Red Line extension will make good on years of empty promises

US

This week, the Chicago Transit Authority made a tremendous down payment on the future of the Far South Side. It’s a huge step toward reversing decades of racial inequality, transit inequity and economic disinvestment for thousands of families in Roseland, Pullman, Washington Heights and other nearby neighborhoods.

The CTA did this by hiring an experienced contracting team, Walsh VINCI Transit Community Partners, to build the critical Red Line extension that will extend the Red Line 5.6 miles, from its southern end at 95th Street to the Altgeld Gardens community south of 130th Street, including four new stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street.

This is more than just another mega transportation project in Chicago. It’s a historic, equity-focused project allowing CTA to better serve Chicagoans on the Far South Side, including some of the city’s most disadvantaged and transit-dependent residents.

After decades of talk — nearly 60 years of empty promises — the CTA is moving this project forward.

The extension benefits thousands of Chicagoans who have been left behind and don’t have the same fair access to rapid transit as the rest of the city. Proud Far South Side Chicagoans shouldn’t be forced to spend an hour or more commuting, facing daily obstacles while getting to jobs and school.

Through this project’s economic development, they will soon see fewer boarded-up buildings and empty storefronts in their neighborhoods. Those who feel forgotten and unseen will soon benefit from real progress.

The Red Line extension will benefit generations to come by connecting all of Chicago. We know this. We thank the CTA for keeping its word and getting us to this point.

We’ll continue to push and advocate for every man, woman and child who will benefit from this investment. The Red Line extension is bringing jobs, better access to transit and a brighter future.

There’s no turning back.

Abraham D. Lacy, president, Far South Community Development Corporation

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Johnson, CTU want ‘yes’ man

Is Mayor Brandon Johnson trying to oust Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez (“Johnson working to oust CPS chief executive, sources say”)?

Martinez has clashed with the Chicago Teachers Union on how to address a massive budget deficit. Martinez refused to take on a pension payment that Johnson insisted be paid by CPS that was connected to a new CTU contract.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates called Martinez “insubordinate” this week, because she said every mayor in this city has told them what to do and they’ve done it. Sounds like Gates wants a “yes” man as the CPS CEO. The CTU helped Johnson get elected; is the mayor also looking for a “yes” man?

Richard Barber, Mount Greenwood

CTU, mayor trounce taxpayers

Mayor Brandon Johnson just keeps giving CTU President Stacy Davis Gates all these gifts. She doesn’t like CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, so now she is about to get Johnson to fire him and probably replace him with someone she likes. This way she gets what she wants, and the taxpayers in Chicago get screwed by the mayor again and again. It’s the same old circus that runs Chicago. Mayor Johnson, grow up.

Gerald Bernson, Tinley Park

Climate change hits our wallets

I read with interest your news article about the recent flurry of tornadoes in the Chicago area. Although not mentioned in the article, climate change plays a role in increasing the frequency of such extreme weather events. But even this hidden reality does not go deep enough.

Climate change is about costs, shared by all of us. We think of it as a crap shoot, in which a handful of us are drowned or crushed by a falling tree, and the rest of us are fine. This is incorrect. We are all paying more, and the costs are going up.

A recent economic study funded by Consumer Reports revealed that climate change will increase lifetime costs for people born in 2024 by $500,000 to $1 million. Increased costs of food, energy and insurance will take a serious climate bite out of lifetime income for Americans. This is ironic when we consider some of the political arguments that we should simply ignore climate change and focus on “money issues” like inflation.

In the same way that tobacco has externalized the costs of cancer care to consumers, fossil fuels have unloaded costs on many things we pay for as consumers. Climate change is growing. It would be wise to vote accordingly.

Chris Wiegard, Chester, Virginia

Carve out bus lane on DuSable Lake Shore Drive

I’ve been going back and forth recently about the rebuilding of DuSable Lake Shore Drive. I have to admit this is a troubling issue for me. I have always been a driver. I drove trucks for 16 years until I became a teacher and drove 40 miles a day to get to my school.

