I-70 project is a boondoggle
Re: “CDOT, partners settle at $12.5M,” Dec. 14 news story
Former city auditor Dennis Gallagher predicted that the Central I-70 project would be a boondoggle. Others predicted that it would be the world’s longest lap pool since the city of Denver added a flood control project. The chickens have come home to roost. This $2.2 billion ,6-mile project has entered the no man’s land of “contingency funding.” A million here and a million there … and this is a low-ball number. What comes next?
Kevin Sampson, Denver
Hard to trust police testimony
Re: “In the dark,” Dec. 6 news story
The article on prosecutors’ “Brady Lists” of police officers whose credibility is questionable at best was disheartening but not surprising. It became abundantly clear to me this spring when the Black Lives Matter marches highlighted the extensive blatant lies being told by police about their harassment and killing of Black people. It seems to me that arresting officer reports should not be allowed as testimony in any court unless there is independent, corroborating evidence such as video.
Lynne Forrester, Littleton
Do your job, Congress
Re: “Funding bill averts federal shutdown,” Dec. 12 news story
I am very concerned that Congress cannot come up with an agreement to help the American people who are suffering with this pandemic. Both parties are playing politics so there is plenty of blame to go around. They sure blame each other all the time. I am sure that they will be among the first people to get the vaccine. I would like to propose that they do not get the vaccine until they get a bill passed to help the American people. Very simple: Do your job and then you can receive the vaccine.
Neil Fleischauer, Westminster
There’s a right to be stupid but not to endanger others
In 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking before a group of German students on American civil liberties, said, “In America, you have the right to be stupid, if you want to be.” He implied this right is encapsulated in our free speech rights, which in turn enshrine the right of freedom of thought, which allows us to believe whatever we want no matter how stupid. Thus, you’re free to believe the earth is flat, or pigs can fly, or the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax, and you’re free to say so. The government can’t force you to change your mind or punish you. This is as it should be.
The right to believe and say stupid things, however, doesn’t mean you also have the right to act stupidly, especially when your actions could harm others. Which brings us to face masks during the pandemic. Health officials and responsible leaders tell us we must wear them to protect others and ourselves from the highly contagious and deadly coronavirus. Yet many Americans refuse to do so, clamoring about a nonexistent constitutional right to do whatever they want. During a pandemic, there’s no right to be stupid, let alone reckless and selfish. Those who refuse to wear a face mask in public, a very modest inconvenience, don’t care about the well-being of others.
Peter F. Munger, Arvada
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
