‘Dancing cop’ was trying to protect people

The “dancing cop” had every right to act the way way he did when reporting to a scene where shots have been fired. (“Police release video of officer hitting man,” Dispatch story, Tuesday). I thank Metro Columnist Theodore Decker for, in his Thursday column, shining light on and bringing sense to that ugly situation involving officer Anthony Johnson. A lot of people feel like they can act belligerent and say anything they want to a cop these days and expect no repercussions. Someone is shooting a gun in a neighborhood, the police get called and when they show up they get harassed for trying to protect people — puzzling, to say the least.

I learned a long time ago that if a police officer issues an order it is only a fool who disobeys that order, especially in the midst of a volatile situation. Debate the merits of that directive when calm has been restored to the situation, not while the fire is still burning.

Let’s not forget that we sleep easier every night because these brave men and women patrol the streets watching out for us.

Jimmy Ryan, Canal Winchester

Anti-wind letter was loose with the facts

I respond to Deb Hay’s comments in her Thursday letter about wind turbine energy. I do not know how many of her claims are true, but one “fact” is easily debunked via Google. PCBS were banned in 1979. Unless the wind turbine was manufactured before 1979 (how likely is that?) it will not contain PCBS. Her old T12 fluorescent light ballast is more likely to contain them.

Hay mentioned a polar vortex in 2013 and how the nuclear reactors saved the day. I bet there was a lot of wind in the vortex, powering the turbines for $0. What happens to the spent fuel rods generated by the nuclear power plants? Spent fuel rods are radioactive waste that as of April 2019 were still being stored on site.

There is no permanent facility where they can stay safely and be allowed the 10,000-plus years they need to no longer be a threat to every living thing. Nobody wants them; maybe Hay would offer to take them? Nuclear is a cheap “clean” energy for now but someone will be paying the price later, as with abandoned coal mines.

We should be looking toward the future for energy needs and remove what is no longer sustainable or is obsolete or a threat to the environment and not just keep propping them up via handouts. The money can be better spent elsewhere.

John M. Lorenz, Upper Arlington

More PR spending won’t help if schools don’t improve

On Tuesday, the Columbus Board of Education will consider a budget for the coming year. Included is a last-minute request from Superintendent Talisa Dixon to increase the size of the district’s public relations staff by two. These additional positions, she told a board committee on Wednesday, are part of a “strategic communications plan” to “change the narrative” about the district.

The community now eagerly awaits Dixon’s equally strategic plan to improve the district’s academic outcomes with quantifiable and clearly measurable goals. No amount of PR will change this basic fact, documented on the district’s state report card: Columbus schools continue to allow their already disadvantaged students to fall further behind, posting considerably smaller learning gains than the average statewide.

The best way to change the narrative about the district is to improve the academic outcomes.

Vladimir Kogan, Columbus