> SOUTHERN INDIANA — An open letter to the mayor of Louisville



Dear Mayor Fischer,

I live in New Albany and work on Shelbyville Road in Louisville. Let me start by saying that I love Louisville. I cannot vote for any official in Louisville, but I do pay taxes to Louisville, Jefferson County and St. Matthews. I also do the majority of my shopping in Louisville and spend most of my dinning out and entertainment money in Louisville.

I lived through the Sherman Minton Bridge closure. It was no one’s fault and everyone did the best they could to get around. Then came the Interstate 71 construction — again it was no one’s fault, was necessary and the timing was messed up because of the bridge closure.

Now we have the Kennedy bridge construction and Interstate 65 construction. Again, both are necessary and the timing was messed up because of the bridge closure. I know that no one planned it to be this way.

I have seen my commute home go from 30 minutes to now two hours. What makes me mad is that this is unnecessary. Recently, there was a traffic officer directing traffic at Brook and Main streets. I thought, wow someone sees where the problem is and is correcting it. My normal 45 minute wait on Main went down to 25 or 30 minutes. Well everything changed a few days later.

There was no one directing traffic at Brook and Main and the right-hand turn lane was closed between First and Second streets — for what appeared to be a private construction project to refurbish the buildings on this block. My wait for four or five blocks on Main was 90 minutes. Why would anyone even consider closing a turn lane between First and Second with the traffic mess we now have?

Here are a few things that would help greatly.

1. Reopen the turn lane between First and Second Street. What were they thinking?

2. Put the traffic officer back at Brook and Main streets.

3. Place traffic cones down the center of Main Street from Second to Brook; this would help stop lane jumpers. They had them from Second to First during the bridge closure.

4. Have the traffic officer that is always parked on Main by the Clark Memorial Bridge actually get out of the car and help with traffic. The only time I have seen them out of their air conditioned car is when they are talking to other officers.

— Doug Whitworth, New Albany





Tourism director clarifies statement in article about LST



On Thursday, July 19, the News and Tribune published a letter from LCDR Jim McCoskey, USN Retired who voiced comments with regard to the concept of relocating the USS LST-325 from Evansville to Jeffersonville.

Mr. McCoskey’s love for the Navy and his belief that such vessels used in World War II should be revered and honored is self-evident. I applaud him for his patriotic fervor and devotion. There were, however, statements in his letter that I believe need clarification.

He refers to an article that appeared in the Courier-Journal in which statements he considers to be derogatory were made pertaining to the USS LST-325. The statements, including one in which the vessel is referred to as a “rusty old thing” came from individuals in the community but were inadvertently attributed to the Board of Managers of the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention-Tourism Bureau.

I would like to set the record straight. The Board of Managers supports a study of the feasibility of relocating the vessel to Jeffersonville and believes that any substantial action on the part of the community be based upon the results of that study.

The board as a whole, and its individual members, expressed no opinion beyond their 100 percent support for undertaking a study regarding the merits of such a move. Relocating a floating museum of the caliber of the USS LST-325 is a serious undertaking and merits significant study before taking any action.

The Board of Managers considers this an issue that deserves proper study and evaluation, both because of the impact of relocating the vessel to our community and because of the respect with which a vessel such as the USS LST-325 deserves.

— Jim Keith, Executive Director, Clark-Floyd Counties Convention-Tourism Bureau





Reader: Search the scriptures



Search the scriptures. When all is gloom and doom and you are feeling alone to fight the good fight against the Goliaths of the world, get the Bible off the shelf, blow off the dust that has accumulated over the course of nonuse and read it.

It is the only salvation for America and the rest of humanity today. It isn’t enough saying it’s God’s will for these catastrophes and phenomenon to happen. In fact, it is the opposite — man’s weak use of God’s power or the lack of correct purposeful use of divine power.

So in reality, it is man’s pitiful will that is trumping God’s plan, and for well more than 2,000 years, we all know how that katzenjammer will eventually end.

— Leroy J. Heil, Jeffersonville