Amphitheater plan that would close Raleigh’s South Street is a huge mistake | Opinion

City council plan

Regarding “Late objections to amphitheater plan complicate Convention Center expansion,” (Aug. 14 Opinion):

Thank you for this column about the proposed plan to move Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh. It appears Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin and the City Council once again pushed through their agenda without ample community input. Permanent closure of South Street would be a huge mistake. Why would Raleigh want to deliberately cut off a fluid connection between downtown and the southeast neighborhoods? Motives must be revealed. This certainly disregards the surrounding community.

Michelle Putterman, Raleigh

A unique venue

Why not build the new Red Hat Amphitheater over South Street? Just like we build bridges and underpasses over roads and byways, let’s seriously look at an interesting, creative structure that would be a concert venue and a public piece of art.

Let’s save as much culture in downtown Raleigh as possible. Downtown has too few music and neighborhood venues for gathering people. Places where musicians can get together and jam are few and far between. Magic shows, jazz, soul, vocalists, small string quartets and more might find a home in Raleigh if we continue to provide decent venues for music and stage.

Jarles Alberg, Raleigh

UNC chancellor

I graduated from Carolina in 1971 and support two academic scholarships there. I’m willing to give Lee Roberts a opportunity to succeed, but I have serious concerns about the political powers who placed him into the chancellor’s job.

Roberts’ relationship with some of this state’s most powerful Republican leaders raises the question of whether they imposed their will on their appointees to the Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and UNC System Board of Governors. If the two most influential members of the General Assembly express a strong desire to have their favorite appointed chancellor, why bother having a national search for the leader of one of America’s most well-known universities?

Sue Estroff of the Faculty Executive Committee was absolutely correct when she compared the search to a theater performance with a see-through curtain.

Mark Rodin, Morrisville

Heat officers

I was surprised to read “NC governments say there’s no need for heat officers,” (Aug. 12).

The fact that the Chatham County Emergency Management Director believes “Right now it’s manageable to the degree that we can manage it...,” concerns me. Workers are dying due to the heat — farm workers, construction workers, postal workers.

This issue requires immediate action. It isn’t a new or emerging issue. The 10 warmest years on record globally were in the past decide, from 2014-2023. It’s only going to get worse.

With only one person in North Carolina’s Office of Recovery and Resilience serving as lead on heat — and a piecemeal approach from local governments – our state is falling even further behind in finding sustainable ways to adapt to this new, hotter climate reality.

Leticia Zavala, Goldsboro

Reading scores

The writer is Chairman Emeritus of the State Board of Education.

For the third year in a row, North Carolina’s kindergarten through third grade students outperformed the national average on end-of-year reading assessments.

Congratulations to the General Assembly for providing funding for training K-3 teachers to the tune of more than $120 million. Thanks to the staff at the Department of Public Instruction, under the direction of State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, for leading this effort. And thanks to teachers across the state for implementing the new curriculum.

We cannot declare victory yet because too many students are not reading at grade level, but the results are surprising and gratifying. We can expect to see more rapid progress in future years.

Phil Kirk, Raleigh

Biden and Trump

Question: What’s the difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump?

Answer: Biden sacrifices his ambition for the sake of the country. Trump sacrifices the country for the sake of his ambition.

William Burns Jones, Durham