Readers not buying this bridge
Re: “Gov. Polis’ pedestrian bridge has a long way to go,” July 13 editorial
The editorial laid out great reasons that this project should be scrapped:
1) The cost is unaffordable with today’s budget constraints.
2) The design failed to follow mandated design guidelines.
3) “Undulating waves like Colorado’s white-water rapids” – really? Have any of the designers actually been white water rafting? Hint, it’s called “white water” for a reason.
4) “From the steps of the Capitol looking west, visitors see a panoramic view that includes our iconic skyline, art museum, Central Library, Denver’s beautiful city hall and our majestic mountains” — yet they want to block the mountain view with a bridge to nowhere.
This is part of the problem with all the transplants (and I am referring to all the politicians) to Colorado — they don’t recognize what we have to offer with natural beauty.
Mark D Cutright, Englewood
This is a big, stupid waste of money that could be spent on important things like homelessness, hunger, fighting ICE raids, covering new Medicare gaps, etc.
Susan Hooyengaj, Denver
The editorial can best be described as wishy-washy.
We don’t see any redeeming aspects to the proposal. It will ruin an iconic vista for absolutely no reason. It won’t solve a problem but instead will likely create a few. It will cost a fortune, money that should be better spent elsewhere.
“Private donors and a visionary architect” cannot correct these issues. This project is an affront to the dignity of the historic area and is completely unnecessary. It should be abandoned before any more money is spent.
Judy and Larry Trompeter, Denver
Talking reason about unreasonable politicians
Re: “A guide for Colorado lawmakers to keep their feet out of their mouths,” July 13 commentary
Twice now, I have actually agreed with Krista Kafer. Her comments on the stupidity of George Teal, a Douglas County Commissioner, and state Rep. Ron Weinberg were right on the mark.
To be near my three granddaughters, I moved from north Denver to Douglas County. The good thing is I am eight minutes from my granddaughters. The bad news is I have to live in Douglas County. Parker and Castle Rock are not much better and Castle Rock might be worse. Don’t even get me started on Elizabeth.
As the Trump administration continues to chip away at the Constitution — through challenging birthright citizenship and passing his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which is going to affect the poorest, most vulnerable people in our country — I wonder where this is all going to end. The deporting of U.S. citizens and creating his own private army with the expansion of ICE at the taxpayers’ expense is egregious.
Maybe it is time for Krista Kafer to re-examine her political affiliation. I don’t expect her to become a Democrat. But I think she is slowly transforming into an independent. Ironically, according to a Gallup poll, those identifying as independent in this country comprise a larger number than those identifying as Republicans or Democrats. I only expect that disparity to continue to grow.
Welcome aboard, Krista. There is room for you with all the other independents. I think you might actually realize in today’s environment, this is not a bad place to be.
David Shaw, Highlands Ranch
Krista Kafer’s column last Sunday, while entirely appropriate in calling out George Teal and state Rep. Ron Weinberg, misses a larger truth. Donald Trump has elevated lying to new heights. Trump proves over and over again that it is OK to lie, then just deny you ever said it or double down by repeating it.
The fact that your lie was recorded? Not important to those legions of supporters not interested in facts. Teal and Weinberg are following this new model: the ‘art of the lie’. I doubt there will be repercussions for Teal and Weinberg, just as Trump’s lies are simply shrugged off by so many.
Paul Mauro, Aurora
Parents right to weigh in on gender education
Re: “U.S. Supreme Court got it right on parental rights and education,” July 6 commentary, and “Education opt-out: Rules for me, but not for thee?,” July 13 letters
It was shameful to see how the Jones family was disparaged first by employees of their school district and then by fellow Denver Post readers, all for opting their 6-year-old out of classroom lessons. In short, the Jones family said the teacher told the kids that gender is fluid and then instructed the 6-year-olds to choose their own genders. That’s a pretty heavy topic for young kids who don’t even have a full sense of what “gender” is yet.
