Letters, March 11

Yes in my backyard

Re: A rift in the neighbourhood, Dan Lett, Jan. 30

My grandparents, Ma and Pops Iannone, came from the old country a hundred years ago. They opened a grocery in a brownstone where the Health Sciences Centre is now.

They lived upstairs with their young family and a grey cat in the building at William and Sherbrook. After the Great Depression, Pops went to Flin Flon to serve the miners who had flocked there. To make extra cash, Ma sold beer out of her kitchen after the hotel beverage rooms closed.

I am pleased to live 900 steps from where my immigrant family pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. My partner and I have been at Logan and Fountain for a dozen years, in the process of converting an old church into a community space called the Valiant Theatre. We live in the tiny attached rectory. We never intended to be working on the project this long, but we both live with mental illness, and the bootstraps can be a bit slipperier.

My bed is 150 steps from the province’s proposed supervised consumption site. No one lives closer to it than I do. I don’t drink or do drugs. I don’t even drink coffee. I have a yard. A vehicle. Cats and dogs. I want my stuff to be safe and my home to be quiet. I could say NIMBY.

My partner and I are housed. A lot of our unhoused neighbours use drugs. Many also live with mental illness. Life is dangerous for them. I have saved a life or two since we’ve been here. We have helped our neighbours in different ways. You would do the same.

I support the supervised consumption site in its proposed location on Henry, so close to my home and place of business. Death stalks the vulnerable in our city. We are all born the same way. We all have hopes and dreams. Families and stories. They are not they, they are we. Because we are all made of the same stuff. Love your neighbour as yourself. Full stop. Mark 12:31.

Our neighbours are dying. Harm reduction saves lives. Support the supervised consumption site.

I say, yes in my backyard.

Kelly Hughes

Winnipeg

A little good news

Our media reports are filled with violence of all kinds. These reports do not garner any hope of peace and reconciliation in our province, country or planet.

It was so refreshing to read of Elk Island National Park transferring 10 members of their bison herd to the Traditional Indigenous Use Park, under the stewardship of Skownan Anishinaabe First Nation.

I am grateful for the return of the wood bison. May we continue to work on peace, reconciliation and positive healing.

Thank you Parks Canada and Skownan Anishinaabe First Nation.

Wilma Sotas

Winnipeg

Always going up

Every week I go to the grocery store the prices have gone up — and not just a few cents. Sometimes the prices are raised 50 cents or a dollar.

These increases have been when gas prices have been reasonable and fairly stable, so transportation costs have less impact than before.

My question is this — why do grocery prices always go up with increased gas prices, but they never come down when gas prices go down?

I’ve written letters to grocers about this to no avail.

With the present war in the Middle East, gas prices have gone way up and may go up more. Grocers are saying food prices will soon go up (again).

When the war ends, will gas prices go down? Will grocery prices go down too? Something doesn’t sit right with this.

Donna Eastoe

Winnipeg

The scourge of measles

If vaccine mandates are good enough for Ontario, they are good enough for Manitoba. I am old enough to remember receiving at least one vaccine on site at my elementary school in the 1960s.

When I cracked open a recent issue of a national Canadian antiques magazine (Canadian Antiques & Vintage), I was disturbed — I encountered 38 dead children.

An article tracked down the background of a silver snuff box presented to a sea captain in the 1800s. In 1841, the United Kingdom set sail from Liverpool for Australia with 489 passengers.

After two weeks at sea, measles broke out in the children. Although two surgeons were aboard, 38 children would die. All the adults survived the voyage.

Although it is jarring to us today, the engraved snuff box was actually an appreciation by the passengers for their relative good fortune. It was felt that the captain’s health measures had greatly helped.

We are not invulnerable because we live in “modern” times. Any mandate measure would receive strong support. Many parents would appreciate central records that they could reference. The overwhelming majority believe in science and many vaccinations are not consciously omitted. It’s just difficult to keep track of all the needs of our children.

Let’s consign this disease to the proverbial dustbin of history.

Greg Petzold

Winnipeg

Poor streetlights to blame

Further to the letter to the editor by Edward Katz — “Driver inattention,” March 9 — and Dave Taylor’s Think Tank piece New rules needed for over-bright LED headlights, March 9, I think there is a bigger problem that is leading to the use of high beams — the appalling street lighting on Winnipeg streets.

Since the incandescent bulbs were replaced by the new bulbs, whatever they are now, many streets are virtually in darkness. The actual ‘light’ circles in a halo around the bulbs high up on the poles which are often in the trees, further diffusing the light so it doesn’t shine all the way down to street level.

In many areas the light poles are only on one side of the street — if the light is not lighting that side of the street, how can it possibly be expected to shine across the street to the other side as well?

The bridges in particular (eg. Maryland and Donald Street Bridges) are almost in complete shadow. With the light not actually reaching the streets, and poor visibility compounded by absent reflective curb and lane-markings, it is increasingly difficult to see the roadway, other cars, bikers and pedestrians (who seem to wear only dark-coloured clothing!), animals, etc, and especially difficult in winter darkness with vision further impaired by wet or snowy road conditions.

As a result of this poor lighting, many drivers are now using their high beams to improve their ability to see. This was unnecessary when the streets themselves were properly lit. I expressed these concerns to Janice Lukes as suggested by CAA, and her responsewas as expected — deflection: “Not our problem — it’s Manitoba Hydro’s problem.”

If the City of Winnipeg accepts no responsibility for the poor street lighting in the city of Winnipeg, then we really do have a bigger problem than high beams.

Hedie L. Epp

Winnipeg

Use your visor

Re: New rules needed for over-bright LED headlights, March 9

I agree that new rules are long overdue, and undoubtedly cataract surgery for some victims of these headlights could help.

In the meantime I use the sun visor at night so only the nearest oncoming vehicle lights at a closer range affect me, and I have a better chance of seeing the right edge of the road or lane that I am in.

I also find during the day that visor use to restrict sky view on long journeys (even on cloudy days ) is less tiring to my eyes and reduces drowsiness onset. I raise or lower my head to change my forward range of sight rather than distractedly adjusting the visor, so my hands stay on the wheel.

Like mirrors, set the visor before starting driving.

Andy Maxwell

Winnipeg