Fresno voter explains his grudging acceptance of Measure E on Tuesday’s primary ballot | Opinion

Voting yes on Measure E

I agree with many of the arguments against Measure E. But the reality is Fresno State needs investment and doesn’t get the attention the public school and community college systems do.

In Fresno, to find a better life we either move away or when opportunities present themselves we shoot ourselves in the foot with disagreement or disinterest and never get anywhere.

Yes, there is self-interest and croneyism in this measure, but at least this measure tries to move us all forward. I will hold my nose and vote yes because I can’t wait another 80 years for the perfect solution.

Tony Radford, Fresno

This fisherman is happy

I read David Hurley’s beautifully written article on the Shaver Lake Trophy Trout Project’s Trout in the Classroom.

Mr. Hurley’s recent articles regarding youth fishing activities is a tribute to his history as an advocate of youth activities. I would like to see more if this type of article.

Youth involvement in discovering the sport of fishing and the outdoors provides positive alternatives to gangs or drugs. Congratulations, Mr. Hurley, for all your literary efforts to support youth.

Dick Nichols, Prather

Let the cursive flow

Due to things being typed more than handwritten, it has been brought up whether cursive is a necessity and needs to be taught in schools.

Now the idea of cursive not needing to be taught in our schools due to “nobody using it anymore” and the use of typing isn’t necessarily true. Cursive is important for us to learn for a variety of reasons, such as helping us retain more information and it still being used for signatures.

Opinion

When using cursive to write notes, it helps us retain more information due to us being more selective and attentive, compared to when we type our notes. This can be a great tool when writing class notes and helping understand information in preparation for future exams.

In addition, cursive is still used today despite the presence of technology, such as with signatures. Although signatures aren’t as present in our day-to-day life compared to prior years, it is still prevalent in some aspects of our lives, such as with signing important documents.

Without the practice of cursive, it makes this task much more difficult and sloppier. Cursive is a helpful tool and therefore needs to be taught in schools.

Chloe Litton, Fresno

Needing help with costly textbooks

The national rate of inflation has fallen under the long-term average of 3.28%, but the cost of textbooks have increased 812% since 1980.

I have felt this number in my college classes. No matter the workarounds that students try to find, some purchases are unavoidable. A class I took as a freshman required a main textbook, access to an activity module, and testing software. This is just one class out of the many, and publishing companies are finding ways to push up these hidden costs even further.

Regulating textbook billing and providing open textbooks that are free to read will allow students to focus on their education and not whether they can eat. We need to support systems to help transition colleges to open textbooks, not ones that take away choice.

The Department of Education’s proposed cash management rules to curb textbook cost deceptions do just that.

Rhiannon Christensen, Friant

Old service station fondly recalled

I enjoyed reading your article about the old Russ Clements service station. I spent my earliest years at 543 Shields Ave., so I remember that neighborhood vividly, and my father had lived in that house from about 1916 when his family moved there to enable him to attend Fresno High School.

I remember walking down Van Ness Avenue to the corner across from Fresno High to buy comic books at Stillman’s Drug Store and an ice cream at what I called The Green Frog Store. I couldn’t afford the fountain treats from the drug store, as much as I would have liked them.

I’ve always wondered the significance of those boulder constructions on some of the street corners in that neighborhood. Can anyone enlighten me?

Karen Ramsden, Fresno

Democrats, wake up

I am a Democrat. I have tried to support the values of my party for the last 50 years. Our party has lost its way. The citizens of California are tired of our rights and protections being taken away.

They have hidden language in Proposition 1 that will reduce our tax protections under Proposition 13. Proposition 13 is the only thing that keeps your property tax increase from steep raises; instead of stating that clearly, it’s hidden in the text.

They have weakened a landlord’s ability to deal with renters who won’t pay rent or destroy the rental.

They have mandated solar power on new homes and then allowed the CPUC to devalue the price that PG&E pays you for power generation. Now, PG&E is asking for another increase. PG&E should stop paying shareholders and use that money for repairs.

Vote no on Prop. 1 and no on those who have supported it. Democrats legalized drugs, worsened homelessness, supported squatters, allowed dangerous releases from prison, took money from counties to add new agencies in Sacramento, are about to mandate forcing property owners to allow pets in rentals, outlawed gas appliances without considering the cost of electricity.

Democrats, wake up, please.

Rick Mott, Selma

Save the cedars

Fresno’s “Urban Forest Management” has undertaken to “makeover” the deodor cedars on Van Ness between Weldon and Shields, sadly without any input from residents. This led our neighbor, Quentin Sanford, to issue a petition with over 100 signatures demanding resident approval of any changes to the neighborhood.

City representatives insist that “we are only removing dead trees and branches” for “safety.” But countless quite healthy limbs have already been severed and crowns topped. This opens the trees to internal decay and exposes their trunks to harmful sun, which will ultimately lead to their demise.

Drought, water exposure, and excessive trimming under the city’s “care” have killed 21 trees in the last couple pf decades and three more now. Moreover, half a dozen saplings planted recently are tipping over. And others lack the space to get any bigger than Christmas trees.

Instead of planting sturdy 10- or 12-foot-tall $200 trees, vulnerable seedlings will, no doubt, get buried in the sawdust of their majestic predecessors. Meanwhile, the cedars on Christmas Tree Lane that have never been trimmed or topped are doing just fine on county land, beyond the reach of city “arborists.”

What are the City Hall managers thinking?

Jim Thomas, Fresno