Dear Editor,

Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles contractor services are here to stay as our governor cuts state spending. I recently did five transactions that could not be done online or by mail, and could not get a state of Alaska DMV appointment. It cost me $150 in contractor fees in addition to the state DMV fees.

Dunleavy is costing residents money while claiming to reduce spending. If a contractor does the work, the state fees should be reduced.

Richard Frost

Dear Editor,

The Motivity Dance Collective would like to sincerely thank Sean Crosby, Suzanne Torian and the Board of the Kachemak Shellfish Mariculture Association for the generous donation of the deck of the oyster house on the Homer spit for our debut performance, “Emerge.” It was a perfect outdoor performance facility, with plenty of seating space for audience, necessary sound gear and stage set up and the beautiful backdrop of Kachemak Bay and Cook Inlet.

In addition to the stage, dancers were able to use the interior of the building to wait and stay warm between pieces and “watch from the wings.” Thank you, also, to Charles Evans with the law firm of Jermain, Dunnagan and Owens. The law office provided a spacious upstairs dressing room and storage space for costumes in our final week of preparation. We hope we can work with all of them again in the future.

Sincerely,

The Motivity Dance Collective: Breezy Berryman, Bridget Doran, Kammi Matson, Rhoslyn Anderson, Emily Rogers and Emilie Springer

Budget amendments and guns

Dear Editor,

I read Peter Segall’s article last week on the state budget bill becoming a partisan battleground. No surprise there. But I was shocked, dismayed and even disgusted that Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, put forth an amendment to the budget bill to allow guns on University of Alaska campuses. Segall writes Vance noted Alaska’s high rate of sexual assault, and that allowing people to pack guns “would level the playing field.” I had to re-read that this amendment lost by only one vote. Only one House legislator thinks this a bad idea.

You can easily find crimes statistics online for colleges/universities. The Violence Against Women Act requires institutions to list these statistics separately. For the KPC Homer campus there were no rape charges from 2017-2019. The Kenai River Campus reported no rape charges but four stalking charges in 2019. UAA had three on-campus rape charges in 2018 and 2019 and 25 stalking charges in 2019. You can see these statistics at https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/safety/.

Alaska does have high rates of sexual assault. I don’t believe allowing mostly young adults to pack guns into classrooms on UAA campuses would solve that sad statistic. Protecting oneself from assault is a matter of awareness, education and training, and to know how to de-escalate a situation. Young adults are especially vulnerable given their foolish choices; add a gun to that? I’m hoping all of us by now are aware of Homer’s Green Dot program.

Segall’s article also informed me of Rep. David Eastman’s budget amendment leveraging funding for the Alaska State Council on the Arts with a bill supporting Second Amendment rights. A big part of our culture is art and music; without it we are expressionless. Many tout that culture is being canceled; here is a good example of that being put forward by Rep. Eastman. For guns.

Gun violence is practically a civil norm; it has become commonplace. How banal we allow this to become is up to us. I believe history will prove Americans shamefully wrong on their irrational passion for gun ownership, a passion that seems to surpass any notion for peace. It’s a violence that will continue to kill the innocent, and too often, the most vulnerable.

Therese Lewandowski

To the Editor,

The Kachemak Bay Water Trail Committee and Friends of Kachemak Bay State Park thank the Homer Foundation Community Grants Committee and the Opportunity Fund for the recent $2,500 grant which supports our website rebuild and design overhaul. At seven years old, the Water Trail website needed technology improvements and a program re- write which will make the site easier to maintain into the future.

Visitors to the website, once it is finished in late July, will find an improved mobile experience, search engine organization, improved speed, new updated information and a gallery of Water Trail photographs. These improvements will lead to a more efficient and fun way for Water Trail users to plan their next Adventure Beyond The End of The Road.

Sincerely,

Dave Brann Co-Chair Kachemak Bay Water Trail Committee, FKBSP Robert Archibald Co-Chair Kachemak Bay Water Trail Committee, FKBSP

Dear Editor,

My dear Palestinian friend has a funny name in English, Gool Sta. She and her five children are in peril. She fled her home during the bombing and tear gassing in Gaza. She and I have been FaceBook friends for several months.

If you are inclined to help this dear Palestinian family, please text me at 907-299-5080 and I will send photos and her PayPal account.

Tod Tenhoff

Dear Editor,

By shutting down the XL pipeline and all fracking and other petroleum development on federal land, the Biden administration is undermining our national security. Opening our southern border to hundreds of thousands of immigrants and tons of drugs is undermining our national security. What side is President Biden on?

Ray Dawson