Letters for January 12, 2017

Build the arts

Re “The world is changing” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Feature Story, January 5):

One has to be confident that Mr. Steinberg will be a better mayor than his predecessor. It was encouraging that he brought up the arts, but I hope we will gain more than live music at light-rail stops. I just got back from Baltimore, which boasts of having three arts districts, one of which includes a “musicians only” version of our WAL and from which almost every Baltimore alt band has emerged from in the last 10 or so years. Build more artists live-work spaces and they will come create and sell art, pay taxes, help keep downtown alive and put Sacramento back on the art map. Build only an “entertainment district” and they will come for a couple of hours, buy expensive food and drinks, get a parking ticket, think to themselves “What’s the big deal?” and then go back to the ’burbs.

Dane Henas

Sacramento

Faith, lost

Re “Activism on trial” by Scott Thomas Anderson (SN&R News, December 29):

My nightmare experience with Sacramento’s court system feels far from over. The District Attorney whose “hands are tied” will not budge on my misdemeanor charges, trying to subject a hard working mother with no prior record to 90 days jail time. Again, the judge feels this is extreme. I can never forget how unprofessional the two officers I met that night were. I still can’t forget the look the officer gave me when he heard me tell the nurse my HIV status. The way the courts and jail have manipulated an ill man and knowingly exposed other inmates to infectious blood; the way they show no common decency nor respect for their fellow man is deplorable. I have lost more faith in humanity living and working in Sacramento than in Baltimore. It is due to the legal system, the people among us whose job it is to protect and serve. I pray for those who have found them self afflicted by the corruption.

Jennifer Ondechek

Sacramento

Tasteless, heartless

Re “Lion” by Daniel Barnes (SN&R Film, December 22):

I have been a fan of off-beat/indie/ “small” movies for decades. Taste, I know, is in the eyes and ears of the beholder when it comes to movies; I realize that. Daniel Barnes panned Lion. I have spoken to a dozen people, diverse in their backgrounds, who have also seen the film. Unequivocally, everyone loved this movie. I put it into the top 10 of all time in my movie life experiences. Nicole Kidman gave an Oscar-worthy performance. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Mr. Barnes is a heartless, vacuous Trump supporter with no soul. Please pass these comments on to this “film critic” of yours.

Tom Wardell

Sacramento