Letters to the Editor – Texas voting, vaccine data, bail reform, Dallas parks, ice cream

A plea for fair voting

Texans want fair and transparent elections. The Texas legislative process to change electoral law should be fair and transparent in equal measure.

To ensure this transparency, the Texas House and Senate passed rules for their actions in 2021. These rules state that when members of the House of Representatives and Senate meet to settle differences between their legislative proposals, those members are prohibited from sneaking into a new language because it has not been properly checked. The failed 2021 Voting Act, known as Senate Act 7, contained numerous provisions that had crept into the legislature’s dwindling hours to violate its transparency rules. Senate Bill 7 should have rightly failed.

The Texas Legislature, in amending the Texas Constitution, must bring electoral laws into the 21st century and improve dismal turnout. With my smartphone banking app, I can securely deposit checks and send money electronically to someone else. Why shouldn’t voting in Texas be just as convenient?

Cynthia Thomas, Plano

Follow science

Re: “955 fully vaccinated people get COVID-19 – but the vast majority of cases in Dallas County are those who haven’t got the vaccinations,” Wednesday Metro & Business story.

As a fully vaccinated COVID-19 survivor (47 days in hospital, 11 days of ventilation), I am deeply concerned and disappointed with the Dallas Morning News decision to make such a misleading, alarming headline – especially given the ongoing opposition for theirs from the currently unvaccinated Change mind.

It is clear from the whole story – if you do the math that was not presented in the article – that less than 0.9 out of 1 percent of all fully vaccinated Dallas Counties contracted the virus. That would have been a much more positive, encouraging headline.

To date, The News has been a positive force in seeking to follow science whenever it applies, to keep your distance, stay masked, and get vaccinated. Please continue on this path instead of spreading a falsely sensational idea that could only do more harm than good.

Lane Adamson, Northern Garland

Throwing money around

Re: “Park is like no other – Southern Gateway won’t copy Klyde Warren, so the Oak Cliff project will work,” Thursday editorials.

Deck parks are an example of things that are successful when you throw enough money, mostly publicly, into a project. The Dallas Morning News sponsored the highways separating the undesirable from the wanted years ago, and now you’re all for throwing more public money to cover up that mistake.

Think of all of the parks you could build with the money it costs just to build these decks. As beautiful as these parks are and will be, the waste of hundreds of millions should not be ignored.

Eric C. Foster, Gun Barrel City

City is going in the right direction

“More importantly, the leaders of this project understand the history of their neighborhood.”

As far as that sentence in the editorial is true, Southern Gateway Park will far outperform any other park in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and possibly the nation.

It will take a lot of work, but it is going in the right direction!

Bill Betzen, Dallas

Bail policy reform

What’s wrong with the Texas legislature? Every time an organization tries to do good in the community, it seems that the Texan legislature has a bill working against it. The various community organizations working to get offenders out of jail on bail to trial are doing something useful. The Texan legislature wants to make it difficult for them, however, and let offenders languish in prison for crimes that in many cases should not require prison time.

Dallas County’s bail policy towards poor defendants has previously been determined to be unfair for insolvency. Stopping such a program works against prison reform.

Marjorie Sutton, Arlington

Cut down on the rhetoric, Governor!

Governor Greg Abbott used inflammatory rhetoric to encourage donations for his re-election campaign. The “socialists” are coming. Free public education. Assistance with health care costs through Medicare and Medicaid. Unemployment benefit. What does he call these things?

I want a candidate who deals with these issues: 1. Energy infrastructure. 2. Universal access to health care. 3. Gun violence. 4. Right to vote. 5. Submission of women. 6. Immigration.

I want plans, not signed bills with no substance.

Cynthia stick, garland

Variety that tastes good

When President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the third Sunday in July National Ice Cream Day in 1984, which has since been expanded to National Ice Cream Month, he could not predict the immense popularity of plant-based ice creams today. In the past few years, every major brand, starting with Ben & Jerry’s, has launched a range of healthy, delicious nut, bean, and fruit options.

But it’s not just the rich variety and delicious flavors that have made it popular. Plant-based people appreciate the choice, but the nearly 30 million US consumers with lactose intolerance can also enjoy their favorite flavors again.

And the cherry on top? The demand for plant-based ice creams is fueling healthier diets, can help actually heal the planet, and can help end an industry of cruel practices.

July is the perfect time to try plant-based ice cream and make a small change that has a big impact.

Eric C. Lindstrom, Bethesda, Md.

Executive Director, Farm Animal Rights Movement

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