Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    I am involved in a neighborhood planning effort and find that existing residentially zoned property owners are seeking to change zoning status to mixed use under the well-intentioned notion of promoting a more dense and integrated urban core. The problem is that there is no zoning rule in place that assures that residential properties changed to mixed use do not become solely commercial. This means that if you change residential property to mixed-use zoning it can have the unintended result of a strip shopping center in place of existing urban housing. I don't believe this reflects the hopes of our city's leaders, and many of its residents, but it is a loophole that can allow inappropriate cannibalization of inner city residential property. Can we not have zoning that affords residential property to allow mixed use and still assure that it has a reasonable residential component? I believe the only way to do this now is to negotiate a private covenant that forces private parties to police developments and hire their own lawyers to uphold the stated Austin City Council vision of more residential density mixed with retail and commercial in the city core. Private property owners, even if they agree with the intended results, should not be required to fight and uphold city planning goals with their own time and money; appropriate zoning rules should guarantee it.

Letter to the editor,
    Of the 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, more than 56% today have permanent medical problems. In comparison, Vietnam vets in the same periods experienced 10% disability rates. The reason for this incredible and tragic increase of sick soldiers according to Arthur Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, writing in Preventive Psychiatry, is the widespread use by the American military of depleted uranium in their shells. The “malady (from DU) that thousands of our military have suffered and died from has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing ... The terrible truth is now being revealed,” said Bernklau.
    Today, in Iraq and Afghanistan the American military forces have used, and are using, DU in much larger quantities than were used in the first Gulf War. “The long-term effect of DU is a virtual death sentence,” Bernklau said. Presently, tens of thousands of American and Coalition forces are being exposed while millions in Iraq and Afghanistan are having their homelands and families destroyed by this invisible poison.
    The silence of the American people to this neo-con war is deafening, but remember; our silence will not protect us! I would encourage everyone to demand loudly and persistently to: Stop the war and bring our troops home now!

Dear Editor,
    We love your “Page Two” liberalism, with which it is usually hard to argue, but ain't it clear at this point in the fictional process known as American history that it's time to drop the gloves? There are endless untold stories of corruption and collusion in local government and business that dovetail perfectly with our national and international involvements, as Ronnie Earle and friends are bravely pointing out (note to Mr. Earle: Watch out for trips in small airplanes and self-administered gunshot wounds). So why not accept once and for all that the Chronicle is one of the few remaining examples of free press in this company, whoops, country, and really take up the reins of the lost democracy you lament?
    Perhaps one single page per issue dedicated to local and national stories that corporate news won't touch would be a fine start; you must know that for many the Chronicle is the only "alternative" news they get, and also what an impact your paper's views have on this community. So use the power! It wouldn't dent your budget too much – surely the revenues from your porno ads would cover the cost. What a treat to finally see stories like the views of local soldiers returning from Iraq – one tale per week would doubtless say volumes. Or at long last a major American publication digging into what really happened on 9/11 (as every other nation has ... what are we afraid of?), or why Michael Jackson is front page news while hundreds of pedophile priests remain free while the church pays off their victims, or even who really owns what in this country, and city, and where their money actually goes (that information might truly inspire change).
    Sure, it's a major risk to tackle the boys who run the Show ... but ain't it more fun that watching this country become a truly enslaved nation, and whining about it weekly?
    Someone needs to stand up, and you're in the front row. Otherwise, please spare us the rants and go back to your thrilling tales of movie stars you've met at the latest international film festival. But we know, or at least hope, that you've got more in you than that. If not you now, then who, when?

Dear Editor,
    Mr. Black's “Page Two” [April 8] analysis of his position on the smoking in public places vote is based largely on what he thinks the effect of a smoking ban would be on small businesses that have live music. What he doesn't consider is what effect the flawed ordinance passed by the City Council last year is having right now. Under that ordinance a significant number of live music venues are classified as restaurants (not bars) and consequently are now nonsmoking. Following passage of that ordinance there are reports of fall-offs in business in some of those clubs. Patrons who wish to smoke are migrating to bars where smoking is possible. The current ordinance is arguably hurting the very live music scene Mr. Black so assiduously defends against attack. And it's likely that a number of those venues are the small ones Mr. Black has particular concerns about. If Austin voters pass the new ordinance the playing field will be leveled and all businesses can compete on their own merits with no more built-in disadvantages. If it fails we're back to the same flawed ordinance now on the books and some of the clubs Mr. Black voices support for will continue to have one hand tied behind their back.
    Austin voters should vote yes on the smoking initiative not only to treat all businesses equally but to address the very real public health hazards of smoke to both patrons and workers. And Mr. Black should reconsider his position as it certainly appears to run counter to the arguments he puts forth.

