Young entrepreneurs are inspiring Go volunteer at a high school, I will guarantee you will feel like I do — optimistic about our future and theirs. At least that's my opinion after spending this past academic year with an entrepreneurial class at Lewisville High School. The class, Incubator, is similar to Shark Tank and allows the students to be creative, learn about starting a business, failing and succeeding as a team, and working with folks in the community as coaches. The students were receptive to feedback, wanted feedback and wanted to learn. After seeing their year-end presentations, I realized there is nothing to worry about — these kids have got it and will succeed and meet their goals. There will be a winner from this group. One team will advance, but with that said, the other teams can and some will launch their ideas/companies. For this, I say three cheers to the students and teacher, and I can't wait to see what happens next for all of them.If this one class at Lewisville High School is any indication of the talent pool in schools today, it's going to be exciting to see what the future holds. If you want to see for yourself, sign up to volunteer, meet, mentor or coach these kids, and I'm sure you'll feel the same.Perri Brackett, LewisvilleWhy some don't voteWhile I agree that voting is our civic duty, it's understandable that people do not participate. Many of us are turned off by politics, due to the negative influence of PACs and corporate money. We are also dismayed by district gerrymandering which is being upheld by Supreme Court decisions. It seems inappropriate to tell minorities what their civic responsibility is if their votes are not going to be counted, as appears was the case in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.W.R. Luster, McKinneyTaylor listens to constituentsAs a resident of the 3rd Congressional District, I'm elated to share my appreciation for newly elected congressman Van Taylor. Taylor believes that the best ideas come from the people he works for and has a 100% constituent meeting policy. I've met Taylor three times already since his election. First with an organization I volunteer in called Results (working to end global poverty and alleviate the issues that contribute to it) and twice at coffee meet-ups that he holds regularly for his constituents.I was born and raised in Zimbabwe, which still has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. HIV/AIDS has affected my family in a personal way. Seven of my aunts and uncles contracted the virus, and two died. Today, through the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Zimbabwe has recorded a 30 percent increase in the number of people on anti-retroviral therapy, bringing that number to 1.1 million people.I'd like to thank Taylor for listening to me as I've been educating him on the important role of the Global Fund. I hope that he will join his colleagues soon in supporting the Global Fund.Bukekile Dube, McKinneyWe should hold ideas dearRe: "Voters took back the country," by Dianne Elkins, May 1 Letters.Apparently, letter writer Dianne Elkins thinks that "voters took back the soul of the country." While I won't beat a dead horse by mentioning that the majority of voters did not vote for the Trump, I would disagree that this president "continues to make America respected again."America is not respected when it pulls out of agreements previously entered into (Paris Climate Accord, Iran Nuclear Deal, UNESCO and the Trans-Pacific Partnership) and threatens to pull out of NATO. It is not respected when it separates families and cages children, and certainly not respected when the president fosters an environment where racially motivated shootings occur often or when churches, mosques and synagogues are no longer safe places.Before you decry this philosophy, please do some reading about the origins of some of today's essential beliefs like freedoms of speech, religion and press, not to mention programs including Social Security, Medicare, civil rights legislation and environmental programs. These are all liberal ideas come to life. Since you are a Christian, please pray that this president does not destroy these liberal ideas that you should hold dear.Hans Voorn, FriscoStop third-party exclusion House Bill 4416 is seeking to give voters fewer choices on their ballots. We Texans pride ourselves on our independence and freedom. But this bill is an insult to both of those things.Texas already has some of the most restrictive laws in the county for putting candidates on the ballot. This bill seeks to double those and make it even harder. Only three states in the entire country have thresholds at the level proposed by this bill.Voters should be able to choose for themselves whom they want to vote for. We must not allow politicians in Austin to do that for us. One wonders what the bill's sponsor, Rep. Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville, is worried about. In the 2018 general election, he won by about 15 percent over his nearest opponent. His closest third-party opponent gathered only 2.1 percent of the votes, so did not influence his election. Analysis shows that, in general, third-party candidates affect the major parties nearly equally.I'm asking all Texans to call their elected representatives in Austin and ask them to oppose House Bill 4416. Time is critical! This legislation is moving through the system right now.David Koch, PlanoNext mayor needs perspectiveAfter watching the Dallas mayoral candidate debate stream (thank you), it seems to me that Dallas — all of it — would be better served by the candidate who has been away from the Dallas scene for a period and can have a better perspective and fresh view of our city than someone who has been so closely involved. P.S. The next candidate who says he/she will fix city streets will not get my vote. Candidates have been saying this ever since the horse and buggy days, and nothing gets done!Barbara Wiskow, Dallas Continue reading...
Letters: Lewisville High School, Voting, Van Taylor, HB 4416, Dallas Mayoral Race
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