New North Hills parking rules? I’ll eat and shop elsewhere. | Opinion
I was interested to read in the News & Observer that in order to shop at North Hills we would have to scan a UCB code. Not exactly a charge for parking but if you don’t scan you get a ticket for $35. If you eat lunch go to a movie and then shop and are past the three hour limit, the charge per hour is pretty hefty.
I’m in my 80’s. I have friends who have no idea how to scan a UCB code and believe it or not there are people who don’t have cell phones capable of scanning codes. What accommodations have you made for these people? Or do you want North Hills to be unavailable to people who don’t meet your requirements?
I read that one of the reasons for this is to be sure there is enough parking. That sir, is on you! If you build enough parking and have enough handicap spaces for the property, there will be enough parking.
Happily there are many restaurants in Raleigh and lots of retail without any parking requirements. My friends and I will avail ourselves of those places.
Judy Tardiff, Raleigh
NC Senate vote taken away
I live in North Carolina Senate District 24, where recently Sen. Graig Meyer, a very good man, announced his resignation from the Senate. Unfortunately, his decision came right after the primary and didn’t allow registered Democrats to choose his replacement. Instead the decision is left to six unelected individuals and not the thousands who are voters.
This is the best example of voter suppression I know and nothing is done to challenge it. My suggestion is that a district-wide caucus be held within the next few weeks and let the voters decide who should represent them and not allow six party bosses to decide.
Scott Badesch, Chapel Hill
Why NC teachers are leaving
Thanks for sounding the alarm on the high number of teachers leaving the profession or choosing not to become teachers. Can you believe that one in ten are leaving the profession? Some are also moving to other states where salaries enable a teacher to support their families. NC ranks 43rd in the nation in average teacher pay according to the National Education Association. A similar ranking occurs with the per pupil expenditure in the public schools.
It should be evident to everyone that the reason for these dismal statistics is the lack of support for the public schools and their teachers by the state legislature, namely the Republican members of this body. This destructive trend will continue until voters begin electing candidates who favor public education and give teachers the support they deserve.
Thomas K. Spence, Jr., Sanford
Dean Dome
All of the bells and whistles of a brand new UNC Basketball arena can be had with the right renovation of the Dean Dome. That includes the revenue-producing features. And the great tradition which binds generations at Carolina would not be lost with renovation.
Other strong basketball schools, faced with this decision, renovated. They were able to renovate while playing their home games in their traditional area. The biggest voice behind Carolina North for a new location, UNC’s Chancellor, is a Duke grad. Do you think he would try to move Cameron Indoor off campus if he were at Duke? No.
Dan Murphy, Chapel Hill
Trump and Iran
In response to “Trump was right to strike Iran, but he’s going about it the wrong way | Opinion”:
Mr. Wylie is simply wrong in his defense of Trump’s war. Donald Trump, in his first term, unilaterally withdrew the United States from an enforceable multi-party agreement limiting Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons. Russia and China were partners to that agreement. Trump never articulated a coherent reason for the US withdrawal.
With that agreement the US, Europe, and other Middle East allies had adequate resources to address Iran’s support of terrorist proxies.
So now Trump has launched another war. His current justifications are as incoherent as his justifications for his first term decision.
His actions increase international instability. He has dug a hole that will take future Congresses and presidents years to get us out of, assuming it is possible.
Randolph Rodgers, Raleigh
Author Matt Wylie proclaims “The strike on Iran was the right call.” He assumes that war is OK, that it works, and that the US rightly can start one. He ignores the devastating effects of war, the suffering of innocent people, the devastation of the environment, the fact that every war has unintended and long-range consequences, and that every war lays the seeds for the next. General Marshall, orchestrator of WWII victory and European recovery, said it best, “The only way humans can win a war is to prevent it.” Last week Donald Trump attacked Iran and proclaimed that it would bring peace.
War is not peace, war does not bring peace, and Matt Wylie’s syllogism is simply Orwellian doublespeak.
Curt Torell, Carrboro