Dear Editor,
    Ms. Strayhorn is not entirely wrong in her assessment of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority [“CTRMA Responds to Strayhorn: 'I Am Rubber. You Are Glue ...',” News, April 8]. First the bidding process for the toll way system has some questions that need to be answered. A former employee of Cintras becomes the governor's consultant. The toll system is really a double tax. We pay for the road and pay to ride on it.

Dear Editor,
    In Rachel Proctor May's "Scrap It or Cap It?” [ News, April 8] article, she stated that SB 1546 would turn the "top 10" into the "top 6.” I don't understand her math on this. If 72% of next year's freshman class is top 10 percenters and the bill capped this at 65%, UT would admit 9.7% fewer 10 percenters. Thus, she should have said it would effectively turn the "top 10" into the "top 9,” at least for next year.

   [Rachel Proctor May responds: I appreciate Joel Sumner's calculations, but the "top 6" percentage – borrowed from several references (alternately, "top 7") in the committee discussion – wasn't intended to be a precise estimate. And the numerical base wouldn't be UT's freshman class, but the total number of top 10 percenters in the state, of whom UT admits only a portion, and which changes year to year. The point is that capping the program will inevitably reduce the percentage of "top 10" admissions, for good or ill.]

Dear Editor,
    Isn't it about time we changed the name of Airport Boulevard? The name doesn't make sense any more – in fact it is a little confusing when you are driving to ABIA and you see a sign directing you to "Airport" that actually takes you away from the new airport. I would love to see Airport Boulevard renamed something appropriate. Barbara Jordan Boulevard sounds nice. Robert Mueller Boulevard would be OK. Do we have an Elisabet Ney Street? Or an O. Henry Boulevard? There are so many people who have shaped this city and this state who are not appropriately honored. Consider Jacob Fontaine, Jacob Harrell, Anson Jones, Jane McCallum, Roy Velasquez, or James Wheat.

Letter to the editor,
    I am committed to continue working diligently to improve the quality of representation for indigent capital murder defendants. Current standards are inadequate and actually prevent the appointment of better qualified attorneys in greater numbers.
    HB 268 amends current law to implement major improvements. Separate standards for the diverse requirements of trial, direct appeal, and post conviction writ counsel are mandated. For the first time, trial counsel must have prior experience in the selection of juries in capital cases before they can assume the role as lead counsel. Current standards don't require this nor do they contemplate the availability of more proficient attorneys, such as former appellate briefing attorneys to represent indigents on appeal, or former prosecutors who have much more solid experience in the trial of capital cases.
    The tenor of your April 8 story [“Keel-Hauling Death Row Defendants,” News] – that standards would be lower and incompetent counsel would now be eligible – is incorrect. Current standards allow appointment of attorneys previously found to have rendered ineffective assistance, but HB 268 forbids that practice – just the opposite of what you reported. Your article basically rehashed the talking points distributed by the Texas Defender Service and others who have a vested interest in keeping the current narrow system as is. I invite your readers to view for themselves the lengthy testimony (www.house.state.tx.us) and particularly the pointed questions of democrat committee members who shared my concern that the few lawyers opposing the new standards were being disingenuous.
    This bill passed in a bipartisan vote out of committee and out of the full House 141-1. Your reporter, who has written two articles critical of my actions on this measure, didn't attend the committee hearings and has never attempted to interview me. I welcome your publication's insights on this issue and would entertain any specifics you believe could improve services to indigent defendants.

   [News Editor Michael King responds: It's been so long since Rep. Keel returned a Chronicle phone call, we're delighted to hear that he would like to talk to us about his House Bill 268, even as we understand several of his colleagues – described here charmingly as "Democrat committee members" – are having second thoughts. We'll be glad to listen to his case for the bill. Keel also made his disdain for the bill's opponents abundantly obvious at the hearing (which Chronicle reporter Jordan Smith indeed covered fully on video, as Keel recommends to our readers). We notice Rep. Keel chooses not to address at all one of the primary objections to the bill – that it will trigger a "fast-track" federal appeals process that will be even more cursory and unfair to the condemned than the current system, which generally acts as a rubber-stamp to a Texas capital trial process that is all too often a parody of justice. To accuse the Texas Defenders Service – which defends capital cases at impossible odds for virtually no money – of a "vested interest" in the current system is simply laughable. We share Rep. Keel's stated goal of improving the quality of defense counsel available to the condemned – we just don't agree that the price should be making it impossible for that defense counsel to be effective.]

