Speed traps
Re “Green cash, red flags” (A1, Oct. 5): Speed cameras make sense when there is a school that has lots of buses coming and going, as well as students walking from nearby neighborhoods to the school. The biggest moneymaker in Chesapeake (that has brought in more than $1.1 million), is the “speed trap” for Deep Creek High School. Sure, there are blinking lights warning of a school zone, but the school is nowhere in sight. The school is tucked way back in a neighborhood. Most of the school traffic is controlled by a traffic light in the middle of the zone.
Then consider the “speed trap” in front of Greenbrier Christian Academy on Kempsville Road. Yes, it is a school. But I have never seen a school bus there. There never seem to be any students walking or crossing the road. The vehicle traffic is controlled by the traffic light in front of the school. It makes little sense that Chesapeake feels the need to collect nearly a million dollars in revenue from that short stretch of road.
Adding to that insult, Chesapeake has red-light cameras at intersections less than a mile away in either direction. It’s just a big money grab on the city’s part. I guess it works, because you can’t drive mindlessly.
Tom Graham, Chesapeake
Drop out?
Re “Jay Jones” (Your Views, Oct. 8): I have a few questions for the writer of the letter and for those who say former Del. Jay Jones should withdraw from being the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general. Did you vote for President Donald Trump? Do you remember what he said about the five young Black men in Central Park, what he said about former Democratic presidential nominee and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and what he said about women when he was on a bus trip? Have you considered the number of lives Trump has ruined because he didn’t like them, even though, in many cases, they were doing their job as they supposed to have done?
If Trump with all those problems and breaking of laws can become president of the United States, and remain president, why should Jones drop out of the race? Jones did say something he should not have said, but as far as I know, he did not break a law or was convicted.
Eric Jackson, Newport News
Less is more
There’s a lot of references to red and blue states. The blue states are losing population. This is because many of the residents of those states are moving to red states. They move for lower taxes, less regulation, better housing and better policing. Of course the outcome of this is the red states become redder and the blue states become bluer. The net effect is it allows the extremes of both sides to gain more power.
New York City is a great example, so is California or Illinois. On the other side, you might say Texas or Florida. However the rhetoric from both sides is different. From the Democrats recently we have heard about “rage,” “two bullets to the head,” “Nazis” and “dictator.” Seems pretty harsh to me. I understand Trump Derangement Syndrome, but give me a break.
The border is secure, peace is emerging in the Middle East, and President Donald Trump has a way of getting things done. The Democrats just want to obstruct, which is why the government shut down. The Democrats want to take a short-term relief package around health care and turn it into other entitlement. We can’t afford the entitlements we have now. Trump is attacking a bloated, bureaucratic government. I am going to bet less is more when it comes to government.
David Murphy, Virginia Beach
