to do in Northeast for exercise and socializing?
Nancy Richardson
Northeast El Paso
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: LETTERS: My El Paso neighborhood does not need helicopter patrols
Reporting by El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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