Dear Editor,
    I have read the article by Mike Clark-Madison in this week's Chronicle on Block 21 and Seaholm [“Delay of Game,” News, April 8]. As the architect for the AMLI/Endeavor team, we have prepared the design concept, including the square footage for all the uses. In response to the 400,000 square feet listed for our project, I felt it necessary to correct our proposal's total square footage. Our proposal includes the following numbers, totaling approximately 607,900 square feet (just under the maximum density allowed by the city – approximately 608,000 square feet).
    Square footage devoted to each building use:
   Residential: 345,800 square feet
   Residential: 130-150 units
   Retail: 43,900 square feet
   Cultural entities: 118,200 square feet
   Hotel: 100,000 square feet
   Hotel: 125 rooms
   Public space – Plaza at Second Street: 15,200 square feet
   Parking: 516 cars
   Total: 607,900 sqaure feet
    On a side note, I noticed that our firm name was spelled Nelson; please note that the company is Nelsen Architects.
    Thank you for dedicating the time to present the story of the Block 21 and Seaholm projects in the Chronicle. We value the consideration given to this important decision.

   [Editor's note: We appreciate the clarification. In calculating the square footage on the AMLI/Endeavor proposal, we apparently conflated the "residential/condo/hotel" space – distinguished here by Turner – as all "residential." In that case, it would appear that the AMLI/Endeavor bid is the only one to propose building out Block 21 to nearly the maximum available density. And we apologize as well for misspelling the name of Nelsen Architects.]

Dear Editor,
    For anyone out there who loves to eat at the Salt Lick and enjoys the beautiful area surrounding the Salt Lick: There is a rock crusher/quarry that has temporarily opened (awaiting final permits by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) by KBDJ Inc. just east of the Salt Lick. If allowed to operate at full capacity, there will be 104 18-wheelers per hour traveling on those narrow, curving, and hilly roads that were never meant to have such traffic. There is also a huge threat to the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone as the rock crusher/quarry sits directly on top of it and to the quality of the air in the area as constant blasting will take place.
    I have no doubt that citizens of Austin should be involved in our efforts to stop the operations of this rock crusher/quarry as it poses such dangerous threats. Austin owns hundreds of acres of conservational land all around the site of this rock crusher/quarry and if not stopped, this land will be in danger.
    Visit StopTheCrusher.com to help us put an end to this horrible threat to the folks who love our Texas Hill Country!

   [Editor's note: The Chronicle has received several similar letters.]

Dear Editor,
    I am writing to simply say thank you to a wonderful family. On Saturday, April 9, my van ran out of fuel on I-35 near the 1325 exit, southbound. I was stranded with my 4-year-old son, Elijah. The day was warm and we had to get out and walk to the nearest gas station. When we arrived at the station, a family pulled up in a white suburban and offered to drive us back to the van with our fuel, apparently having seen us walking on the I-35 shoulder. I did not get their names, but I wanted to say thank you to them. On a day when everything seemed to be going wrong, their assistance was truly appreciated and refreshing. It is good to know there are still some genuinely kind people here in Austin. Thanks!

Dear Editor,
    Louis Black's column was more evenhanded this time around ("Page Two," April 8), but I take exception to one of his remarks about my letter [“Postmarks,” April 8].
    When I pointed out that the possible economic damage of the smoking ban would only occur if smokers have more interest in their smoking than the music, Black quipped: "If the audience is not there for the 'right' reasons, are the musical performances of any value?" I said nothing about the value of the music – that's strictly Black's conclusion, not mine.
    The musical performances are, in fact, what really matter to me, but when is the cost of supporting things that have nothing to do with the music too high? Like Black, I've also left clubs because "my eyes were stinging from tobacco smoke" ("Page Two," April 1). But I've also been on lots of club stages as a musician where I didn't have that option. As both an Austin musician and clubgoer, I've logged plenty of time in the trenches feeling the effects of cigarette smoke.
    One thing I have noticed is that, while there are a few clubs like Elysium that seem to be smoker hangouts, the majority of clubs become smoke-filled by a small minority of the clubgoers. Meanwhile, all the eyes in the club are potentially burning, as well as lungs, and smelly clothes. It seems more like tyranny of the minority than the economic mandate that the club owners are claiming.
    The argument that the smoking ban could lead to further "lifestyle-inspired legislation" is weak. The smoking ban is no more insidious than the 1990 city ordinance that banned defecation on Austin's public streets and sidewalks. It's a public health issue and nothing more (unless the American Lung Association and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, among others, have some diabolical agenda that we have yet to discover).
    If the smoking ban passes, I'll be spending more time and money in Austin clubs.

