LEO Weekly welcomes letters that are brief (350 words max) and thoughtful. ?Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to Inbox, 607 W. Main St., Suite 001, Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or email to [email protected]. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.
Snow-covered sidewalks I’m writing in regards to the sidewalks here in the beautiful city of Louisville. As I’m sure you are aware we recently saw somewhat of a snow storm come through our area. My husband and I both knew that we’d be homebound for a few days, so we made provisions and were prepared. However, after many days at home we decided that it would more than likely to be safe to venture out. We were wrong. We weren’t aware that venturing out into this beautiful city would mean risking our lives.
You see, my husband suffers from arthrogryposis and is in a wheel chair. Today we went out —me walking and him in his chair — to get a few things from the grocery store. It was a nightmare and a little more than a little dangerous for him. He had to move along the side of the road and risk getting hit in order to get around! Now Louisville has a wonderful public transportation system, but today it was impossible to get to the bus stop with the snow covering the sidewalks. The sidewalks I’m specifically speaking of are on Breckinridge Lane, Manner Dale Drive, Hunsinger Lane and Summerfield Lane.
What’s more appalling to me is that there’s a church on the corner of Summerfield Lane and Manner Dale that’s sidewalks were completely unusable! It’s a place of worship! What is a person in my husband’s condition supposed to do? Be homebound during the winter months? Again the public transportation system is a blessing but not so much so when a person can not safely get there. My question is what can we do about it to see that these sidewalks are cleared? What can we do to ensure that people like my husband and our dear friend who suffers from MS no longer have to risk their lives just to get around this beautiful city? I know that we’re not the only ones. Today while we were out we saw others walking along the side of the road. Dangerous? Yes. Necessary? With the sidewalks being the way they are ... yes. What can we do? Sincerely, Thaniel & Jennifer Lee, 40220
Response to Brian Butler on legalization The author of the marijuana legalization column [The Right View, LEO Feb. 25 Issue] makes numerous good points and I applaud you for publishing it. The one thing I have issue with is when the author, Brian Butler, said that no one should use mind altering substances because it doesn’t benefit society. Really? Every good Beatles’ song was written under the influence of cannabis and other drugs. Expanding your consciousness with cannabis is extremely beneficial to the world of art, literature and music.
Cannabis is also an excellent antidepressant; it wards off Alzheimer’s disease and cancer and apparently reduces type 2 diabetes. Cannabis, like red wine, is healthy to consume in moderate amounts. Prohibiting cannabis damages the health of every American in the country by denying access to a safer choice. Tom Rector Jr., Prospect
Response letter about Rand Paul and Disability In the Feb. 18 InBox, Alex Bradshaw contributed the letter “Rand Paul doesn’t understand disability,” in which he criticized Paul for “implying that fraudulent disability claims are rampant.” Perhaps Rand Paul’s comments are based on the following facts from CNN: “The number of Americans getting some type of disability check from the federal government is soaring. Since 2003, there’s been a 29 percent jump in Americans with little or no work experience getting disability payments, according to the Social Security Administration. Over the same time, there’s been a 44 percent increase in disability claims by people formerly in the workplace.” (http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/news/economy/disability-payments/) Norman Stillwell, 40229
