Soccer can change the world if we let it
Editor: Why don’t we resolve world conflicts through soccer? Why doesn’t Iran play the U.S. with best out of seven? How about Russia and Ukraine? Soccer could settle strife between African or South American countries. Why should we humans hurt each other, destroy our communities, our homes and crush families when we could have sport? Every battle could be a sporting event, save billions of dollars — perhaps even create more. We could put the arms dealers out of business. Just an idea! Soccer rules!
— Marsha Taylor, Santa Rosa
How can wealthy AI developers placate irate residential and small business utility rate payers?
Editor: California rate payers care about spiraling utility bills and gasoline prices. With a fraction of their borrowing capacity, AI developers can finance rapid construction of widely distributed solar canopy parking lot virtual power plants, including on-site, non-flammable battery storage, and Level-2 EV chargers, at large existing workplace, shopping center, and multi-family residential parking lots everywhere, within 3 to 5 years. Typical rate payers and tax payers should not finance this vital new community infrastructure, made necessary by massive new AI energy demand.
This new infrastructure will electrify, reduce and stabilize transportation expenses and typical rate payer utility bills, really fast, by rapidly reducing peak afternoon and evening utility transmission demand for commercial refrigeration and small business and residential HVAC loads, and provide cheap Level-2 EV charging everywhere. Parking lot owners get entirely new income from 25-year airspace leases on their hot asphalt lots. No new utility monopoly transmission or dirty fossil gas peaker plant spending required. And solar canopy structures will last for 75 +years with minimal maintenance. That’s three generations!
New, widely-distributed community tier energy infrastructure, dedicated to local demand of typical rate payers.
— Jerry Wagner, Santa Rosa
More information needed on potholes
Editor: I was disappointed in your article about potholes, as it was incomplete in details. The yearly income from gas taxes, etc., collected to maintain the roads should have been noted. Instead, you gave an amount per square footage for repairs and a general description that Santa Rosa’s budget was limited. Is all the money collected for roads going to roads or is it filling holes in the general budget rather than potholes? We deserve to know this information!
— Shirley Whitney, Santa Rosa
Guns vs. kids
Editor: Amie Windsor’s column on Sunday, 7/12 was heartfelt and direct. It reported on Pres. Trump as he continues to put gun advocates ahead of the safety of our children. She brings out Charlie Kirk’s statement that “it’s worth some gun deaths every single year so we can have the Second Amendment to protect our God-given rights.” And Kirk, a friend of Trump, died by assassination last year. Excellent look at “kids, guns, Trump.”
— Cheryle Stanley, Yountville
Support to save Carrillo Adobe
Editor: I’m writing in support of both Bill Montgomery and Linda Fraley’s Letters supporting the preservation of the Carrillo Adobe property, all 14 acres. This land holds the legacy of a 2500 year-old Native American settlement. It is a cultural treasure, a depository of wisdom waiting for us to explore and learn from.
Santa Rosa needs affordable housing, but we need to not destroy our own heritage in order to get it
— Anne Exton, Santa Rosa
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