To the editor,
    I'm getting a little more than irritated with the radical Republicans taking millions of dollars from their corporate cohorts and fundamentalist Christians and using their power to try and silence the minority party altogether. They have proven that they have no ethics when it comes to their scheming and will stop at nothing to gain complete control and void out the system of checks and balances placed by our founding fathers. You won't see this news on Fox, but if the GOP gets their way say goodbye to opposing views altogether. The Republican Party is trying to create a one-party system based on the same form of government used by the Chin Dynasty in China known as legalism. That is the assumption that everyone is bad and laws must be set in place to regulate our morals. (Ironically their actions in themselves are as immoral as it gets. Tom DeLay case in point.) This is a complete slap in the face not only to Democrats, but to old-school Republicans. Lincoln must be rolling over in his grave!

Dear Editor,
    This battle over the correct view of how we came to be is muddied by fear and concern when in reality both share a commonality [evolution and creationism].
    Considering that our universe is a big bundle of energy that is still giving birth to galaxies, stars, and planets, one has to wonder if the cause of this action was God giving birth to us. Now before you begin laughing, consider that the initial energy that gave birth to the universe is still inside each of us. It has been passed down from star to star to planet to planet, to life to life and from human to human. Reproduction of everything in the universe seems to be the one law that is universal. The one exception that I take to theological teachings is that God is watching everything we do and is blessing us all the time when in reality he or she has set into motion self-preservation laws that rule our universe, our solar system, and our lives today. This would indicate that he or she is not controlling our every movement and that we have choices to make that will either make us into his image or destroy us. The choices we make to enhance our future generations are more important than our deaths because the future lies within our children and the world's children. Any human father or mother can see that ... so should our religious leaders.
    We humans should not be afraid or selfish about our dying. We should be united about our future growth as God's children.

Dear Editor,
    Normally, I disagree with Amy Babich; I believe retrofitting Austin to bicycle-based transportation (a frequent theme) is unrealistic, as much as I, too, would prefer it. However, she's spot-on [“Postmarks,” March 11] regarding the pols' only appearing to solve traffic problems.
    I agree that having more road-miles per capita here than in any other city in Texas, the congestion we so enjoy has been largely created by the way traffic is managed, and that the aim of that management is the creation of problems to be addressed with large amounts of tax money. Artificial congestion, with the resultant pollution, scares us into such absurd projects as the toll plan, and the North I-35/183 North interchange.
    Rey Washam [“Postmarks,” April 1] speaks as though City Council has let us down. However, every council meeting I've surfed into on Access has involved people advocating for themselves (us) against the council's advocacy for developers.
    The controversy over zero-access Loop 360 is no longer mentioned, developers are still calling the Barton Springs uplands a "treed-up" waste, Lick Creek is being ravaged, Pioneer Farms is being nibbled away in favor of multiple tax units on streets with names like "Horse Wagon," and North Austin has seen Parmer Lane go from a mile per minute to five minutes per mile in some sections, all to kiss developers' backsides.
    I was trained (elsewhere) to drive efficiently a transportation system both well-planned and efficiently run, which makes it very clear that Austin's system has neither of these attributes. Drivers trained locally seem, from their frequent willingness to second outrageous plans, not to recognize the difference, and to believe that things are as they are because they must be. Not so.

Dear Editor,
    Just as Pilate in the Bible had a bowl of water brought out, and he washed his hands saying he was not responsible for the death of Christ, our judges on courts that refused to hear the case on Terri Schiavo think they will be held innocent. I don't think God looks at it that way!
    Also, I feel the judge should have asked Michael to take a polygraph test to establish and give back-up that what he was saying that Terri requested was indeed true.

