Support for State Patrol

On behalf of the Colorado State Patrol, I want to express our profound gratitude to the Woodland Park community for the outpouring of support following the recent shootings of our troopers.

Over the last week, the kindness and solidarity shown by our residents, local businesses and neighboring departments have been a source of immense strength. We want to sincerely thank Kyle and the entire team at Mountain Dogz Grill. Their “pay-what-you-can” fundraiser raised nearly $6,000 for our troopers and reflects Teller County’s remarkable community spirit. We also want to thank Shield 616 and Mission BBQ for their generosity and support. Actions like yours remind us of the deep bond we share with the communities we are sworn to protect.

I would also like to highlight the incredible emergency personnel who jumped into action that day. To our law enforcement partners, thank you for answering the call when we needed help. Your response from throughout the region was comforting and empowering, knowing that together we serve to keep the people of Colorado, and each other, safe. To the brilliant and steadfast medical staff, your steady hand and compassionate treatment of our Troopers, those injured and responding to be with the injured, are deeply appreciated. On behalf of the entire Colorado State Patrol, we say thank you.

We are incredibly relieved that Trooper Tinan and Trooper Hoehn are expected to make full recoveries. Knowing that our community and local businesses stand firmly behind them and their families during this healing process means more than words can express.

Again, we are honored to serve this community, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for standing by our troopers and our agency when it mattered most.

Col. Matthew C. Packard, Chief

Colorado State Patrol

City’s 2C Road improvement projects

Regarding the recent letter by David Zook questioning work on Boulder Street and Tejon Street (LETTERS: What were they thinking?; gender-affirming care, Colorado Springs Gazette), some context may be helpful.

The work on Boulder Street is part of the voter-approved 2C Road Improvement program. The program does not replace concrete simply because it is next to a street being paved. Concrete is replaced when it does not meet ADA accessibility requirements, meets established criteria for damage or needs to be modified for drainage improvements. In some locations, additional concrete must be replaced to achieve the proper grade, accessibility, drainage or connection to surrounding concrete.

The Tejon Street Revitalization Project is different. Its goals are to improve public safety and accessibility while supporting downtown business activity. The project removed the center turn lane for safety reasons, relocating commercial deliveries to designated loading zones on safer side streets. It also created wider sidewalks for increased pedestrian activity.

Importantly, the project uses funding dedicated to this type of work, including a Colorado Department of Transportation Revitalizing Main Streets grant, Downtown Development Authority and City Parking Enterprise funding, along with a small amount of PPRTA funding for new traffic signals. Those dollars could not simply be redirected to routine street maintenance elsewhere in the city.

Residents should expect the City to carefully invest public dollars where they are intended and explain why work is necessary. These projects have different purposes and funding sources, but both are designed to address specific infrastructure needs.

For more information on these and all our projects and programs, please visit ColoradoSprings.gov.

Jason T. Strickland

Colorado Springs

Parents should listen

Ya know … on the surface, David Harsanyi’s Sept. 2 column makes a lot of sense. However, I am a senior adult female, and I very clearly remember the day when I was 5 years old, and my Mother brought home a new bathing suit for me … it was a pair of boys’ trunks. “MOM! said I … “I AM A GIRL!” Since I was only 5, her reply was, “What difference does it make?” “I am a girl, said I again, and I want a girl’s bathing suit!” Yes, she took the trunks back and got me a girl’s bathing suit. But the point is, even at 5, I was very clear just who I was … and I was a girl! Why then is it so difficult to listen to a child today who is telling you that they are NOT the sex they were assigned at birth?

When a child is insistent about who they are … listen! Yes, it would be important to have psychological intervention and, certainly, not to make any rash decisions or actions … but please, parents of “different” children, listen!

Contrary to the general assumption that we are ALL either XX or XY, that is simply not the case! Look it up! This is why we have Google! Although XX and XY are by far the most common, there are many variations of X’s and Y’s. Parents, please do not dismiss your child’s understanding of who they are. Take them seriously and investigate. They might just be trying to get attention, but then they just might be right!

Gayle Abbott

Colorado Springs

Give people a choice

The more freeways we have, the more traffic and congestion we get. Just look at the failed freeway experiment in Los Angeles. We need more than one transportation option.

A lot of people use trains and buses in Colorado every day. Let’s give people a choice.

A Google search shows that in the Denver Metro Area, “Total monthly boardings typically hover around 5 million, adding up to over 60 million passenger trips annually across the Denver metro area’s 8-county service region.” In Colorado Springs: “Total annual ridership reached over 3.1 million boardings.”

Mark Itkonen

Colorado Springs