CORRECTIONS
• Last week’s dining review on Caffe Perusa listed an incorrect telephone number. The number is 491-5459.
• In last week’s Music Issue, a story said the band Second Story Man received a grant from the Center for Women and Families to fund an album. That grant came from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
THOU SHALT NOT JUDGE
I read the article by the Church Hoppers, George Halitzka and Zach Nord, about Second Presbyterian Church (LEO Weekly, July 2). The first thought I had was that we live in an age of criticism and ridicule. Twenty-four-seven we can hear/read harsh words on talk radio, the newspaper, television, etc. In the DNA of our culture is a need to criticize, to find fault, to demean. If we do not take the time to go deeper than our first impression, then we assume what may not be true, for we have not taken the time to know the heart and soul of a person or a congregation or a people. We all fall into ridiculing the “other.”
Second Presbyterian is not a perfect church, nor is David Meriwether, the interim, a perfect pastor. But the heart and soul of Second, and of David, is in helping people have life, wholeness of life in Jesus Christ. Members of Second started Cabbage Patch. Members of Second started a relationship with the University of Louisville to bring better healthcare to people living in Smoketown. Members of Second give time and money so that children and youth can attend Cedar Ridge Camp. These camps are for those living on the street, those with AIDS, those whose parents are in Iraq. So much more can be said, but there is no need — in every Christian congregation, there is good happening in the name of Jesus Christ.
May George and Zach and all of us take the time to get to know a person, a congregation, a people, so that their goodness can be seen, no matter their skin color, their accent or the type of car they drive.
Betty Meadows, General Presbyter, Mid-Kentucky Presbytery
GAS GOUGING
Stephen George’s news story in the July 9 LEO Weekly asked: “Does anyone know why gas prices are so high?” This is my personal opinion, which I’ve told to anyone who will listen for the last couple of years: The Speedway chain has always been the first to raise their prices in large chunks. Then, every other chain and independent store has tripped over each other racing to match Speedway’s price. Isn’t it amazing how every station seems to run out of gas at the same time, and they can all charge the new higher price right away? Great business ethics there, guys. With all of these big jumps in price by Speedway and then the rest of the market following suit, this is why the Louisville market has gotten so out of touch versus the rest of the state.
Louisville is now priced artificially high, and none of the chains/independents are willing to make the change (read: lowering prices) to get things back in line. For my part, I refuse to buy a small pack of gum, much less a $75 fill-up, at a Speedway. I’m just surprised that more people don’t pay attention to this issue. It’s no wonder that Speedway and the other chains and wholesalers won’t answer questions about this. I just hope that Attorney General Jack Conway’s research blows this issue wide open, and I thank him for his efforts.
Mike Guetig, Louisville
DON’T JUDGE A BUTHOD
In the June 18 issue of LEO Weekly, Stephen George complained that public library director Craig Buthod was “obtuse when he should’ve been direct, and awkward-feigning-funny when he should’ve been straight” during the Metro Council’s annual budget hearings. C-J columnist John David Dyche liked that characterization so much he quoted it in his column recently.
Was Buthod trying to make a “mockery” of the Metro Council members who opposed the library tax, as George and Dyche suggest? I seriously doubt it. Just imagine what it must’ve been like. There he was, facing a large room of politicians, some of them expecting him to beg forgiveness for wanting the library tax. Some expected him to wholeheartedly endorse their downscaling of the library’s long-range plan.
Others were expecting him to do something that seemed impossible — to suggest ways they could juggle the Metro government’s books to cover needed library improvements. It’s not a pretty picture.
What I see in this scene is a library professional who is uncomfortable with partisan politics. I’ve heard Buthod speak to book discussion groups, but I do not know him personally. My hunch is that George and Dyche do not know him any better than I do. They apparently want him to be a better politician. I think it’s OK he’s not.
Tom Louderback, Louisville
OUT OF TUNE
This letter is in regards to Lary Saltzman’s attack on Peter Berkowitz for his review of Alejandro Escovedo’s new CD in the July 9 LEO Weekly. In a country that holds freedom of speech so dear, I am amazed that someone could be so fiercely berated for daring to print something contrary to popular opinion. But what most shocked me was Saltzman’s suggestion to fire Berkowitz for his supposed atrocity. I, instead, praise Berkowitz for printing his honest opinion.
Saltzman needs to remember that while the vast majority of music-lovers may be awed by Escovedo, there is bound to be at least one person who does not share that opinion, and it is downright childish to demand punishment for the naysayers. The right of an individual to express alternate opinions is the most basic right given to this country’s people. Next time someone offers an opinion that does not conform to your own, instead of writing it off as inferior, listen — you may learn something. By the way: I, too, love the music of Alejandro Escovedo.
Allan Day, Louisville
AN OBSERVATION, SWIMMINGLY
Last Sunday, I took a drive through the South End. I started in Iroquois Park and found that virtually two-thirds of that beautiful park is still only accessible by foot or bike. I traveled up Cardinal Hill and had to wonder exactly where on that hill Mayor Abramson wants to build his “explosives bunker” and how he can do so without ruining some of the greatest views in Jefferson County.
I traveled past the closed swimming pools on Hazelwood Avenue and in Wyandotte Park and wondered just what the children are doing with their spare time. I continued north, and as I crossed Third Street and Central Avenue while taking note of the ongoing construction, it occurred to me that, in the last few years, Tom Jurich and the University of Louisville have done far more for the South End than Jerry Abramson has done in his 19-year tenure as mayor.
Dale Rhoades, Cox’s Creek, Ky.
