Without e-bikes, how will students get to school?
If the Orange County school board wants to regulate or ban e-bikes and scooters, they need to provide other options for student transportation to school (“Orange County School Board may ban e-bikes at elementary, middle schools,” July 8).
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Not all parents have work schedules that accommodate drop-off and pickup. School bus runs can be over an hour to get to a school that is only a few miles away because of the shortage of drivers and consolidated bus routes. Walking in the dark, on roads without sidewalks, or in inclement weather is no safer than riding.
Safety precautions should certainly be taken, but realistically we can’t even get licensed drivers to follow the rules.
— Joanne Schoelkopf, Winter Park
Urban planning can protect history
The City Council’s recent decision to pass a 36-month moratorium on our Downtown Historic Preservation District is a deeply disappointing step backward for Orlando. What is most alarming is the complete lack of meaningful public input. An ordinance with such massive implications for our city’s heritage was rushed forward with almost no warning, suggesting it was quietly drawn up months ago behind closed doors, heavily influenced by developers who view our history as a roadblock rather than an asset.
When people talk about what makes downtown Orlando special, they don’t point to the generic glass towers. They talk about the character of our cool, historic buildings — the very places that give our city its soul. Blaming the Historic Preservation Board for downtown’s retail struggles is a smoke screen. The truth is that many of the newly constructed buildings downtown sit with empty, unused storefronts because retail has never been a cohesive part of the city’s redevelopment strategy.
Furthermore, expecting thriving retail on Orange Avenue while it remains a high-speed, multi-lane, one-way thoroughfare is wishful thinking. Until Orange Avenue is converted into a pedestrian-friendly, two-way street that naturally slows down traffic and invites people to walk, retail will continue to fail — regardless of how many historic storefronts we sacrifice. The city needs to stop catering to developer timelines and start focusing on smart, community-driven urban planning that protects the history we can never get back.
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— Diane Martens, Orlando
A temporary solution for NPA voters
As a July 4 letter-writer pointed out (“Register to make primary difference”), no-party-affiliated voters should register with a party: the party determined by the race you are most concerned about! If necessary, change your party affiliation 29 days before the next primary. Repeat, until Florida becomes an open-primary state.
— Jeanne Tanke, Daytona Beach
Why are socialists allowed to run?
Why are socialists and communists allowed to run for office in the United States? America welcomes people of all views and persuasions in the population, but in leadership positions, why would anyone who I believe favors removal of our hard-won, God-given freedoms be allowed into leadership at any level? As President Trump so aptly described it, communism is our Constitution’s mortal enemy.
Unfortunately, I believe Americans have been so brainwashed over the past half-century by infiltrators who have dictated our beliefs by writing our textbooks, invading our schools at every level and taking over our media and entertainment, that many Americans have lost track of reality.
Fortunately, I believe the blast of reality is about to come. Let us hope that our prayers for those facing judgment for their acts against America will bring a change of heart and hopefully acceptance of the faith which most Americans share, bringing many into the heavenly kingdom being established on the Earth.
— Elizabeth Hinesley, Delray Beach
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