Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned from the San Antonio Philharmonic in February, is returning to the city this fall to lead Harmonium of Texas. Good luck, the city needs this type of organization, a reader says.
Clint Datchuk
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won the Republican Party primary for U.S. Senate, waves to supporters on Tuesday in Plano. A reader is not surprised Paxton won the runoff against Sen. John Coryn, but he hopes the electorate will make better decisions in November, when Paxton will face Texas State Rep. James Talarico.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Starting on high note
Re: “Acclaimed conductor launches new orchestra in S.A.,” S.A. Life, May 31:
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My sincere and best wishes to Jeffrey Kahane for his leadership in this new venture with Harmonium of Texas, which appears to be well-thought-out and supported by many classical music enthusiasts.
May I add a word of caution: Including Roberto Treviño, San Antonio Philharmonic’s executive director, in the mix of this new endeavor in any capacity will spell its doom.
Good luck. The city needs this type of organization.
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Honor women leaders
Re: “City on track to rename Chávez Boulevard,” Metro, May 22:
Our politicians and the community should consider local Mexican American women who made efforts to unionize in the 1930s.
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Emma B. Tenayuca and other women activists organized the pecan shellers strike in 1930 to bargain for livable wages.
Fuerza Unida opened another chapter of San Antonio women willing to organize and protest for fair wages. Viola Casares, Petra Mata and other bold women coordinated Fuerza Unida, which protested Levi Strauss Co. relocating to Costa Rica in order to pay women there cheaper wages.
San Antonio’s women union organizers, activists and workers deserve the community’s recognition for the contributions they have made to the labor movement in San Antonio.
Our community should have input in renaming Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard for San Antonio’s own women union organizers.
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Still hope in November
In the runoff for the Republican Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republicans again have expressed their preference for impeached, adulterous, grifter candidates to fill a statewide office.
While I am not surprised, I hope the electorate will make better decisions come November when Paxton will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico.
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Paxton no U.S. symbol
I am incredibly disappointed in fellow Texans who voted for Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican Party primary for U.S. Senate.
Paxton has been accused of security fraud and bribery, and also of cheating on his wife.
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Paxton is following the path of President Donald Trump, who is a convicted felon and who also cheated on his wife.
Are these the kind of people we want running our country? Are these the kind of people we want representing our country to the world?
I’m ashamed for our country, which continues to put these people in charge.
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Iran another mistake
It has now been three months since President Donald Trump blundered into his war with Iran.
No one has heard any coherent, verifiable justification for the conflict, except the continuously repeated statement that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
Some of us remember when President George W. Bush blundered into Iraq in 2003, repeating over and over again that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction” that posed a threat to the entire world.
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No evidence was provided before the invasion, and no WMDs were ever found, even though the country was turned upside down. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006.
We still have troops in Iraq 23 years later.
If you replace Iraq with Iran, you have the same Trump and GOP talking points to support more war with no verifiable evidence or justification.
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Save lives with funding
Re: “Ukraine aid effort gets bipartisan push,” Nation & World, May 23:
Congress is finally pressing the administration to spend funds it has already appropriated. It should do the same for the $600 million designated for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
By pooling donor resources and negotiating lower vaccine prices, Gavi makes vaccines more affordable for countries with limited resources. At a time when infectious diseases are spreading and children continue to die from preventable illnesses, this delay is indefensible.
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Gavi has already helped vaccinate 1.2 billion children, and it is preparing to help countries reach another 500 million.
For less than half of what taxpayers are being asked to spend on a single ballroom, millions of lives could be saved. Congress, you did the hard work of appropriating these funds in the last two years. Now finish the job.
Insist that the administration release the money you appropriated.
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Eloise Sutherland, Austin
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