Missing the Letters

They were the voice from the readers and thinkers in the community.

Whether reasonable or not, the disappearance of the Letters section is sad, as it silences a key part of the American “conversation” in the media.

“Letters” was only a small corner of the paper.

What caused the cancellation? 

Was an MJ money-sponsor offended by someone’s Letter? 

Sounds ominous. 

We hope Letters can resume someday. (If only to praise ideas from your writers or politely take issue with an idea or current event.)

They can certainly be pre-screened for targeted offensiveness, and limited in length. 

It is admittedly a crazy-ish time to be a thinking, reflective human nowadays.

But suppressing all questions & opinions submitted by the readers sounds a bit… like a 1st Amendment problem. 

I wonder what happened to the “fair and balanced inclusion” of the readers’ voices. Media is a conversation with the public, after all. 

“Conversation” means a two-way discourse about things that matter.

Maybe a future version of Letters can be included in the Online version?

Yet, it would be more difficult to access that way, as the print version is still always enjoyable to pick up and hold, no matter one’s age (or eyesight.)

Would someone with means be able to “sponsor” the Letters section to make it “fiscally feasible,” like the Real Estate Section?

Maybe someday. 

Sincerely,
LeeAnn Morgan 

Understanding Irony

I had a hard time comprehending the import of Jeff Wing’s column about Christians in Congress. “Congress’ fealty to Jesus Christ has informed the legislation produced by this legislative body.” Was he being ironic? I couldn’t quite tell. 

Overseeing the largest transfer of wealth to the richest in the country? Forget getting through the eye of that needle, ye who voted for this. Cutting SNAP benefits? You tell ‘em: no more loaves and fishes, kids. Driving the poorest off Medicaid with paperwork requirements while bankrupting rural hospitals? Well, who wants to heal the sick anyway?

The Pharisees prioritized strict obedience to the Law; for the Congressional majority, the Law is Trump (ask John Roberts). The Sadducees were the wealthy powerful ones; they ran (and profited from) the Temples; Christ threw the moneychangers out of the Temple. 

No wonder Christ was called a heretic. He was just too damn woke. 

For me, the Temple of our democracy is the Congress. Time to cleanse it once more. No irony here.

Cotty Chubb

Rules of the Road

On Friday, August 8, 2025, at 11:45 pm, I was witness to five young boys – 5th graders or older – riding electric bikes up San Ysidro Road headed north starting shortly after the San Ysidro roundabout. They proceeded to take up the entire lane, going at least 30 mph and weaving in and out, doing wheelies in the middle of the street. As they approached the red light by Montecito Union School, they all veered into the left-hand turn lane to turn left. Instead of turning left, they all swerved in front of my car that was in the single lane going straight, and continued their audacious zigging and zagging up San Ysidro Road until they reached East Valley Road. 

I kept a safe distance from them, as they were unpredictable and flaunted the rules of the road. It was if they “owned” the street and could commit egregious vehicular violations for which a registered car would have been pulled over and cited; for endangering others, let alone themselves. At the San Ysidro Road and East Valley Road intersection, the signal was red and they all chose to gather on the right side of the road to chit chat. 

When the light turned green I was in the left-hand turn lane. They all not only swerved in front of my car (which hadn’t moved since I didn’t trust their antics), they did so in front of opposing traffic driving south through the intersection, causing all the traffic to stop. One kid lagging behind just tore through like the wind, no signaling, just putting his hand up to stop all the cars going south on San Ysidro while he turned in front of them. 

The boys continued their antics after I turned left and so I slowed down so they would pass me on the right so I could safely turn right into the Upper Village parking lot. I feared that they might erratically speed up from behind and my turn might endanger them, as they were hugging my blind spot. These young men were old enough to know better, know the rules of the road, but none of them seemed to care about their own safety or the safety of others. 

This group was the worst I’ve seen as they zig-zagged, wheelied and did multiple crazy swerves from left lanes and right lanes in front of oncoming traffic that had the right-of-way. Parents, if your son was out with four other friends around this time in Montecito, I’d consider having a serious conversation with them about safety and consider taking their powerful electric bikes away from them for a long time. 

I was told that several people called the highway patrol to report the incident. The bikes were going at least 28 mph if not 30 mph, which is too much speed for a youngster to be driving that doesn’t have the maturity or sense to know how to properly drive an E-bike, and from what I witnessed today, none of these boys had any sense of safety for themselves or others. 

No one wants to see a child hurt. Putting a powerful motorized bike in the hands of inexperienced and reckless drivers puts the liability squarely on their parent’s shoulders. A motorcycle helmet might protect their heads – but not their bodies – from the very busy noon intersection of San Ysidro Road and East Valley Road. On any given day, there are HUGE construction trucks on either of these roads and their visibility is often not the best. Please talk to your children and educate them on the safety on all bikes, but especially fast-moving E-bikes.  

L J