From My Corner: December 15, 2017

Lawrence’s traffic woes

Last week I wrote a piece on the traffic conditions in Lawrence and learned so much in the process that next week I’ll be offering another one having to do with transportation in the city.

It is interesting that when I start digging on something, there are other areas in the periphery that are worthy of looking at – and I did. Of course, there are those old timers who are always so willing to talk about the past, glad that I am willing to write about it. I thank them all.

The books available at the Lawrence History Center on the city’s past are a great resource for anyone wanting to get in touch with how we were.

WCEC 2-day closing

A week after Election Day, I sent an email to our state delegation (the three state representatives and the state senator) asking for their opinion on the shutting down of all programming at WCEC 1490 AM on November 6 and 7 (Election Day.) I believe that being our “representatives” they would, at least, try to find out the reason for this to happen but they all refused to respond.

Eventually, a couple of weeks ago, I received an email giving me a joint response that simply said “…we encourage a more complete understanding of what led to the decision to go offline before this important election.”

I would like to hear what each one of them thinks about it not the results of a think tank accord. This has been a grave affront to the Spanish-speaking population that depends on that radio station for news and information, particularly on those two days. As a result, we were at a loss while the elections were being held.

Now this week, unexpectedly, I received an email from State Representative Frank Moran which I’m happy to include here:

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate your passion and commitment to informing our community. We all benefit from openness and Lawrence is a better place for your work.

I, like you, have many questions that still remain in regards to WCEC changing its programming on November 6th and November 7th. Please know that my remaining questions aren’t for lack of effort. I’ve been making phone calls to various people and agencies to try and figure out what happened here. It’s important that we find out if something nefarious happened and if so, we make that known to the public.

I don’t believe in censorship or taking the people’s voice away. There’s a reason that we run for office, and that’s to represent the people who elected us, not stifle their voices. I assure you that I remain committed to figuring out what happened in this particular situation, and I welcome an open dialogue between you and I about it.

Best,

Frank Moran

Montesino at the Library

This coming Wednesday, December 20th at 2 o’clock, Dr. Paul Montesino will be doing a presentation on the many books he has written. Some books will be available for purchase.

We, at Rumbo, are very proud to have him as a regular contributor for almost as long as we have been publishing this newspaper. His insight and clarity of his discourse enthralls the audience and I highly recommend spending a little time with him on Wednesday.