Courts must look for other ways to punish Charlotte speeders

Speeders

Regarding “City eyes technology, enforcement to fight speeding,” (Feb. 2)... There have been numerous references to how speeding is increasing in Charlotte and also about how the courts are lenient with these dangerous drivers. How about setting up penalties such as cleaning up our roadways in the middle of the night or serving in hospitals where those hurt by these speeding drivers are treated? These are common sense ideas. There are a million of them...

Marcie Rollins, Charlotte

Revamp education

Regarding “Our nation’s fatal lack of imagination,” (Feb. 2 Opinion):

When it comes to “lack of imagination,” the most ineffectual response recently has been the handling of education. The pandemic would have offered the most opportune time to revolutionize the teaching of our most valuable resource, our children. Eliminate grade levels and scoring. Advancement should be based on mastery of content. Remote learning and use of technology to assess learning would have made this possible. Graduation should be based on different factors depending on the student’s objectives — acceptance to an institution of higher education or acquisition of a license to practice a skilled trade. This would produce taxpaying citizens rather than immature adults with a worthless document.

Cathy DeCostanza, Matthews

Book ban

A Tennessee school district says Maus, the prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, is inappropriate for children. The children they refer to are in the eighth grade. I’m guessing most eighth graders have seen naked people and heard the curse words used in the book. An estimated 1.5 million children were murdered during the Holocaust. Those who survived suffered terribly, losing parents and siblings slaughtered by the Nazis. Yes, eighth graders need to read this book and more books of its kind so they’ll be aware of the horrors humankind can inflect. The future of remembering the Holocaust is in hands and minds of these children.

Lucy Grasty, Charlotte

Siers’ cartoon

Kevin Siers’ Feb. 2 editorial cartoon sums up, exactly, how little regard Donald Trump has for our Constitution. Why everyone cannot see that just boggles my mind.

Ronald Honeycutt, Mount Gilead

The role of trees

It’s not just people who benefit from Charlotte’s tree canopy For example, ecologist Douglas Tallamy says that oak trees support 532 species of native moths whose caterpillars help feed our birds. It takes 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to raise just one clutch of chickadees. From dawn to dusk the parents bring one caterpillar every three minutes to the nest. Yards with a wide diversity of native trees quietly play an enormous role in enriching the diversity and welfare of the wildlife around us.

Ken Kneidel, Charlotte

Trump and truth

History should remind us that Donald Trump began spinning election doubt months before the election, when Joe Biden was leading in the polls. Trump saw the handwriting on the wall. Ultimately, how did that turn out on Jan. 6, 2021? During his recent Texas rally Trump stoked the idea of encouraging protests in New York and Atlanta if not treated “fairly” by the courts. He sees more handwriting on the wall. We can only hope and pray that adherence to the truth and following the rule of law will keep us from another Jan. 6 experience.

Doug Bennett, Charlotte

True heroes

Around the world, people rest easier knowing the dedication and professionalism that drives the majority of first responders. COVID-19 has pushed many of these healthcare professionals and systems to the brink of collapse. So far, $16 trillion is the average estimated cost to the U.S. economy already and immeasurable physical and mental tolls on the lives of those who fight the virus on the frontline each day. They are heroes indeed. I applaud them, and the 64% of Americans, who acted responsibly and patriotically by receiving COVID vaccinations. Both the economy and healthcare systems would have collapsed totally, and thereby the country, had the 64% made the same choice as the 36% who remain unvaccinated. Heroes indeed.

Renard Burris, Charlotte