It’s perfectly sensible for parents to decide that it’s inappropriate for the teacher to meddle so deeply into their child’s personal identity.
Suppose your child’s teacher, under the guise of creating a welcoming classroom, instructed the 6-year-olds to choose their own ethnicities. You may choose to opt out of this absurd lesson. The Joneses, and now the Supreme Court, would fully support your decision.
Dan Gryboski, Broomfield
Embracing the final days of a loved one
Re: “The humane choice: Assisted suicide was a blessing for brother,” July 13 letter to the editor
Referring to your letter writer’s comment on Krista Kafer’s column on assisted suicide (July 6), Kafer may or may not have “real-life experience” with end-of-life suffering, but I have. My mother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at age 80 and given 6 months to live. With her cognitive state rapidly declining, along with bodily control, her doctor, with her and my father’s consent, chose to refrain from treatment that would only temporarily extend her life, providing only palliative care.
Assisted suicide could have ended her life at that point. Instead, the family was able to spend her last weeks with her, even as she faded from consciousness. I will always cherish the week we had at the end, where we were able to sing and talk to her, even as she lay in a coma. She was not in pain. She lasted barely three months from her diagnosis, a time which allowed us all to grow into acceptance of her coming departure.
The problem with a law, no matter how carefully constructed, is that it creates expectations. Kafer made this point. Ironically, the law ultimately takes away the freedom to choose life, even as it purports to allow for choice.
There are other options. Hospice allows a terminal patient to die naturally without artificially extending life, without lingering in a cruel and inhumane vegetative state. This option is open to all and requires no legal sanction.
Frances Rossi, Denver
This is the hill to do battle on?
Re: “I support Trump, Musk and Gulf of Mexico,” July 11 letter to the editor
A letter writer declares her support of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. So she apparently supports reducing health care for the poor and disabled (Medicaid cuts), reducing taxes on the rich, cutting federal support for science, sending people to foreign prisons without due process, elimination of foreign aid (so China can fill the gap), expanding production and use of coal and oil (not clean energy), bullying esteemed universities and law firms, cutting National Park staff, and the general dismantling of federal programs that serve the public. But with great courage, she cites her opposition to one of the most consequential of Trump’s proposals — renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. It’s a good thing she is not running for Congress, because that opposition would surely prompt Trump to destroy her candidacy.
David Wolf, Lakewood
The mayor should focus on the mundane
Re: “Big swings, mixed results,” July 13 news story
It is good to know that Mayor Mike Johnston recognizes he is a failed poet. Now, he needs to recognize he is a failing mayor. While he sits around and dreams up the best adjective to use for his next tax and spend scheme or grandiose project (thanks for pointing out that “vibrant” is his favorite), like a professional women’s soccer stadium or a new Broncos playground, the mundane, day-to-day tasks of running a city fall by the wayside.
More and more unencumbered thugs brazenly shoplift in broad daylight. According to Denver Police Department patrol officers they are to overlook expired license plates because pulling them over could be construed as racism. The officers will go on to explain that those very vehicles are the ones most likely to harbor people with outstanding warrants as well as drugs, not to mention forfeiting hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in revenue that citations and fines for these and other “minor” violations would generate. Abandoned vehicles sit on streets for weeks or months at a time, creating potential biohazards as they reek of meth.
And, most recently, major streets in Denver have become muffler-free drag strips.
Real mayors take care of the not-so-glamorous business of keeping a city safe and clean, not dreaming up the next pie-in-the-sky phrase. I’m hoping a strong candidate or candidates will step up and take this guy on in the next couple of years. He is a poster boy for why so many Americans have become disgruntled with Democrats and view them as elitist dreamers, not doers.
Matt Bergles, Denver
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Updated July 22, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. Due to an editor’s error, a letter contained the incorrect details from the lawsuit against the Boulder Valley School District. The Jones family wrote for The Denver Post that the teachers were directly instructing children on gender fluidity. The editor changed the letter to reflect the facts in a different federal lawsuit, Mahmound v. Taylor.
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