The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
READERS’ FORUM Food desert continues
Legislative shenanigans
I appreciate Joe Gerth’s article expounding on the report by the Kentucky League of Women Voters exposing the mischief, or “shenanigans,” that have been going on in the Kentucky Legislature. The data shows undeniably that the Republican majority is at fault, and Gerth calls them out by name. They are responsible for rushing through bills without the proper readings or time for review by the minority, much less an opportunity for public review and input.
Gerth encourages readers to call their legislator to protest this undemocratic practice. However, he didn’t include the Legislative Message Line phone number. It’s 800-372-71781. You can send a message to your legislator or to all legislators demanding they follow the rules and the Kentucky Constitution. Just give your name,ZIP code and to whom to direct your message. No hassle.
It is so discouraging that many U.S. and Kentucky counties no longer have a newspaper reporting on their state legislatures. How can they know what laws are being passed that affect their lives? My New Year’s wish is that every Kentuckian could have access to accurate, reliable reporting about their legislature’s actions. Maybe if they did, they would elect more scrupulous people.
Ruthanne Wolfe, Louisville, 40204
Gov. Beshear
Gov. Beshear is a great governor and would be a great president! He is a very humane person who carried us through the pandemic.I certainly hope he continues to serve when his term as governor is over in politics.
Richard Schnelle, Louisville, Ky. 40218
Tax on hybrids
The recently passed tax on electric vehicles is explained as fairness, so that those vehicles pay for their share of the costs to maintain the roads. For pure electric and, to a lesser degree, plug-in hybrids, this is true. However, for gas electric hybrids, that represent the bulk of the vehicles taxed by this law. We buy gas on a regular basis, and our only difference is we get a little better miles per gallon than our pure gas counterparts. With the legislature’s logic, we should tax vehicles proportional to their miles per gallon ratings since they buy less gas per mile driven. My hybrid averages around 31 miles per gallon, and I’m sure there are a lot of gas-only vehicles that purchase less gas than me.
The Dec. 26 Courier Journal featured news on the impending opening of several new grocery stores. It is not at all surprising that they will all be located in the East End. So the food desert in the West End continues. The beat goes on. Just another form of redlining. Can we not do better than this?
A little communication might help
Recently Northwestern Parkway east of Shawnee Golf Course received a longneeded repaving. Now, just a few months later, the street has been torn up to replace a waterline. I had not heard about any broken lines or leaks in the area. The folks that live along this stretch of road must really love the patched mess they were left with. I would love to know why the water main work couldn’t be done prior to the repaving. That would make sense to most people, but apparently not to the utilities companies and our fine city government.