Letters, 7/6: Hardly a fair plan

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It struck me as rather humorous that the mayor of Lincoln and Sen. DiAnna Schimek are now concerned about $300,000 of the city’s tax dollars going to match the Amendment 4 portion of the lottery funds to State Fair Park because the fair is moving to Grand Island in 2010 (LJS, June 27).

Where was the concern when they knew Lincoln would lose yearly $28 million in economic benefits from the State Fair and State Fair Park’s year-round events? In addition to revenue lost to Lincoln will be the loss of jobs to the tune of $2.5 million per year from the State Fair Park payroll. Kind of makes the $300,000 seem like a drop in the bucket!

Also, fair vendors, the entire retail industry and other businesses in Lincoln are wondering when their economic stimulus grants will be available. We are all suffering from a poor economy, not just the home builders. Could this proposed housing stimulus package of the mayor’s lean toward favoritism or discrimination in the community?

Rhonda Blank, Lincoln

Stop the sloppy dressing

I read with great dismay the article “For men, the tie no longer binds” (LJS, June 15).

I always try to dress as a grownup man when I go out, which means wearing a suit, vest, tie, hat (fedora during the year, straw from Memorial to Labor Day) and a shoeshine. This is the case whether I go to work, downtown shopping, to church or to a restaurant with my better half. There was a day when I was not alone.

The report confirmed my own growing sense of dread: Men don’t really care about what they look like these days, so long, it seems, as they are “comfortable.” I even have received compliments on my own attire from men who, judging by their shorts, sports shoes and muscle shirts, cannot have been sincere.

This must stop.

I call all men of good sense to change their ways and look to the photos of their grandfathers for inspiration. They must ask themselves as they dress in the morning: “Shall I look like an overgrown kid about to mow his dad’s yard to go out, or like a self-respecting, mature adult?”

I, for one, shall continue to do so.

John Pepino, Lincoln

All are children of God

Prior to retiring to Lincoln in 2006, I served a Congregational/UCC church in suburban Boston for 20 years as organist-choirmaster. As a congregation historically committed to outreach, we took up the issue of officially becoming an open and affirming church.

Even in liberal Massachusetts, there were those in our congregation who felt that if we accepted the designation of open and affirming, our Sunday School curriculum would embrace a so-called homosexual agenda or that we’d be besieged by motorcycle-riding, leather-clad gay men or truck-driving, flannel-shirted lesbians.

Being an organist (wink-wink), it was assumed that I would be the unofficial spokesperson for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community in our many weekly meetings leading up to our church vote sealing our declaration. After I assured everyone that the particular GLBT subsets being cited would pose no problems, we got down to work.

We focused our discussions on Christ’s messages of inclusivity and all-encompassing love. Ultimately, our membership grew noticeably. No, not with an influx of GLBT castoffs but, rather, with young parents who wanted their children enrolled in our Sunday and day schools in order to learn the real message of God’s love and to hear sermons in which they could be challenged and assured that as a community of faith we would truly “walk the walk.”

It might be “tearing apart friendships, churches and homes” in Pastor Andy Hergenreder’s parish in Kimball (letter, June 23), but there are churches, even here in Lincoln and elsewhere in Nebraska, in which members of the GLBT community are embraced not because of their sexual orientation but simply because they, too, are the children of God.

I would heartily recommend Pastor Hergenreder read “The Good Book,” specifically the chapter on homosexuality, by the Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes, minister of Memorial Church and the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University (and a former UNL commencement speaker). I hope it might enable a ray of intellectual sunlight to pierce Hergenreder’s shockingly un-Christian vision.

Jim Hejduk, Lincoln

Ban pit-bull breeding

I’m saddened to hear of towns right here in Nebraska that are enacting breed-specific legislation and/or banning pit bulls. It has happened again in the town of Osceola. The city passed an ordinance banning pit bulls and a few other breeds it considers vicious. These citizens have just 48 hours to get rid of their pets. 48 hours? Can you imagine having to put down a part of your family you have had for 10 years because it is deemed vicious, even though it has never hurt anyone.

Although pit bulls can be the best, sweetest, calmest animals on this planet, unfortunately there is no longer a social acceptance of them in homes across America. Insurance companies will no longer insure you, and people are afraid of adopting these dogs because of their potential liability.

Breeding this dog has to stop! What we need is not a ban on pit bulls, but a ban on breeding them and their crossbreeds. Shelters and rescues in every community are overrun with them. They languish in some shelters until their allotted time is up and then are euthanized.

Breeders will say, “but I love the breed.” I have to say to you, if you really, really love the breed, then you will do the humane thing and stop breeding a dog there is no home for.

I hope people talk about this with their children, their nieces and nephews, their friends and neighbors. We all know people who own these dogs. Some of us know breeders. And some of us know people who just don’t spay or neuter their pets. I hope we make this change. After all, it is the only humane thing to do.

Gayla Hausman, Beatrice

Arena site flooded before

It is becoming more obvious that the city and the arena committee are doing everything in their power to dispel the fact that the site chosen for the new arena is in the middle of the flood plain.

The article in the Journal Star June 26 refers to an early 1900s flood and showed a photo of 12th and O. Remember, there were little to no storm sewers then. Come to think about it, there are still areas in Lincoln with poor storm sewer systems today.

There was little comment in the recent article about the 1950 flood that I remember well. Floodwater was halfway between Eighth and Ninth on O Street. You could look west and there was only water as far as you could see. The Burlington rail yards were completely under water, and the Burlington train station, now the Great Hall, had a high water mark on the west wall by the ticketing windows that was between 8 feet and 10 feet above floor level.

The truth needs to be told about the flooding danger. You want the people of Lincoln to fund a multimillion-dollar project that could very well be several feet under water, so let the people know the truth and let them decide if the arena is to be built and where it should be; there are other areas not in a flood plain.

Gene Rauscher, Lincoln