Don’t shut down NC again. It’ll lead to long-term economic damage and more suffering.

A second shutdown

With the recent increase in coronavirus cases, the governor and DHHS secretary seem to be suggesting we may not continue to loosen current restrictions and that possibly tighter restrictions may be coming. This would be a mistake.

The first shutdown flattened the curve temporarily, simply delaying the inevitable virus infections. Imposing restrictions again might delay the inevitable for a time, but the cost to the economy, the cost of human suffering from lack of work, and the dismantling our freedoms are not worth another round of curve flattening.

We must learn to live with our current situation until a vaccine is developed. Face covering, hand washing, and social distancing are a must that can be done while most businesses continue to operate in a safe manner. Trying to hide and shelter in place until the time of a vaccine will lead us to nothing but more widespread suffering and longer-term damage to our economy and our way of life.

Harry Fox, Apex

Atlanta shooting

On Friday, Rayshard Brooks, 27, was fatally shot in the back by an Atlanta police officer after two police officers tried to arrest and handcuff him for driving under the influence.

This is another senseless killing of a Black man by police, and the use of excessive force over a minor infraction. Brooks’s death could have been avoided with the use of some sensitivity, and awareness of the current atmosphere resulting from protests against police brutality and racism. Have the police not not learned anything from the death of George Floyd, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor and many others?

When will these killings stop? To a large segment of law enforcement it is obvious that Black Lives Do Not Matter.

Julius H. Cromwell, Raleigh

‘No knock’ laws

After reading an account of Breonna Taylor’s death, I was filled with feelings of anger, sadness and waste at the loss of a young woman who had so much to offer. Her life was cut short March 13 when heavily armed police officers broke down the door and barged into her apartment.

Under the outrageous and absurd “no knock” law the police weren’t required to knock.

Once inside police found no drugs. They did find Taylor’s badly shaken boyfriend and her bullet-riddled body. Taylor’s plans for a happy and useful life had been abruptly ended by a botched raid. To date the officers responsible have not been charged.

The “no-knock” law has been repealed in Louisville and should be nationwide.

Lynn Mitchell Kohn, Durham

Base names

No one is contesting the president’s statement that military bases bearing the names of Confederate officers have trained brave men and women over the decades. That’s beside the point. What’s relevant is the why, when and how these bases were named.

Lynching in the decades between 1870 and 1920 was rampant, with few if any perpetrators prosecuted. Not even army veterans were spared. In the summer of 1919, 200 Blacks were lynched; some still wearing their WWI uniforms.

It was during that period, when Southern apologists worked tirelessly to craft the narrative of the “Lost Cause” and when most Confederate monuments where erected, that many bases were named after Confederate officers. By leaving secessionist leaders’ names on our military bases the Army dishonors itself, and it lets stand what, looking back, was not a very good idea.

Joe Moran, Durham

Sen. Tillis’ ads

I was flabbergasted to see Sen. Thom Tillis spending lots of money on slick TV ads that say nothing about what he’s done in Washington for the past five and a half years. He has the audacity to say he’s fighting for our jobs. He passed a huge tax cut for the rich three years ago, cut unemployment benefits when he was N.C. General Assembly leader, and now he and his party are resisting extending unemployment benefits for the millions without jobs.

Tillis doing what he’s told to do by the NRA, Trump, and other big corporations, but nothing for the people of North Carolina.

Larry Reed, Durham

Beltline noise

In my corner of West Raleigh, I have been expecting the transportation authorities to add lanes to the Beltline near Western Boulevard since we moved here in 1993. We have lanes that handle exiting and entering traffic, a lane entering from the left and two lanes that fill up with idling vehicles.

Nevertheless, we rarely heard the hum of traffic from our back porch three blocks away. Until the trees came down. Now people are hearing sirens wailing in the dark. More neighbors are asking on Nextdoor Avent West why there are no published plans for noise barriers here.

My question is how are we going to replace all the trees bulldozed this year?

Carol Frey, Raleigh

This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 12:05 PM.