UK should build more housing on campus and leave historic neighborhoods alone | Opinion

Campus housing

Tell the University of Kentucky to put their dorms on campus.

UK once again has a master plan that’s placing its bottom line above the well-being of the surrounding neighborhoods. They’ve already disconnected the Rose Street parking deck from Rose Street and bottlenecked traffic in the neighborhood on Woodland Avenue. The area becomes a snarled mess centered around Maxwell Elementary School every morning and afternoon. UK needs to keep its high-cost student housing on their state-owned land. There are 13 acres of open land where two residential towers once stood. UK should use that space and leave our neighborhoods alone.

The 13 houses that would be demolished on Maxwell Street have been neglected by one owner that collected the land for this project, but they are solid.

Cliff Kaye, Lexington

Barr response

In a recent Op-Ed on Gaza, I said that a lobbying outfit, AIPAC, pays for political influence. Four sentences into U.S. Rep. Andy Barr’s (R-Ky.) response Letter to the Editor, the Congressman threw antisemitism at me. He missed the polemic and twisted a financial observation into an indirect libel. A primary theme of his letter is that to criticize him is to criticize Israel and that to criticize Israel is antisemitic. Now, that is nice work if you can get it. Ask the lobbyists of AIPAC, Exxon Mobile, and Bank of America why they do what they do, and they’ll confirm what Barr publicly denies. Is it antisemitic to repeat an Open Records line item? In 2022, Barr received more than $75,000 from pro-Israeli entities.

Congress might draw from AIPAC’s competing Gazan firm were it not for the skies full of Israeli bombs that make Gazan corpses one with the debris that buries them.

There’s much more to say about the Gaza death camp and how to render it, but I’ve exceeded my 200 words.

Todd Kelly, Lexington

Nicholasville’s finest

During one of my daily walks last week, I encountered a team of Nicholasville firefighters in Lake Mingo Park. From a distance, I saw three people, a shiny red fire truck and a beautiful dalmatian named Ashes. As I approached, I asked if I could take a picture of the team and Ashes, which they graciously allowed me to do that.

I’d like to share these pictures of Nicholasville’s Finest who often risk their lives in pursuit of saving the lives of others. And, during this holiday season, I would like to acknowledge and thank all our brave uniformed first responders for the great job they do. We appreciate you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Steve Nusbaum, Nicholasville

Poisoned blood

Former President Donald Trump says immigrants are “poisoning the blood of this country.” How does Trump think this country was made? Maybe Trump needs a few lessons in American history.

Bob Sutton, Springfield

Southeastern KY colleges

Reading the Kentucky CPE study on the feasibility of placing a 4-year, state-owned university in Southeastern Kentucky seems to me to be a complete waste of time. Barely any statistic in that study reveals anything new that the people of Kentucky don’t already know. At the same time, it seems to insult the notion of studying the idea in the first place.

Everybody knows the heart of Eastern Kentucky has statistically low numbers of people with a college degree and that the diversity of jobs there is scarce.

Yet, the study suggests that two of the three options to put a university in SE KY is “problematic” and “expensive.” More-or-less it seems to advocate not trying to continue with the idea and instead focus on sending more funding to existing community and technical colleges in the region.

There were very few suggestions on what cities (outside of Hazard) were even looked at to do such a transition. Additionally, the study authors seemed to push aside the idea of taking other private, public community colleges or satellite college campuses, i.e., Lees College at the Hazard Community and Technical College, and transitioning them to a 4-year college.

It’s a slap in the face.

Brandon Gross, Jackson

Editor’s Note: In a previous “Letters to the Editor,” a heading for a letter could have been misconstrued as support for Hamas which was not the writer’s intent. We regret the misunderstanding.

Compiled by Liz Carey