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I wholeheartedly agree with the April 17 letter entitled “It’s going to be a clown show. Skip it” regarding the possibility of a presidential debate.
However, if the debate were to take place in person, both candidates would need to undergo mandatory drug tests immediately before taking the debate stage. If both old gentlemen now believe that they are up to the task of leading the country for the next four years, what substance, if any, do they need to bring to the game? How you feel and why should be made public.
This prevents either candidate from claiming that the other’s attitude has artificially increased or decreased. I think such a requirement would immediately end debate on one or both campaigns.
Gene Case, Andover
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Dana Summers’ political cartoon about the presidential debate that appeared in the April 18 newspaper gave me pause. I’m his 72 year old snowbird who lives in his 55+ unit mobile home park in Palm Springs, California. Our primary residence is in New Brighton. I enjoy and greatly appreciate her 80+ residents who live in this park. Many of them are strong, smart, active, proactive, and “in it” (there’s no question about it). Director Summers apparently wanted to portray President Joe Biden as a frail man who needed a nurse. (I’m a retired nurse, so I never thought he needed care!) Is this ageism being expressed about our president by cartoonists and the Star Tribune? The other character in this cartoon, Donald Trump, is about to be criticized, but this is a more accurate depiction of Trump’s situation.
Is Summers trying to make us think about the inequality in this comparison (which I did)? Or is he trying to make this an even comparison? If it’s the latter, I’m not only going to give up big time, but I’m going to be furious. I hope Summers explains this comic and apologizes. Star Tribune should also apologize. I was very disappointed.
Meri Hauge, New Brighton
mental health
About the stigma of suicide
I’m not going to waste your time or my time with prerequisite Minnesota minutiae. So I just want to start by saying that this is a letter about mental health, stigma, and suicide.
What does it mean to live a life of purpose? This is a question that has haunted me since my sister committed suicide on July 23, 2022. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, there were 835 suicide deaths in Minnesota in 2022 alone. And we can confidently say: By July 2023, that number would have increased by at least one. His sister, who was 23 years old at the time, must have been among them. Most Somalis do not consider suicide a viable option, as it is forbidden in Islam. Ironically, consider that it is a common euphemism in the Somali community to refer to loved ones who have died by suicide as having “passed away peacefully in their sleep.” If we don’t, we run headlong into social stigma and isolation. A community that centers conformity as a prerequisite for belonging.
So I’ll leave you with this: A dream of my sister in a hammock. She is a child of the diaspora, a cultural in-between, a nomad, a Somali with a penchant for Americana and weed. She was obsessed with Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, and her curiosity about it remains unparalleled. She struggles with the desire for stability, belonging, and acceptance by her family and country, something she has been denied up until now. This haunting can only be repaired by a collective willingness to remove the barriers that prevent us from getting to know each other and to confront what we fear.
Perhaps if people like my sister felt it was okay to admit that they had a place, or that they needed help, they might have found solace in the support society provides. I don’t know. I want others in this situation to know that there are people everywhere willing to listen. And I urge everyone reading this to listen up.
Malki Nour, St. Paul
copper wire theft
Is there a 21st century solution?
About “Waltz Joins the Fight Against Copper Wire Theft” (April 18): An easy and quick way to send a text message or phone number specifically for wire theft may help. Or it could be a way to share photos of a crime in progress where time and GPS location can be collected. When it comes to repair costs, it would be worth it to use a less-intrusive technical solution, which would encourage public support, and a separate phone number would not overburden 911. . (Variations of the camera feature could also be used for other problems, such as potholes, highways, dangerous animal debris, parking violations, unhealthy trash).
John Krivitz, St. Paul
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It’s time to start replacing wired street lights with solar-powered lighting. They will keep thieves away, or at least make them need a ladder. It also saves on electricity costs.
Jim Gowdy, Austin, Minnesota.
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Congress is considering a copper wire theft bill. If your street light’s copper wire is stolen, be sure to replace it with aluminum wire. The initial cost is much lower, and the residual value of aluminum wire is a fraction of that of copper wire.
Anyone can legally purchase copper wire for their own use. But you can’t sell what’s left after the project unless you get a special license. Sounds completely unreasonable to me.
Donald Jorgenson, Vadnais Heights
The author is a former electrical engineer.
Hennepin County Commission
Westmoreland in District 6
Jen Westmoreland will be a visionary and pragmatic Hennepin County Commissioner. I am supporting her for the vacant District 6 seat in the special primary (early voting begins April 30th) and general election (May 14th).
Hennepin County is involved in the day-to-day welfare of its residents as much, if not more, than any other political unit. Hennepin County’s budget is approximately $2.7 billion. It also contributes a large percentage of income and sales taxes to the state’s general fund. The health of our county is important to the health of our entire state. It’s important for health care, local government aid to Minnesota’s big cities, education, roads, everything. Hennepin County is her second largest governmental unit in the state, after the state itself.
The commissioner’s job requires a serious person. Westmoreland is a serious person. She has been elected to the Hopkins School Board twice (serving for seven years) and is well versed in local taxes, governance, and budgeting. She serves on the county’s Heading Home Her Hennepin Executive Committee, which works to coordinate affordable housing and shelter systems. She is a newly minted Ed.D. She is in the field of educational leadership where she specializes in community and data-driven systems change. She recommends that you talk to her about county issues, but she recommends that you do so. You’ll find she speaks about them easily and knowledgeably.
Steve Timmer, Edina
incentive
It’s time to go to the state film office.
As a filmmaker who directed four feature films in the state in the 1980s, I believe that film incentives are not a “Hollywood perk,” but a job creation tool that puts far more money back into the local economy than is currently available. I think it was a long time ago that Congress realized that this was the case. given as a kickback (“Become a major player in movies and video games” editorial, April 19).
I wish the Star Tribune editorial board had also compiled a list of the states with which Minnesota competes and their respective annual rebate limits, especially for readers who don’t necessarily follow the movie business. I think they will realize what a great idea a state film bureau is. Also, how northern Minnesota has a much more expensive rebate program than the metro area, and how Minnesota-based Hollywood screenwriter Karl Gajdushek is building a new soundstage in Chisholm. I wish the board had mentioned it. I hope to direct my fifth Minnesota-made film there this fall/winter. Knock on wood.
David Barton Morris, Wayzata
