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 mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    The proposed changes to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas are immoral. Imagine that your employer promised you a pension for working 30 years, then two decades later changed the rules so you have to work 11 extra years before retiring.
    This could happen to thousands of teachers if SB 1458/HB 1884 is passed. The old system allows teachers to retire when their age and years of service total 80 years. The new law would require they also be 62 years old. There is a “grandfather” clause that exempts teachers who are 50 years old or have age and service totaling 70 years. But a 45-year-old teacher with 23 years of service is out of luck. Instead of retiring in 6 years as promised, he or she would have to work 17 more years.
    Does your child have a dedicated teacher in his or her mid-forties? Is it right to change his or her contract 20 years into a career? When did it become acceptable to attack our hard-working teachers?
    Please ask your senator and/or representative to vote against SB 1458/HB 1884.

Dear Editor,
    If you haven't seen Austin musician Jon Dee Graham live, then you don't know what you have been missing. I just had the pleasure of seeing him in a small listening room in Newport, Ky. In his early 50s, he has likely been playing for more than three decades. He has to be one of the most down-to-earth and gracious musicians I have ever seen. It is obvious that he loves what he does for a living and truly cares for his fellow human beings. His distinct voice, incredible guitar playing, and, of course, his songwriting make him an Austin treasure. He ended the evening in a way I have never experienced at any live music performance. The small room he was playing in was beneath one of the venue's other listening rooms. The band onstage upstairs was plugged in and quite loud. Jon Dee did not whine or complain, but did admit that he just simply couldn't hear himself any longer. He decided to end his set by taking a few requests. For the last song, he actually took the small crowd out to the parking lot and played one final song in a light rain, accompanied by opening act, Austin's Mike June. What a surprising and unique end to an amazing evening of music with Jon Dee Graham. Thank you, Jon Dee! Austin, please show him some love when he is home. You certainly will never leave the show disappointed.

   [Editor’s note: Jon Dee Graham's son William Harries Graham blogs weekly for the Chronicle.]

Dear Editor,
    It might be curtains for Kevin Curtin after his music listing for the April 22 Stubb’s show with Danzig and his former Misfit Doyle [Music Listings, April 19].
    Sounds to me like Curtin is trying to make the Dark Lord out to be an unsuccessful drama queen in his reference to the 2011 performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest. I was there, and his ebony Hair Club plugs had given birth to hair black as a raven’s wing.
    The mention of French onion soup went over my head. Careful where ye tread, Curtin … as I write this, Danzig might be doing his 666th bicep curl in anticipation of meeting you.
    All it took for me was to post a poll on his official website message board to get kicked off. I asked fans if after a big Taco Bell meal would the miasma issuing from Danzig’s Southern Hemisphere smell like 1) sulphur, 2) brimstone, or 3) KFC.
    Godspeed Danzig’s swift departure and your safe existence, Curtin.

Dear Editor,
   
   Now that Austin has enacted the plastic bag ban, when are we going to tackle styrofoam cups and containers?

Dear Editor,
    Today I was driving down a small side street approaching West Anderson Lane when a woman riding a bicycle on the sidewalk (with a small child in a baby seat) crossed right in front of me without looking to see whether there were any cars approaching the intersection. Fortunately, I was able to stop in time and not hit her, but a friend of mine in Houston was seriously injured in a similar situation – she was riding on the sidewalk and a car pulling out of a garage ran into her. Houston ordinances forbid bicycling on the sidewalk in any business district, but Austin rules only forbid it on a handful of Downtown streets. Many bicycle safety groups recommend not riding on the sidewalk because of reduced visibility to drivers and the risk of being hit by a car turning right into a driveway. As Austin becomes more of a big city, it is time for it to adopt an ordinance similar to Houston’s and forbid bicycling on sidewalks in business districts.