Letters: Thanks for paving, urge passage of wilderness bill, housing still an issue

Happy for paving job

Hats off to the asphalt crew that completed the overdue paving job on Tunnel Road between Ind. 45 and Riddle Point Park. How nice to have such a nice road to drive on, complete with entryways onto the various driveways. Nice going, guys!

Doug Walters, Unionville

Help pass Senate bill establishing recreation area

On Sept. 28, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun introduced the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act of 2023 (S.B. 2990), which would add approximately 15,300 acres to the Charles Deam Wilderness in Hoosier National Forest (HNF), more than doubling its size, and establish the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area on 29,382 acres of HNF land surrounding the Deam.

This action would help protect the drinking water (sourced from Lake Monroe) of over 130,000 Hoosiers, including Bloomington residents, while also expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation and tourism. This is a big deal.

If you enjoy exploring Indiana’s national forest; if you value wilderness; if you want protected habitat for native animals and plants; if you appreciate the carbon-absorbing capacity of mature trees; if you love hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, bird-watching, camping, etc., then contact U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin and ask her to introduce a companion bill to S.B. 2990 in the House. Also ask Sen. Todd Young to cosponsor S.B. 2990. This is an incredible opportunity, and your action is needed NOW.

This legislation must pass before Sen. Braun leaves office next year.

Karen Smith, Bloomington

No response reveals priorities

Thank you, Congresswoman Erin Houchin, for being so responsive to your constituents' needs. At a time when we're concerned about myriad domestic and international problems, and at a time when public confidence in Congress is rock-bottom, you joined your Republican colleagues in taking the very serious and historically rare action of voting for an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

You did so on the basis of ... well, what?

I called your office recently and asked whether you've seen a single piece of credible evidence that the president might have committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" and never received a response.

It's clear that you, and the American people, haven't seen such evidence. But the revenge impeachment proceeding, which should cheer the former Charlatan-in-Chief, is going ahead anyway. Thank you for so clearly revealing your own priorities.

David Szonyi, Bloomington

Positive developments have problem: housing

The Herald-Times Dec. 19 stories on the investment of NHanced Semiconductors in Monroe County and of Indiana University’s construction of graduate apartments both highlight a similar problem in Bloomington: housing.

Regarding NHanced Semiconductors, the possibility of creating 250 jobs with annual incomes of $100,000 is great news. However, what Bloomington needs is not necessarily 250 additional households with incomes greatly exceeding the average income of the area. This will only raise housing prices that currently average around $400,000.

IU’s new apartments are ridiculously priced for graduate students, a fact that was highlighted in The Herald-Times article. I wonder what IU will do to help students that have to commute from outside Bloomington. Perhaps they could open up a Mercedes-Benz dealership? Maybe they could also open a Dean and Deluca store to help out with food insecurity?

Both of these stories are positive, and I do not mean to sound so negative. However, a $1,300/month, one-bedroom apartment for a graduate student and a multi-billion dollar company paying no property taxes for 10 years do not seem like steps in the right direction.

The housing problems in Bloomington will not be solved overnight. Additionally, the inability of the city to annex the surrounding area in order to increase tax revenue due to the state legislature does not bode well for any solution soon.

Professor Daleke pointed out that the housing problems of Bloomington are due to years of poor decision making. Let us hope that good decisions are made, especially so that those members of the community desperately needing housing can find a place to call home.

Nicholas Wyant, Bloomington

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Letters: Urging support of Deam Wilderness bill, criticizing Houchin