Cnare is a fine addition to the e
ditorial board
I was pleased to learn that the Wisconsin State Journal added former Ald. Lauren Cnare to its editorial board.
Over the many years that she and I have served the Madison community, with the many issues in Madison that we have been confronted with, I am in agreement with how she has handled them. She has shown us how tough she can be while still remaining dignified when the going gets tough.
Having served on the City Council with about 40 or more City Council members for about 20 years, and about four different mayors over that time, I most certainly can say I know who has been good for Madison and who has not.
Cnare is the epitome of what the best of Madison politicians can be in our society. Adding her to the editorial board is a welcome addition to the newspaper.
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S. Michael Shivers, former City Council member, Madison
Computer algorithms can draw fairer maps
Going back to the drawing board is a very small step toward freeing voters from singular party power. We should be using computer algorithms that utilize population data and create congressional districts that are far more fair than what we have now.
After an algorithm draws districts, the “least change” approach can be used by a nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission to ensure that districts are truly representative of the voters. While computer algorithms are still only as good as the data they are fed (GIGO: garbage in, garbage out), it’s far better than the partisan gerrymandering that occurs because one party arrogantly believes they are so right, voters don’t need another choice.
Forward, Wisconsin. Forward.
Jodi Sherman, town of Middleton
City’s park maintenance staff quickly replaced net
On the afternoon of July 22, I contacted the Madison Parks Division to request that a net be replaced on a volleyball court at Olbrich Park.
I assumed (incorrectly) that the request would have to “go through channels.” I was wrong. The very next day when I got to the Olbrich volleyball courts, a new net had been installed.
As a former city of Madison employee for 31 years (retired as director of IT), I’m impressed. Thank you.
Don Ramig, Madison
HUD helps foster kids avoid homelessness
For many foster youth, aging out of the foster care system presents a crossroads on the path to the American Dream.
One of the paths on that crossroads presents a frightening future: a quarter of the over 20,000 young Americans aging out of the foster care system each year become homeless shortly after leaving their foster homes.
As a former Wisconsin state legislator, I witnessed the challenges many foster youth face. Investing in them to help them overcome these trials is not only compassionate but also prudent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Foster Youth to Independence initiative represents that kind of smart investment.
This initiative provides local public housing authorities funding to help young Americans aging out of foster care avoid homelessness and build their lives as responsible adults. This month, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of the program, which has invested more than $5 million across the country, including over $580,000 in the Midwest, since January.
Under Secretary Scott Turner’s leadership, HUD is committed to ensuring these vulnerable youth have the support they need, including targeted housing and wraparound services, so they can move from uncertainty to self-sufficiency and reach their full potential.
Duey Stroebel Jr., Midwest Regional Administrator, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
ICE agents are acting like Trump’s gestapo
My wife and I were in a restaurant having dinner, and we noticed a couple at a table near us who were speaking in a foreign language that neither of us recognized. I looked at them and said to my wife that they were lucky they were so white, or there was a chance President Donald Trump’s gestapo might crash in and grab them.
I do not use the word “gestapo” lightly. As a history buff, I know how that German organization was free of any control, and citizens grabbed by then had no recourse.
Trump said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was after violent illegal criminals. Only a fraction of ICE arrests fit that description. Meanwhile, we see ICE agents take down and beat a man with three sons who were or are in the U.S. Marines. Another man was dragged off and held for three days with no ability to contact help even though he told ICE he was a U.S. Army veteran who had served in Iraq.
Victims cannot identify their attackers, who wear masks and sometimes hide badges that show they have legal authority to arrest.
Gestapo? If the shoe fits.
Allen Knop, Madison
Israelis must not let the children of Gaza starve
There is so much evil currently present in our world, I don’t know where to begin.
What is justified depends on what spin you are willing to accept. What I do know is that what is happening between Hamas and the Jewish state of Israel is inhumane. You would think that after all the treatment of Jews during World War II, there would be more empathy and restraint given to the thousands of defenseless women and children starving to death.
Remember the post-war pictures of emaciated prisoners in Nazi internment camps? We see similarities with the Palestinians fighting for what little food is available. I am not a Hamas sympathizer. Not even close. But punishing small children, who have no voice, is evil.
There is absolutely no way you can justify this behavior, especially for a people who experienced the Holocaust, when Nazis starved and killed millions. Can’t they see the irony?
David Olson, Fitchburg
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