Vi Lyles chooses big business over the public again in Charlotte | Opinion
In response to “Charlotte mayor casts decisive vote to stop public hearings on data centers” (April 29):
Once again, big business gets Mayor Vi Lyles’ help and a vote without public input. So, I expect the mayor will be at a groundbreaking soon on a new data center somewhere in Charlotte/Mecklenburg. And I just can’t wait to know how much Charlotte tax money will be given away!
Terry Keith, Charlotte
Petty indictment
The indictment of James Comey for once having posted a photo of seashells that spelled out “86 47” is the second petty attempt by the DOJ to seek vengeance against a Trump critic by filing highly questionable charges. The common meaning of 86 is restaurant slang to cancel out an item or service.
Given that “86 46” was used by conservatives when Biden was president and given the number of times that Trump has invoked executions when railing against his critics, this charge of equating “86 47” to a death threat demonstrates a staggering level of hypocrisy and a misguided use of law enforcement resources.
Arnie Grieves, Huntersville
Trump and incivility
After his third assassination attempt, President Trump and his wife, Melania, are blaming uncivil comments from the media and their opponents. That is ironic. If incivility is a bad thing, why does the President continue to insult opponents with nasty epithets, demean women journalists, call Democrats traitors, and spew venom every night on Truth Social?
The leader of the free world has the opportunity to lead by example.
Vincent Keipper, Concord
Act sooner on mental health
Mental Health Awareness Month should not stop at awareness. In North Carolina, Iryna’s Law raises a difficult question: why wait until untreated psychosis becomes dangerous before assisting the person in crisis?
Psychosis is a medical crisis. A person should not have to become violent, suicidal, jailed, homeless or deteriorated before care is available. When someone lacks insight into illness, that is not refusal. It is anosognosia, a brain-based condition common in Severe Mental Illness.
North Carolina is building psychiatric evaluation procedures AFTER arrest. If psychosis warrants evaluation once someone is in handcuffs, it warrants a treatment pathway before someone is harmed.
North Carolina must stop waiting for someone in psychosis to be “dangerous enough” and build an earlier treatment pathway with families, clinicians, and Severe Mental Illness advocates at the table.
Beth Wallace, NC State Policy Director, National Shattering Silence Coalition
Too polite about Earth crisis
Earth Day did not begin as a polite picnic. It was born as a protest after oil spills ruined beaches and rivers burst into flames. In 1970, 20 million Americans raised hell over filthy air, poisoned water, and runaway pollution. The result: the EPA, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
The polite Earth Month festivals have come and gone, but we need that 1970 energy again. The current administration rolled back hundreds of environmental safeguards and ditched efforts to regulate our “new pollution” — climate-warming emissions.
Globally, 2024 and 2025 were the hottest years on record. Here in North Carolina, record breaking floods, wildfires, drought, and coastal damage have cost billions.
Recycling will not cool the planet.
Earth Day’s original message was simple: regulate pollution. It still is. If leaders will not act, citizens should make some noise again.
Mark C. Taylor, Charlotte
