What did vote ‘show’?

There were a lot of "smug" people online and among the politically active in Columbus Wednesday following the school board runoff elections. Most comments were about "showing Frank Myers."

Well, now that this has sunk in, what do those same people think about stifling any hope for change that will actually help the students get a better education? When status quo sets in, and stagnation rules, what has really changed within the system that cries out desperately for change?

Attitude shift

On July 19, NASA reported: “Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern temperature record, which dates to 1880 … The six-month period from January to June was also the planet's warmest half-year on record” — with the increased temperatures largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels. This, of course, is worrisome for all who monitor the melting of huge masses of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica, and Asia’s Tibetan Plateau, which, along with increasing heat absorbed by the oceans, add to the relentless rise in global sea levels.

More positively, there is an apparent increase in concern about climate change as evidenced in joint polling this year by George Mason University and Yale, which indicated 45% of respondents were either “alarmed” or “concerned” and 21% were “doubtful” or “dismissive.” (The 27% who were “cautious” and the 7% who were “disengaged,” have mostly been shifting to the alarmed or concerned categories.)

As worry about climate change increases, policy makers — especially in the U.S. Congress — will shift their allegiance away from their funders and to the voters who hired them. Voters are encouraged to exercise their right to work now to make this happen.

Trouble spot

At the intersection of Wynnton/Macon/Buena Vista roads, where Buena Visa heads toward 13th Street, if one is traveling west toward Uptown on Macon Road why is there no signage informing drivers in the left lane that they cannot turn right, because the traffic in the right lane can either go straight or turn right?

There is an obscure white arrow pointing straight ahead in that lane, but it is usually hidden by a vehicle parked over it. I've called the city sign department, traffic control, public safety. I was told the state is responsible for that. So … if a landscaping truck turns from the left lane and totals my 750, whom does Morgan and Morgan or Ken Nugent go after?

I drive this section of road every weekday. At least twice a month I see someone in front of me making the turn. I'm just waiting for my number to be up; a nice round number like ... $500,000?

Just saying, it would take little effort or cost to inform drivers. Just replace one of the eight other signs to one that reads “No Turns From Left Lane.” I'd hate to see the city involved in another superfluous lawsuit.

Crime and color

As an African American male, I can write this letter and not be considered a racist. Unless I am paranoid, it would seem the only persons committing crimes in Columbus and the surrounding areas are African American males. Night after night, I watch the local news, and day after day, I glance at local paper, and see the faces of African American males who has been involved in some felony: convenience store robbery, rape, either being shot, shooting or murdering someone, or some other heinous crime.

When whites are on the news or in the paper — you guess it right — it’s for meth involvement.

Is there a conspiracy to display only African Americans on the front page of local papers or highlight them on the local news? Decades ago, during my revolutionary years — and I am still committed to racial justice for all — I would have argued the white man is behind the conspiracy to parade and embarrass American Americans males on the front page and on the local evening news. Currently, I surmise that African American males are committing felonies, which gives the white man the opportunity to legally print and showcase them on the local news as criminals, reprobates and thugs.

Offers of aid

I wanted to express my thanks to the five unknown people who stopped to see if I needed any help when I was changing a flat tire on my police vehicle. It only took 20 minutes to change the tire, and I was at Talbotton Road and 27th Street.

I changed the tire myself, but it felt great to have the support of that many people in Columbus in the heat of the day to stop and get out of their vehicles to see if I needed help. Thank you to those five people, and thank you, Columbus.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "What did vote ‘show’?."