In southern Wake County, where subdivisions grow like toadstools, trees are losing out

Protect trees

I live in southern Wake County, where the subdivisions pop up as fast as toadstools, and am continually disappointed when I see an orange fence with the “Tree Protection Area” sign posted while every tree on the site is cleared without regard.

What does “Tree Protection Area” really mean? Is this a terrible joke by developers and contractors? Many southern pine trees that distinguished the intersection of Whitted Road and Johnson Pond Road were all destroyed in a matter of days. These trees were growing along the border of a construction site. How were they “in the way?”

I suggest that all developers and construction contractors be required to read “Tree Protection During Construction,” a short article by The North Carolina Urban Forest Council. It take many decades to produce a mature tree and they are destroyed in a matter of minutes.

James Iocca, Fuquay-Varina

President Biden

The newly elected “environmental president” just flew Air Force One home for the weekend. If truly concerned with the environment it seems difficult to justify flying a such a large aircraft 108 miles from Washington, D.C. to Wilmington, Del. and back. Surely there are alternative methods of transportation with a smaller carbon footprint. Just another example of the political classes’ do as I say, not as I do attitude.

Scott Dillon, Cary

Impeachment trial

Imagine a banker who has retired and an audit shows he embezzled $1 million several years before retirement. Is it likely that the judicial system will agree he cannot be tried for a crime perpetrated in a job he no longer holds? I doubt it.

I urge Sens. Richard Burr, Thom Tillis and their colleagues to focus on the charges during the trial and not try to distract from what’s being alleged. I especially urge them to remember that they are there to listen to the evidence and then decide if Trump is guilty.

The question of constitutionality can, if necessary be brought up later in its proper place, the federal judicial system. The country will be in dire straits if Congress decides it should be the arbiter of constitutionality.

Larry Wolf, Garner

Mark Martin

Regarding “Ex-NC chief justice tried to overturn Trump loss,” (Feb. 7):

If retired justice Mark Martin advocated a “radical” and “nonsensical” theory that the Constitution means what it clearly does not say about the vice-president’s election power, he is hardly the first to make this kind of legal argument.

There is nothing in the text or history of the Constitution about abortion or same-sex marriage, but that did not stop attorneys from arguing for these rights. Although a majority of the Supreme Court ultimately agreed, those decisions were more about “raw judicial power,” as Justice Byron White wrote in his Roe v. Wade dissent, than about using reason to establish truth and justice.

Our constitutional liberals have made this bed, and they should not try to punish Martin for getting in it with them.

William A. Brafford, Charlotte

UNC celebrations

I am a diehard Tar Heel basketball fan and alum, but I was appalled by the fact that students rushed Franklin Street after the Duke game during an ongoing pandemic. As much as I love our team and players, I was equally disappointed to learn that two of my favorite players attended a maskless celebration after the win.

I don’t like to see us lose games or risk missing the NCAA tournament, but I certainly hope coach Roy Williams benches those guys. I will continue to root for them and for the team always, but we must lead by example.

Robert McGee, Asheville

Big Ed

“Big Ed” Watkins had one of the best breakfast facilities in Raleigh. Our group of eight men, called ROMEOs (Real Old Men Eating Out), had breakfast there every Thursday beginning in 2007. Two founding members of the group, Dr. P.G. Fox and Jim Blount, have passed away, as has Marsden deRosset. The current group consists of Zack Bacon, Charlie Winston, Earl Johnson, Walton Joyner, Sherwood Smith, Jimmy Hill and myself. We saw and talked with Big Ed every Thursday for many years until he sold the business. The N&O had a good story Feb. 4 about Edward Watkins.

Frank Daniels Jr., Raleigh

This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 1:25 PM.