Letters to the editor: New streetlights responsible for light pollution

Letters to the editor present the opinions of readers on news stories and other pieces published by The Sun.

Light pollution

I applaud Gainesville Regional Utilities’ decision to upgrade all streetlights to energy-efficient LED. However, the new lights are extremely bright and cause excess light pollution that trespasses onto property not intended to be illuminated. It is also harmful to nocturnal wildlife.

An inexpensive solution to this is a simple shield around the light bulb that blocks the harsh view of the direct light source and directs the light toward the ground, where it belongs. When I called the appropriate city department recently to request a streetlight shield for a streetlight near my home, I was surprised to hear that they had never heard of light shields.

I believe keeping our night sky dark is healthy for all and is a goal shared by most people in our community. This website has a lot more info on this topic: darksky.org.

Martin Kavanaugh, Gainesville 

More letters:

Reader views: Eliminating single-family zoning can have unforeseen effects

Beneficial program

I would like to give a big thank you to all of the people who helped make our recent GRU LEEP program requirements an easy process.

Robert Wiley and Scott from GRU were available, helpful, professional and a pleasure to work with throughout the process. The GRU energy assessment resulted in my sister and nephew acquiring a brand new Trane air conditioner system for their home. It has already proved to be beneficial! The contractor chosen from the four estimates was Comfort Temp. The Comfort Temp team worked hard all day long and did an outstanding job installing the new AC handler and unit.

For those of you in our community wondering about LEEP, it’s a program which assists low- and moderate-income customers with home improvements such as new AC systems, new insulation and water heaters in order to reduce their customer’s energy use. I would highly recommend GRU customers looking into this program to see if they qualify.

We are very appreciative of GRU and everyone involved in the LEEP program. If interested, you can find out more by visiting www.GRU.com/LEEP.

Tina Kercheval, Gainesville 

Remembers POWs and MIAs

Sept. 16 is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. It is a day to solemnly pause to remember and honor the commitments and sacrifices made by our nation’s prisoners of war and those who remain missing in action from all wars.

About 81,500 soldiers are still unaccounted for from all past wars. And still their families wait. There are still 1,584 MIAs from the Vietnam War, including 53 from Florida. Official U.S. intelligence indicates that Americans known to have been alive or in captivity in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were not returned at the end of the war.

Please pause a moment on Sept. 16 to recognize America’s POWs/MIAs. Please write to your congressional representatives and senators to ensure bipartisan support for a full and accurate accounting of our MIAs. We as a nation must never forget their sacrifices and we must pledge to bring them home. We must continue to tell the story that without the service and sacrifice of American service men and women, there would not be a United States of America.

I am one of the fortunate family members who have an answer — my brother, SFC Alan L. Boyer, who wet MIA March 28, 1968 in Laos, was identified and buried in Arlington National Cemetery in June 2016, almost 48 years to the day he disappeared.

Judi Boyer Bouchard, Newberry

Educational movies

Recently, several subscribers' submitted a joint letter pointing out the profound health dangers of obesity, leading to heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea and COVID-19. They urged readers to change their diets and exercise.

I agree. For a more insightful, educational and entertaining follow-up, I would urge those of you that truly want to lose weight, become healthier, live longer and reduce their reliance on medications, to view two movies: “The Game Changers” and “What the Health.” Both can be viewed on either Netflix or YouTube, for free.

Stuart Floyd, Gainesville

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on light pollution, GRU, POWs and MIAs, and Netflix movies