Letters to the editor

Nation must break with immoral death penalty

I am writing in hopes of raising awareness and emphasizing the importance of abolishing capital punishment. The United States is still one of the countries using capital punishment. As of now, the death penalty is still legal in 28 U.S. states. This practice is an irreversible and irreparable act, which does not advance public safety, nor does it work as a deterrent.

In January, three offenders were executed by the use of lethal injection. There are currently seven more offenders scheduled to be executed this year.

Capital punishment is an immoral practice that allows the state to choose who deserves death and does so lawfully as a means of obtaining justice. The death penalty is discriminatory and violates fundamental human rights. It’s important to bring more awareness to this topic and advocate for the abolition of capital punishment.

— Abbyana Sifuentes, San Jose

Guadalupe River Park plan deserves support

As a longtime San Jose resident, retired social work educator and frequent cyclist on the city’s Guadalupe River Trail, I want to applaud the proposed two-year pilot program supporting the efforts of three local nonprofits to “pick up trash, maintain the landscaping and trails and reach out to the park’s homeless residents” (“Pilot program will help Guadalupe River Park,” Page B1, March 9).

The trail that meanders through downtown San Jose was, and can be again, an urban gem, while simultaneously the city can continue to address the plight of our homeless, who, in the words of Gov. Gavin Newsom many years ago, “Do not have the dignity of a door.”

As a proud San Josean, I will volunteer my time and effort to this endeavor and will provide support to the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy. — Barry Goldman-Hall

San Jose

County’s about-face on vaccines confuses

My wife and I are Kaiser patients. When the county said we could get our vaccine anywhere, we went online and booked our shots at Levi’s Stadium. We went, got our first shot and were impressed with how organized and quick it was. We made our appointment for our second shot while there.

Now we get an email from the county telling us that we cannot get our second shot there; we have to go to Kaiser for the second shot. This is goofy. I can see stopping first shots outside of the system, but not breaking the appointments they made.

— William Fisher

Cupertino

Status quo on time change makes sense

There is a reason most countries in the Northern Hemisphere use some form of daylight saving time: It makes sense.

Keeping standard time yearround would result in a 4:45 a.m. sunrise and 7:30 p.m. sunset in July. I doubt you will find many supporters of that scenario.

Keeping daylight saving time year-round is a much better argument, as it would provide more light in the afternoon. However, that benefit is offset by a sunrise well after 8 a.m. for two months, which is incredibly dangerous to both children and adults commuting to work or school. It would be darker every morning for the entire winter.

Sometimes it is actually smart to keep things the way that they are.

— Dave Muldawer, Santa Cruz

Daylight saving all year could pay dividends

I agree 100% with letter writer Dan Pitt (“Ditch the change, keep daylight saving time,” Page A6, March 10) but would add two more reasons.

One, the main argument for standard time (putting the extra hour of daylight in the morning) used to be so kids would have more time to help on the family farm before going to school. Now, with child labor laws and more mechanized farming, this is much less of an issue.

Two, daylight saving time was introduced during World War I to save energy. By reverting to standard time yearround, think how much more energy we would use by turning our home and street lights on an hour earlier, nine months of every year. I bet the costs would enlighten many doubters.

— Joseph Bass, San Jose

Abortion ban raises tangle of issues

After reading about the law signed by the governor of Arkansas (“Arkansas governor signs near-total abortion ban,” Page A3, March 10), I’m wondering if, in the process of signing that law, did he ponder exactly what would happen to all of the children he “saved.” I wonder if he looked at the statistics of what happens to the children who end up in the foster care system, or worse, juvenile detention system.

I wonder if he considered making provisions for those saved children to have free, quality education until they are 18, along with a stable home. I wonder if he considered providing free birth control and health education to the mothers of these saved children.

Abortion is never the first choice and seldom an easy one. Prevention could alleviate so much pain on all fronts. Just a consideration.

— Angela Boles King

Los Gatos