Readers Write (Jan. 8): Downtown Minneapolis, Cecil the lion, heroin use, consumer confidence in the Trump era

A Jan. 2 commentary by Kurt Larson ("The skyway isn't very user-friendly if you have a disability") and a Sept. 30 article ("Vikings to try dedicated skyway to tackle postgame congestion") confirm the need for uniform hours for all connected downtown skyways. Hotels, condominiums, apartments, restaurants and bars advertise "on the skyway," but in many cases that is not necessarily true. During the last Super Bowl in Minneapolis, I turned around many visitors heading to the stadium without coats because they were led to believe the walk was completely indoors all the way.

Let's avoid this in 2018. The fix is easy: Make the hours open uniform every day, year-round, and post them. Have preprinted maps available at hotels and guard desks or stands.

Currently, most skyways are open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Many buildings choose to operate on other schedules. Condos and apartments have no access to their buildings without fobs or keys. It confuses downtown residents, workers and visitors.

Meetings should happen with members of the Vikings staff, the Downtown Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Minneapolis City Council, hotel representatives and other interested parties to solve the skyway access and hour issues once and for all. This past holiday season, several skyways were open. Several were closed. Thoughtful building operators posted signs on doors stating days they were closing in advance to alert skyway users. Other building operators locked doors with no signage. Again, it should be uniform that all buildings be thoughtful and considerate of skyway users.

• • •

I was glad to note Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges' comment about the "vibrant, safe, 24-hour downtown" in the Jan. 5 story about hopes for the Macy's building after its sale. Now could we please begin to acknowledge that in the skyway?

Last Sunday, thousands of Viking fans, hotel guests, shoppers, diners, and even those of us who are fortunate enough to live downtown were banging and crashing into each trying to negotiate many closed buildings and sky links. This disconnect happens every weekend and weeknight

This is an easy fix.

• • •

My niece and four friends came to Minneapolis from another state to celebrate New Year's Eve at a downtown club. They had a great time at the club, and knowing they would be drinking, planned to use Uber to get back to their hotel. At bar closing, they discovered the barricades on the street preventing Uber, Lyft, or any vehicle from getting close to the club. The police officer they approached for advice told them they were adults and should figure it out for themselves. One Uber driver hung up on them. They entered a hotel lobby to get out of the crowd and regroup, and were told to leave or the police would be called. They were able to make arrangements with a Lyft driver eventually and got back to their hotel after an hour of frustration — and not much Minnesota Nice. If the barricades are going to be used for security (probably necessary), wouldn't it be in the best interests of everyone — clubs, police, local businesses, ride providers and clubgoers — to have a plan for moving clubgoers smoothly and safely to their transportation? Minneapolis, I know we can do better!

Almost every hunting, fishing and (especially) trapping article written by hunters, fishers and trappers conveniently neglects to mention or even acknowledge the suffering of nonhuman animals. Robert Zink's commentary on the Jan. 1 Outdoors page ("Reaction to lion's '15 death reviewed") was no exception. Zink pretends that everything about the July 2015 hunt that led to the death of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe was ethical because it was legal. However, some of the alleged overreaction to Cecil's death involved people who were outraged by the reported time between the time Cecil was painfully shot and the time he was legally "recovered," "dispatched" (or "harvested," if you will). When hunters, fishers and trappers try to "educate" me but refuse to examine the whole picture (extinctions, animal pain and suffering, the persistent need for humans to murder every living animal, etc.), they lose me.

The Jan. 1 article "Heroin returns to stalk Little Earth" was misleading and unbalanced. The distribution and use of heroin is not unique to Little Earth as the headline implies. Further, the article failed to note that the number of overdoses and narcotic crimes has fallen since the summer. This did not happen by itself. This was a coordinated effort between the Minneapolis police, the city's Park Police and the Little Earth Board. The board has also installed several security cameras and has increased monitoring by its own security force. This property is not an island — heroin is a statewide problem and requires a statewide solution.

The Jan. 1 editorial "A jolt of confidence as new year begins" tells us that it's "time to move on" following analysis of the election and, apparently, to ignore the fact that Russia illegally interfered. Furthermore, the interference of the FBI (whose job it is to protect and serve American citizens, not tamper with national elections) is also something we are to "stop obsessing about."

Without free and fair elections, we have lost democracy itself. However, the editorial says that we are to "feel optimistic about the U.S." This even as hate crimes — a direct result of President-elect Donald Trump's gleefully bigoted speeches — are increasing against Muslim, Latino, Jewish, black and female Americans. The editorial writer seems bored with accountability for all these crimes, preferring to focus attention on a few small upticks in shoppers' confidence levels. It is appalling to think that anyone could be eager to give "a resounding 'Thanks, Donald!' " to someone who is increasing crime even before he takes an office given to him because of others' criminal actions. We must only "move on" by taking action to counteract the illegalities in this presidential election, and to keep all Americans safe from hate crimes. Being consumers is not more important than having justice.

• • •

I was surprised and saddened to see the Star Tribune begin the new year by publishing two pieces that, for me at least, seem completely at odds (the editorial about consumer confidence and a news story about Russia). Are we really supposed to begin the new year with a "jolt of confidence" while the president-elect is tweeting his support for a Russian autocracy that so fundamentally messed with the integrity of the U.S. election? For me, Trump's praise for Putin is one of a long list of things I won't be able to "move on" from, even though it is 2017. Forgive me, but the Consumer Confidence Index jump isn't enough to make me optimistic about a Trump presidency — the optimism of others is hardly proof of progress.