PUNCHING DOWN?
I just would like to say I found it disheartening and disappointing that the recent Good Times email “Home Run” opens by punching down on people just because they don’t have a college education. I think this is rather tasteless, especially in this current moment when everything is trying to divide us across all facets of life, from education, to income, to politics and that it is coming from a town that has a strong component of inclusivity wrapped in its identity. Please do better in the future.
Dan Palance | Santa Cruz
EDITOR: I wasn’t condemning the lack of education, but the lack of intelligence. I heard more racist words in that baseball locker room than I’ve heard in my whole life. It was disgusting.
RTC TRUTH, FINALLY
Sarah Christensen, (in a letter about the fact that the railroad tracks won’t sustain trains today, ed.) speaks the words of authority we have waited a decade to be spoken. I could cry — and for that it took so long.
Our institutions move like Molasses,
With their obfuscated vested interests and lack of political will,
We have our “One wild precious life” [Mary Oliver-speak],
the drag factor a bitter pill.
Corrina McFarlane | Santa Cruz
DATA CENTER DANGER
Your May 20 article, “Playing With Digital Fire,” correctly describes the disastrous effects of the “ridiculously enormous data centers:” their extreme waste of water and electricity, their ethical problems, such as the squandering of money that could be used for social services and education, as well as AI’s role in a surveillance state that is beginning to dominate politics and to suppress free speech.
Here’s something that we can all do as individuals: decrease our “cloud” storage by dumping old photos, superfluous documents, and other files that take up unnecessary space. This process might require a little time, but the rewards will be huge: saving precious water and electricity generated by fossil fuels; decreasing the obscene profits of these selfish, predatory corporations; and slowing the progress of robotic killing machines. Please, take action now.
Robert deFreitas | Santa Cruz
BAD EPA DEREGULATION
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing dangerous rollbacks to coal ash protections that would endanger the health of communities across the country. Coal ash, the toxic waste produced from burning coal, contains arsenic, mercury, lead, and other hazardous pollutants that are linked to cancer and serious illness.
For decades, utilities dumped this waste into unlined ponds and landfills, allowing it to leak into drinking water. Strong federal safeguards put in place in 2015 and expanded in 2024 finally began holding polluters accountable. Now, those protections are being dismantled, exempting hundreds of toxic dump sites and allowing companies to delay or avoid cleanup altogether.
This is a direct threat to public health. Industry data already shows that groundwater at most coal plant sites is contaminated above federal safety standards. Weakening these rules only ensures more pollution, more illness, and more communities left to deal with the consequences.
The EPA’s job is to protect people, not corporate polluters. We must speak out and demand that these safeguards remain in place. Our health, our water, and our future depend on it. This is so important. The EPA must again protect us.
Marianna Mejia | Soquel
GOOD WORDS FOR GOOD TIMES
A joy to seeing STREET TALK featured again. Cheers to Steve Kettmann with his always remarkable reporting (about bringing his kids to Asia). I wish I’d had such opportunities as a kid.
Alene Smith | Santa Cruz