I own and drive an antique car, so I am biased. All that said, the adults in the room need to realize that we really need to consider the future. A letter to the editor by Cyrus Dowlatshahi in Tuesday’s paper hit home for me.

DuSable Lake Shore Drive has become another expressway. Once police abandoned patrolling it years ago, all rules were rendered moot. The truck traffic and the speeding are unhinged. It’s become ridiculous.

If there was a protected bus lane that cars could not access, maybe things would improve regarding pollution, viability and acceptance of change. I realize it’s asking a lot of all of us. But our parents and grandparents did things like this, and now it’s our turn. Everybody wants better for their kids and grandkids. This might be something that improves their futures.

President Dwight Eisenhower asked citizens to pay for the federal highway system that still works. The space program, cleaner energy, and more recently, the SAFE-T Act were pretty big asks. Facts show that we have received large benefits from these leaps of faith.

Let’s show our descendants that the citizens were better than some of our leaders during this time.

Dan Kirchberg, East Rogers Park

Political campaigns wear out voters

I really hope that Kamala Harris wins the upcoming presidential election, as it may set a new precedent for future campaigns. Being neither a Democrat or Republican, my interest lies in the hope that future campaigns will take note that you don’t have to start your presidential campaign the day after the next inauguration to be successful. She has a chance to pull it off with a 100-day sprint.

It is sickening to see the time and money wasted on all the precampaigning done to try to woo voters in the months and years preceding our national election. How many babies get kissed and corn gets half-eaten in Iowa every year because their caucus kick-starts the election year primary races? I am always amused by the amount of attention paid to the state with six electoral votes for three years, and then how little from February to Election Day.

With the national election basically coming down to the electoral votes of seven states (Iowa not being one of them), I would rather have the seven states be the focus of the initial voting. This would force candidates to appeal to a broader electorate. The whole race could be started and ended in six to eight months.

Maybe my angst is the result of election fatigue, but it would be nice to turn on the TV and not be bombarded by political news 24 hours a day for three-plus years.

Steven Fortuna, Naperville

True-blue White Sox fan

I’m 81 and a Chicago White Sox fan. I do not wear a bag over my head. I grew up on the South Side when Nellie Fox was at second base, Billy Pierce a winning lefty, Minnie Minoso and Jim Rivera were in center and right fields. “Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end.”

The gods of baseball are not being kind to the White Sox this year. All the team can do is play every game and give their best, even though “best” isn’t getting the job done. Either the talent is there or it isn’t. Either the manager can manage it or he can’t. There’s the front office to consider too.

Former Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti wrote of baseball, “It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.” Truer words were never written. Broken hearts heal, and as Brooklyn Dodger fans of the 1950s and Cub fans knew almost forever, “There’s always next year.” It’s part of baseball life, and the fact of everyone’s life is that some years are just better than others.

So Chicagoans, if you’re a baseball fan with a true heart, you’ll put the paper bags away and stand tall. Cheer your boys of summer on. They need your support now more than ever. Nobody feels worse than the players, who have won only 29 games (going into Friday night’s game). None of them turns in their cleats and goes home. We shouldn’t either.

Go Sox!

Mike Aleman, Spokane, Washington

Pass bill to protect kids online

With little fanfare in late July, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill by an overwhelming 91-3 vote that, if it becomes law, will protect children and teenagers who use social media. The legislation will now go to the House, which would be wise to take it up and approve the matter when it returns in September.

Keeping our children and teenagers safe while online is something many agree is lacking right now. I fear children are suffering more and more from eating disorders, depression and bullying as a result of too much time spent online. Some kids have gone to social media to find drugs, gotten bamboozled into sexual relationships with adults or discussed disturbing plans to shoot up schools.

It’s gotten so bad that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has spoken out several times about the need to increase the pressure on social media platforms. Murthy even wrote a New York Times op-ed urging that these platforms have warning labels that “social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.”

House members should follow the Senate’s example — and even more importantly, the wishes of the majority of voters who agree that social media can be dangerous for children and teenagers, and the government must do something about it.

Jeffery M. Leving, Loop

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