Delay bond vote
Re: “Dallas Botching Bond Package Vote — City wants to borrow the maximum $1.25 billion but so far hasn’t spelled out what it’s for,” Thursday editorial
You are correct in calling the planning of the bond program botched. I was skeptical about the late addition of $250 million in unspecified funds to be added to $1 billion in planned projects. I am alarmed that the public will not be properly informed of what the plans are for the entire $1.25 billion, nor have an opportunity to hear and ask questions about its impact on the city’s debt going forward.
It’s not new news that the city may not advocate for bond elections, but it has previously provided adequate information in town hall meetings to enable voters to make informed decisions.
It would make sense to delay this bond election until it can provide voters with the projects to be built and its financial impact on both the city and its taxpayers. That is information, not advocacy.
Jan Hart Black, Dallas
Hong Kong suffocating
Re: “Freedom Is Dying in Hong Kong — And it’s sad to watch this great city wither under Beijing’s thumb,” Thursday editorial.
I could not agree with you more that through the stifling policies of communist China’s takeover of Hong Kong, a once thriving, exuberant and much envied world center of freedom and capitalism, has and is being slowly suffocated into a lifeless form.
I was in Hong Kong in 1983 for several days with a client promoting the sale of commercial real estate and other forms of investment opportunities in Texas. Hong Kong was a city that kept the switch on 24/7. You could see the freedom and opportunity in the faces of the people. There was no limit on what you could do in Hong Kong.
All that changed after Hong Kong ceased to be under British rule. Last October, on a Viking cruise, I visited Hong Kong for two full days. I had read of the ongoing suffocation of freedom of speech and other individual rights. I saw it and experienced it on my visit.
All the joys of Hong Kong as I knew it were gone. The lights of the city that once reflected its vitality only flickered.
Hong Kong is dying not because of a natural death, but through government policies of suppression and elimination of what made Hong Kong once the greatest financial center of the world.
Harry Joe, North Dallas
Choose licensed care facilities
Re: “Police: 13 died under woman’s care — Unlicensed facilities owner jailed as inquiry into cases dating to 2022 continues,” Monday news story.
The Senior Source was saddened to hear about the multiple deaths in the Arlington-area unlicensed group homes. We express our sincere condolences to these families who lost loved ones.
As the host of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for Dallas County, we strongly encourage people to choose licensed long-term care facilities to ensure proper regulations, care and accountability. Licensed assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities are options for older adults needing care. Those facilities must follow all state and federal laws and regulations.
All residents in the licensed facilities also have the advantage of an independent long-term care ombudsman who helps protect their safety, welfare and rights. For more information about the ombudsman program, visit theseniorsource.org and/or apps.hhs.texas.gov.
Stacey Malcolmson, Dallas
The Senior Source, president and CEO
Consider diet and Alzheimer’s
Re: “Alzheimer’s expected to rise — Rate has fallen in recent decades, but reversal is predicted as nation ages,” Thursday news story.
Indeed, this is a health crisis. I watched my once vibrant mother slowly slip away over four years before succumbing to trauma from a broken femur (from being constantly lifted from a wheelchair).
However, the story only mentioned generic risk factors in one short paragraph. More research is needed to explore the relationship between fat intake (needed by our brains) and the obsession in this country in the past decades with the “low fat” diet.
Also, of concern is the massive intake of statins to remove fat from the bloodstream while starving our brains of that same needed fat. As we all know, exercise is critical to overall body health, but proper nutrition is just as critical, if not more so due to myriad side effects of some prescription drugs.
Please ask your health provider questions before accepting yet another script and stay active!
Robert Howell, Dallas
Remember Lend-Lease?
If someone really wants to help Ukraine, just follow the example of one of our former presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt. When faced with a recalcitrant Congress that wanted to stay out of any European conflicts, he used common sense to aid Britain. It was called Lend-Lease.
I’m just an old person who normally supports Republicans (not currently), but my reading of history says Roosevelt made the right call. I can only imagine how many American lives might have been lost had we not had the bastion of Britain from which to launch the D-Day invasion!
Come on, Mr. President, help the Ukrainians before it is too late. In my opinion, if we do nothing, North Korea will invade South Korea, China will invade Taiwan, and NATO may even fall apart. What do you think Josef Stalin, er, I mean Vladimir Putin will do if that happens? Sleep well tonight, America.
Ernest Leon Morrison, Frisco
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