Transit Office Rerouted
Dear Editor,
Mayor [Kirk] Watson was too hasty in derailing the Austin Transit Partnership’s plans for a shiny new office. The ATP should be allowed to spend $47 million to rent office space. The issue isn’t the money, it’s the location.
Instead of a high-rise on Congress Ave., ATP should spend $47 million – or more! – renting Dawson Elementary, Bedichek Middle School, or one of the other AISD campuses that are shuttering soon. These campuses are prime real estate with ample space, and the rent money would be a much-needed infusion for our struggling school district.
Cameron Dodd
Music to My Ears
Dear Editor,
Earlier in April, the Austin Symphony Orchestra created community.
A Russian-born guitarist performed a hauntingly beautiful work by a Spanish pianist and in doing so enchanted a diverse Texas audience from the first to last note.
Tuxedo- and jean-clad patrons alike rose as one to honor Grisha Goryachev, a master of flamenco and classical guitar. Flamenco, he noted, “moves me so much that I want to cry.” I’m sure I was not the only audience member similarly affected by the central adagio of composer Joaquin Rodrigo’s subtly breathtaking Concierto de Aranjuez.
Rodrigo’s wife, Victoria, said her husband, who is blind, wrote the movement in response to the miscarriage of their first child. Joaquin and Victoria’s sorrow touches us all.
Music affirms our humanity. In a world torn by division it brings us together. It nourishes our soul.
Barbara Chiarello
Takin’ It to the Streets
Dear Editor,
Stuart Hay had the guts to call Democratic Party opposition to Trump “farcical” in his useless opinion piece [“Opinion: Why Are We Not Doing More to Stand Up to Trump’s Tyranny?,” Columns, April 17]. I wish he had the intelligence to list the actions they should be taking. That would be useful.
Demonstrations in the streets can be effective, but most of us are working folks who do not have time to be permanently in the streets – a useless suggestion.
Loel Graber
Chilling Effect
Dear Editor,
Thank you for your opinion piece regarding the culpability of all Americans in the current war [“Opinion: Why Are We Not Doing More to Stand Up to Trump’s Tyranny?,” Columns, April 17]. Your final line, “we are all terrorists,” is chilling. But people need to read it!
I hope that your article will get picked up in other publications and spread far and wide. I wholeheartedly agree that the equally upsetting situation is other elected officials sitting on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing as we destroy other countries, insult our allies, and dismantle the infrastructure of our democracy.
Keep up the good work.
Sheila Andrews
This article appears in April 24 • 2026.