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I often ride the light rail to the airport for business travel, and the trains are frequently filled with a collection of derelicts, stumbling drunk people and homeless people. I've taken hundreds of rides since the Metro Blue Line was built, and in that time, I've only twice been asked by Metro Transit officers to validate my fare. Apparently, Metropolitan Council leaders are again pushing state lawmakers to make fare evasion an administrative citation similar to a parking ticket in an effort to combat rising crime throughout its system ("'Eye-opening' transit crime spike," Jan. 19). The idea has failed at the Capitol in recent years.

Instead of trying to change the penalty for not paying, how about making paying a requirement in the first place? Invest in physical barriers and paid ridership, safety and revenue will increase exponentially. It seems like a no-brainer to me.

Don Stevens, Minneapolis

As St. Paul prepares to initiate a homeownership program for those Rondo neighborhood residents displaced by the construction of Interstate 94 in the 1950s and '60s, it's past time to ask to what extent the city of St. Paul should be held responsible for the inequities of the past and whether reparations should be a strictly local endeavor ("St. Paul moves to 'real racial justice' with panel," Jan. 5). (Whether reparations are to be made by the city at all seems to have been decided already, by virtue of the creation of a committee and Mayor Melvin Carter's recent announcement of a plan to provide funding for the purchase of homes by those displaced or their descendants.)

I have no specific answers to these questions but I have not seen them addressed in any way. Clearly, the destruction of the Rondo neighborhood affected many. It was, however, a federal, state and local project. The siting decision alone involved input not only from the federal highway department but the Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul and even the city of Minneapolis. Given the extent of the impact on those displaced by the project and the relative resources of the parties to that process, it is only fair to ask, "To what extent should the people of St. Paul bear the cost of reparations?"

James M. Hamilton, St. Paul

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The reparations commission members and Mayor Carter would do well to read the books by acclaimed Black economist Thomas Sowell. Sowell points out in his book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals" that all races have been enslaved and disadvantaged at one time or another, including the Jews, Irish, Italians, Indigenous tribes and many more. The notion that one racial group or ethnicity was unique or unusual regarding enslavement and racism does not stand the test of history. In another Sowell book, "Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality," there is the following quote: "The past may be many things, but it is clearly irrevocable. Its sins can no more be purged than its achievements can be expunged. Those who suffered in centuries past are as much beyond our help as those who sinned are beyond our retribution. To dress up present-day people in the costumes and labels of history and symbolically try to undo the past is to surpass Don Quixote and jeopardize reality in the name of visions."

Rather than spending money they don't have, the mayor and commission members would be wise to use our limited funds on enhancing educational opportunities for those disadvantaged in society. There is little argument about better education leading to better economic opportunities.

Roger Norris, St. Paul

It's not right that individuals can't take time off to care for their loved ones when they are sick or disabled without being penalized by having to lose income. I ask the Minnesota Legislature to do honorable thing, pass paid family and medical leave and make Minnesota a state that takes care of its people.

Arline L. Datu, St. Paul

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My first child was born 38 years ago. I had been living with Type 1 diabetes for 12 years, so it was considered a high-risk pregnancy. After experiencing preterm labor and blood pressure spikes, my doctor decided it was safest to deliver my son early via C-section. We were both doing well, and the doctor said I could return to work eight weeks after the surgery. My employer wanted me back at work after five weeks. When I told them I would not go against doctor's orders, and needed eight weeks, I was fired.

I never would have believed that what happened to me 38 years ago would still be happening to women today. Unfortunately, it still is. Women in Minnesota are being told they need to get back to work just weeks after giving birth or they will lose their jobs.

Mary Jo Malecha, New Brighton

Minnesotans love Minnesota. We adore our state symbols, from lakes to loons to gophers; we adore our sports teams and our local legends. Yet one symbol is never used by anyone I know, and likely nobody you know either: our flag. It's generic, unappealing and problematic. In Colorado, or Washington, D.C., or Chicago, or Arizona, or California, state and local flags are put on T-shirts, flown proudly over homes and businesses and are immediately recognizable by citizens. Ours, on the other hand, blends right in next to the 20-plus other "seal on a bedsheet" state flags.

Last session, the Legislature held a hearing on forming a commission for the changing our seal and flag. The proposal died, possibly because a budget agreement was never reached between the House and Senate. I and the rest of Minnesota's vexillology enthusiasts (dozens of us!) are hoping and praying that the commission finally becomes reality this year. Mississippi just changed its state flag and immediately created a clean and distinct symbol for its people. If Mississippi can do it, so can we!