Dear Editor,
    John Cornyn is an embarrassment to our state and a danger to our nation ["Quote of the Week," News, April 8]. His comments this week, justifying and virtually advocating mayhem in our courts, border on being criminal. He should be impeached, if not charged criminally, for his rabid and incendiary statements linking recent violence in courts to supposedly controversial rulings by judges. As neither is likely to happen amid the Republican swoon in Washington these days, I hope that the voters will not soon forget his recklessly irresponsible behavior.

Dear Editor,
    I just arrived home from seeing Sin City based on the Chronicle's four stars and AC pick rating [Film, April 1]. I am compelled to warn other readers that this movie is essentially two straight hours of violence, much of it unnecessary. The Chronicle review mentions the violence, but buyer beware: I was so disgusted/nauseated/bored by the end that I left 25 minutes early. I am not a prude – far from it, in fact. But I don't like to be mentally battered for two hours. My advice is pay for another movie, step in for five minutes of this one so you can appreciate the cool cinematography, then spend the rest of your evening relaxing with a more enjoyable flick.

Dear Editor,
    I just read your article on feral cats and I could identify with every word of it [“City Searches for a Feral Cat Fix,” News, March 25]. I live in a mobile home park on East Riverside. Ten years ago there were no feral/abandoned cats in this park. A few years ago that started changing; what started out as four abandoned kittens blossomed into more than 50 feral and abandoned house cats. At first I was able to catch the new kittens and find them homes, but last year I was simply overwhelmed. I found several kittens either dead or who died at the vets from some sort of respiratory infection, several more were squashed by automobiles and I had had enough. I contacted Julia Hilder with the Spay/Neuter Austin Campaign and after she took a look at the situation she began trapping that same day. With her trapping and taking cats to Animal Trustees of Austin and with me taking cats to the Emancipet/Spay Neuter van we have trapped and spayed or neutered more than 44 cats, found homes for dozens of kittens, and during the last kitten season there were only two small litters from females that had slipped through the loop unnoticed. They were captured and fixed immediately. It is a continuous struggle to capture any new cat with an untipped ear that shows up at my food bowls, but it is a battle I am winning. Thank you for drawing attention to these wonderful people and their programs.
    I hope you will soon do an article on Emancipet. Their van is at different locations in Austin every Thursday and Friday. They offer free spay/neuter services, which also includes a rabies vaccination and city of Austin pet registration; both of these at no cost. At each of these locations they also offer low-cost veterinarian services. All of these services are provided on a first-come first-served basis and they are limited to the number of kennels inside of the van. They also just opened a clinic located in East Austin where they offer very low cost vet services.

Dear Editor,
    Like many Americans, I recently watched some of the news about Terri Schiavo. My heart goes out not only to all those close to her and her family but also to others who have known the pain of similar circumstances. These things are never pleasant and I would not wish such a tragedy on anyone. Still, whether fortunate or unfortunate, we here on planet Earth are simply not in control and ultimately none will survive. Nonetheless, this rite of passage is a personal journey. In such situations family members and friends each must come to their own understanding of what life is and how much they are willing to suffer or allow the victim to suffer. The kind of deep, emotional soul searching that is involved cannot be made easier with armies of reporters, cameras, cheerleaders, and – ugghh – politicians trying to speak either to you or for you. It is not something Congress, the courts, or any other third party has the capacity or authority to legislate.
    When I saw these rich, white – ahem – politicians anointing themselves as the morally righteous who were rushing to “protect the sanctity of life” I almost swallowed my tongue. In-fricking-credible! Did I miss a staff meeting or something? Aren't some of these the same rich, white men who lied to the entire world about WMD and then pre-emptively bombed 100 thousand innocent women and children into vapor? I'm not sure there is even a scale for the kind of industrial strength denial it must take to live with hypocrisy like that. The arrogance of someone with that much blood on their hands to stand in front of millions and declare themselves pro-life pillars of moral fiber is somehow both frightening and pathetic. It's as if Jesus were nothing more than a marketing tool. If Satan himself were to incarnate here among us what better hiding place could he have than wrapped in a cloak of pretense and feigned morality. I believe a wise man once said, “Be cautious of the one who carries his faith high above his head for all to see.”

Dear Editor,
    Bravo, AC, on a wonderfully absurd, and embarrassingly elaborate April Fools' Day joke. Et tu, Bruté?