Re: \u201cMaintenance required\u00a0\u2014 Today\u2019s City Hall crisis is yesterday\u2019s deferred stewardship,\u201d by Miguel Solis, Sunday Opinion.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t\u00a0budgeting the problem?<\/p>\n
I appreciated Solis\u2019 representation of his role on the Critical Facilities Subcommittee and have an appreciation for the challenge of competing for funding for \u201cboring\u201d projects like building maintenance when up against \u201ccool\u201d projects like new parks and libraries.<\/p>\n
But why do we\u00a0require\u00a0bond funding for maintenance?\u00a0\u00a0Seems like we should fund our civic assets differently.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fair Park, City\u00a0Hall\u00a0and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center are examples where we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0seem to \u201ctake care of our stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new convention center is being built with bond money. How much of the bond money has been set aside for simple upkeep of the facility, when completed? And for how long? If the answer is the tourist taxes (hotel, rental car) are going to pay for upkeep, then why didn\u2019t that happen with the old convention center?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
We should ask the same question about the upcoming Dallas ISD bond election.\u00a0\u00a0With a property tax base that has increased by $89 billion (and almost 20%)\u00a0over the past two fiscal years, I recommend we find better stewards of our tax money.<\/p>\n
Please\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0fall for the sucker\u2019s bet and vote to raise your own taxes, but rather demand accountability from your local city manager, county\u00a0commissioners\u00a0and local representatives that they take care of what\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0bought\u00a0\u2014 and to budget and plan for\u00a0maintaining\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
Re: \u201cPope takes on the cult of Trump\u00a0\u2014 What we can learn from leaders playing God,\u201d by Joshua Whitfield and \u201cSearching for a church without politics\u00a0\u2014 Finding a new home is harder than expected,\u201d by Ronell Smith, Sunday Opinion.<\/p>\n
The opinions concerning \u201cthe cult of Trump\u201d and \u201cchurch without politics\u201d struck a nerve with me. The Bible is the guidance by which Christians are to lead their lives. No one or anything should be placed before God, according to the Ten Commandments.<\/p>\n
Those Christian leaders who glorify and have lifted President Donald Trump to what I consider to be cult-status (or a living idol) are totally ignoring the word of God.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tendency to speak other than truth, his self-admitted behavior to disrespect women, his disregard for the rights of others and his vulgarities are not behaviors that the Christ depicted in the Bible would condone.<\/p>\n
Christian leaders need to rethink their roles and start preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and not the gospel according to Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Faye Walker, Farmers Branch<\/p>\n
Thanks for Whitfield\u2019s column about President Donald Trump,\u00a0politics\u00a0and Christianity. Whitfield correctly holds Trump\u2019s Christian supporters responsible.<\/p>\n
The moral rot that Trump exploits predates his political rise by decades. Back in the ’80s, I remember an AIDS \u201cjoke\u201d that some conservative Christians were sharing \u2014 they found humor in mocking the suffering of gay men dying from a disease to which there was no treatment. They also talked of \u201clove the sinner, hate the sin.\u201d The love was clearly missing, but the hate was on full display.<\/p>\n
Years later, Trump openly expresses that hate. Sadly, some millions of people who call themselves Christians find that Trump\u2019s vicious hatred speaks to their hearts in a way that Jesus\u2019 message of love never could.<\/p>\n
That hatred is the root of the Trump phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Is it lost on Whitfield that leaders sometimes play God but also that priests and the Pope and other church leaders want to play political leaders?<\/p>\n
If you are unable to see President Donald Trump twisting the Pope\u2019s\u00a0tail\u00a0here, you are not very observant.<\/p>\n
Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if everyone stayed in their own lane?<\/p>\n
John L. Banks Jr., Richardson<\/p>\n
\nPass the Fix Our Forests Act\n<\/p>\n
Re: \u201cClimate change has wildfires burning more\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Warmer,\u00a0drier night temperatures mean blazes work overtime,\u201d Saturday news story.<\/p>\n
Wildfires are getting worse for a reason: Nights are no longer cooling forests down. As a heating planet drives higher overnight temperatures, vegetation stays dry around the clock, turning manageable fires into fast-moving disasters.<\/p>\n
The Fix Our Forests Act S.1462 offers a clear, practical fix. By speeding up hazardous fuel reduction, expanding prescribed\u00a0burns\u00a0and restoring overgrown forests, it tackles the excess vegetation that feeds extreme fires. Healthier forests are less likely to ignite and less likely to burn out of control when they do.<\/p>\n
Just as important, the bill cuts red tape so land managers can act quickly in high-risk areas instead of waiting through years of delays. That matters as fire conditions intensify faster than our response.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0control rising temperatures overnight. But we can control how our forests are managed.<\/p>\n
Passing S.1462 would reduce fire intensity, protect\u00a0communities\u00a0and slow the dangerous cycle of climate-driven wildfires.<\/p>\n
As fire season heats up, I am asking that Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn do the right thing and support this nonpartisan bill that will\u00a0benefit\u00a0all of us.<\/p>\n
Re: \u201cTax refunds for\u00a0senior,\u201d by Sanford LaHue, Friday Letters.<\/p>\n
In his letter, LaHue praises the president for keeping a promise to help seniors.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0glad that LaHue got the income tax relief that he\u00a0sought.<\/p>\n
Sadly, the president\u2019s tariffs cost the average American family $1,000 in 2025 and a projected\u00a0additional\u00a0$600 in 2026. These figures do not include steep rises in gasoline and energy that the ill-advised Iran war have generated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Re: \u201cMaintenance required\u00a0\u2014 Today\u2019s City Hall crisis is yesterday\u2019s deferred stewardship,\u201d by Miguel Solis, Sunday Opinion. Isn\u2019t\u00a0budgeting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,90649],"class_list":["post-259200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-tp-letters-to-the-editor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}