Congressman Ken Calvert’s restraint should be applauded

In response to David Vignolo's Jan. 19 letter to the editor, Congressman Ken Calvert's silence reflects his effort to not create more division by calling out the very obvious failures of the House leadership and the Capitol Hill Police. His restraint should be applauded but others need to call out the false narrative that the bureaucrats have manufactured.

One unarmed person was killed by a Capitol police officer and eight others died during or subsequent to the events of Jan. 6 of natural or other causes.

A group of untrained, undisciplined, leaderless, disorganized and frightened police officers allowed a crowd of protesters to turn into a mob and allowed the mob to enter the Capitol. Provocateurs within the crowd spurred the group on. Some of the Capitol Hill police officers were so frightened that they suffered PTSD, heart and other problems and one was so frightened he shot and killed an unarmed lady coming through a window and suffered no consequences except that he, along with other officers, received a medal for his courage from President Joe Biden.

The House leadership, in its failure to protect the Capitol, and the Biden Justice Department have let us down and helped to destroy our faith in once-respected institutions.

Police officers across the country have suffered disciplinary action, firing, or jail time for lesser actions. The Capitol Hill Police should be disbanded and replaced by military police where discipline, training and meritocracy still prevail.

Richard A. Siltanen, Rancho Mirage

Why not bring more traffic coverage to The Desert Sun?

There was a writer (Colin Atagi) for the “old” Desert Sun whose column was primarily on valley traffic and work being done on local roads. I found his column of interest and helpful. Now there is something called "Riverside County Traffic Relief Plan" that’s currently underway. There are traffic cones, traffic horses and yellow “caution” ribbons in so many places that I’m sure a lot of people are wondering “what’s going on?”

I don’t recall seeing any coverage in the paper on this and I’m not the only one. How about updates on this program for readers?

Also, in a number of smaller and local newspapers in the Chicago area, they have what is called a “police blotter.” These list local types of incidents and where they occur just so people are aware of what’s happening in their neighborhoods. Examples are broken car windows, house or small business break-ins, graffiti, etc. Just things for people to be on the alert for. Any chance of this type of local news being published?

Ron Zimmerman, Palm Springs

As a retired teacher, I agree that raising teacher pay is a CVUSD Board decision

I would like to respond to Sabby Jonathan's Jan. 19 letter to the editor regarding CVUSD teacher pay. While I appreciate Mr. Jonathan's opinion, I believe it is necessary to clarify a few important details.

Mr. Jonathan is quick to point out that teachers in California are paid significantly higher than the national average. While this statement is true, it is also true that California currently ranks as the 44th “best” state for teachers to live with 48% of their income going toward rent, on average. As a retired teacher myself, I am admittedly biased.

However, I also know firsthand the amount of unpaid hours teachers put in before and after school, grading papers and writing lesson plans on the weekends, and the weeks spent before the school year starts setting up classrooms. Not to mention the personal funds used to provide basic necessities for our students. Mr. Jonathan and I don't agree on much but on one point we are both resolute: This question can only be answered by the CVUSD Board and their constituents. See you at the polls.

Bettyann Sherrell, Rancho Mirage

The self-righteous certainty of the 'wokerati' is what’s so annoying

In her Jan. 15 column, Debra Vogler encapsulates what’s wrong with the wokerati when she wrote, “A politician who says they can’t stand ‘woke this’ or ‘woke that’ is telling me they have no interest in taking other people’s feelings and opinions into account.” No. When a politician says they can’t stand “woke this” or “woke that,” you’re hearing they have no interest in taking other people’s feelings and opinions into account. It’s that complete sense of self-righteous certainty that is so annoying—and dangerous—about zealots and ideologues of all stripes.

Marshall Krantz, Palm Springs

Local golf courses are not in a dire situation

The Desert Sun's Jan. 13 front-page story, “A Dire Situation” was good. However, the print headline accompanying it was misleading.

First, the situation in the desert is hardly dire; it is eminently manageable. As pointed out at the end of the story, golf courses in California’s coastal areas are not just managing, but prospering under much more onerous circumstances. Coachella Valley golf courses have been working with local water districts for years to wean themselves off groundwater, convert to recycled water and reduce overall water consumption. Ramping those efforts up to meet the higher bar created by the hallowing out of the Colorado Basin won’t be much of a stretch for the desert’s golf course superintendents.

Second, it was the golf community that rounded up more than 160 golf course superintendents, general managers, golf professionals, club directors and representatives of the state’s major leading golf organizations to listen to what we understood was going to be a powerful message about the need to ramp up conservation efforts. Why? Because we wanted to share with the entire desert golf community the need to begin working with Coachella Valley Water District and the other providers to do just that.

Chris Bien, Palm Desert

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Congressman Ken Calvert’s restraint should be applauded