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
    About five years ago a developer purchased the property at the intersection of Spicewood Springs Road and Yaupon Drive immediately west of Loop 360. This beautiful, environmentally sensitive open space adjacent to Bull Creek was to be turned into a boutique hotel. The local community fought the proposal and delayed it.
    During the July 29th City Council Meeting the Council will have an opportunity to acquire the property and add it to the system of parks along Bull Creek. The agenda item is 98. I encourage you to contact your Council Member and Mayor Adler and encourage them to purchase this property for ALL the citizens of Austin. For today's citizens and those in the future that enjoy swimming, fishing and hiking along Austin's Hill Country creeks.

Dear Editor,
    In recent years, the idea of “community policing” has become popularized and touted as a solution to police violence against civilians. But when police forces are able to acquire excess military weapons at very little cost and with little oversight or transparency, they undermine their own ability to protect their community and its members. The 1033 Program was instituted in 1997 to fight the elusive and destructive “War on Terror” and “War on Drugs” in our communities. Through the 1033 Program, administered by the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), local and state law enforcement agencies can request equipment from DLA through their state coordinators. Such equipment includes but is not limited to riot shields, holsters, binoculars, digital cameras, various types of land vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, and weapons. According to the DLA, “As of June 2020, there are around 8,200 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies from 49 states and four U.S. territories participating in the program.” Yahoo Finance analyzed DLA data to reveal that more than $5 billion worth of military equipment has been transferred to local police departments since the year 2000. Texas acquired $131.3 million worth of equipment: the second-highest total acquisition value after California. Records from the Pentagon show that the Austin Police Department acquired $736,653.55 worth of equipment including pistols, rifles, and a mine-resistant vehicle in about a 4 year period from 2010-14. With very little oversight or transparency due to lax tracking, police departments continue to militarize at virtually no cost and utilize military equipment to carry out attacks against civilians. Austinites need to be aware of the 1033 Program and how it has led to militarization of our city.

Dear Editor,
    The Judge Sebron Sneed House needs to be preserved and saved. This house needs to be saved and rebuilt. It would be a terrible thing to tear this house down. Every effort needs to be made to rebuild and restore it. I first became aware of it in the book Texas Houses of the 19th Century. I also lived in Tyler,Texas. I truly love the state of Texas and its history and historical landmarks. I have an AA Degree in history. The Judge Sneed House can and must be preserved. It should never have been allowed to deteriorate. It needs to be brought back and be preserved for future generations. Please do not let this piece of history go to waste. Historians and preservationists need to act fast before it is too late. Plantation houses and landmarks from the 19th century should never be demolished or allowed to disappear.

Dear Editor,
   On the Proposal to Cut the Police Budget by One-Third of One Percent
    There’s a giant lawnmower in a not-so-distant heaven
   whose blades cut the air above my house so furiously
   that a substance as quiet and freely given as air
   is churned into a noise that echoes to the edges of heaven.
    It rocks the blossoms of my garden
   or wakes me up at night when it flies low.
   Ever since the protests God knows how much gas it’s spent
   circling like a buzzard that buzzes and doesn’t rest.
    What are you watching for? Another sign of unrest,
   like a teenager dressed for work in an essential business
   with his hands held high above his head
   to film from the heights of an interstate overpass
    The crowds that less lethal rounds
   of rubber bullets and lead shot cut down,
   until a bag of lead hit him in his head
   and fractured his skull?
    We only cut things as clear as youth or air,
   the mayor explained in a city council meeting.
   Black lives matter in the market,
   but we’re not here to cut the police budget.
    We cut through skulls, pregnant bellies, and men with their hands up,
   but not things that can be cut with a pen.
   Let this city be a sanctuary for your tired, your wounded,
   your ailing corporate earnings yearning
    to be free, the mayor said, raising his hands above his head.
   And no one cut him down.
    Now, the blades continue to cut
   the air above my house as the grass in the garden grows higher.
   It’s summer and they’re hoping we’re tired,
    but we’re just waking up.

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for including Road Trip Potty in your article [“Day Trips: Potty Breaks,” Day Trips, July 17] on potty breaks! We are honored and thrilled that we can provide females an option during this time when fewer and fewer restrooms are open.

Dear Editor,
    “Cyclists Banned From Butler Trail.” That’s what the headline will read if cyclists don’t slow the F down on Butler Trail! I’ve ridden my bicycle on the trails since the Eighties. On some of the downhills, I come close to 10 mph, the rest of the time around 5 mph. Unfortunately, some of the macho shitheads weaving in and out of pedestrians at 20 mph+ are going to get us ALL banned. To them, I have one word: VELOWAY. No, there’s not an audience to be wowed by your cycling skills at the Veloway, but you can go as fast as you want. There’s no love for cyclists out on Butler Trail anyway. Do you remember Cyclo-cross?  I didn’t think so. That’s because the ruling class doesn’t want cyclists on the trails or in the parks. So keep it up and the headline “Cyclists Banned From Butler Trail” will soon be in our future.