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I have lived in the Twin Cities for more than 20 years, and I continue to be amazed by a citizenry in which the majority have rarely seen a tax they don't like. Yep, here we are being told that those in Minneapolis should expect a 5.7% property tax increase solely to address a situation where too many property owners are not taking care of their own businesses, and apparently it is highly supported ("Should Minneapolis shovel its own sidewalks?" Jan. 6).

There are so many ways this could be handled rather than raise a tax on all citizens, and it starts by enforcing the law, but none were mentioned in the article. There is only the usual jump to raise tax and place the burden on all citizens, instead of resolving it with a focus only on the offenders. We (the government) could and should clear sidewalks when property owners do not do so, and charge the property owners for the full cost. There should also be a fine added to the full cost to show that the city is serious about enforcement.

But whatever the solution is, I only ask that the city does not immediately, once again, dump the burden on all taxpayers rather than simply address a few offenders. This is one tax that no one should like.

Matt Gulling, St. Paul

The article "Raise a glass to mindful drinking" (Variety, Jan. 6) serves as another mechanism to enable many who should abstain from alcohol from doing so. A practicing alcoholic constantly searches for any method that will allow them to rationalize their continued destructive behavior. The concept of mindful drinking is just another alternative to seeking help for a very real problem.

Chuck Justice, Woodbury

A Jan. 8 letter writer expressed concern, only half tongue-in-cheek, about being "canceled" by the climate police for expressing his questioning of global warming. On the contrary — I don't want to cancel him, I really want to know more about what he thinks and what he questions.

I've read as much as I could of the IPCC 2022 report, which painstakingly labels every piece of data analysis, every prediction, every proposed mitigation strategy with a level of confidence — very low, low, medium, high and very high. Does the letter writer question the basic data? Or the predictions? Or the underlying science? Or the fact that we don't have perfect confidence all the time? Or is it that he questions science research in general, the science behind how microbes work to cause disease, or how rockets can fly to distant planets, or even how the sun shines?

Let's not cancel those who question; let's understand what they're thinking, so we can work together to ensure that our grandkids can live healthy lives on a healthy planet.

Lawrence Rudnick, Minneapolis

This letter is to address legislative priorities as laid out in news coverage and in Lori Sturdevant's Jan. 8 Opinion Exchange column ("DFL may go big, and that wouldn't be bad").

Yes, the new state DFL majority, albeit slim, is starting off by looking at some of the most important issues facing our democracy: those involving our electoral system. My primary point of concern is the campaign finance debacle we've been dealing with since the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. I believe the chaos, divisiveness and dysfunction that we are struggling with at both state and federal levels can be traced directly to this ridiculous premise that money is speech.

Even that court acknowledged that transparency in funding is important. So why don't we have it? This should not be a partisan issue. If Republicans would just look at the report of the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, they would see that the two most successful statewide campaigns, those of Gov. Tim Walz and Secretary of State Steve Simon, accepted no public money (which means presumably that they did not want to agree to campaign expenditure limits). So the advantages of money are not one-sided.

Yes, the Legislature has other important election changes that need to be made, and I agree with Sturdevant: We need the current majority to not be timid and to learn from mistakes of the past. Fix these basic fundamentals of our system now while you can.

Sharon Tornes, Woodbury

So now we are suddenly forewarned of yet another hazard in our daily lives, space junk falling from above ("Satellite ready to fall from sky," Jan. 8). NASA assures us that this 5,400-pound satellite will mostly burn up during re-entry, but "some pieces are expected to survive" as they drop sometime Sunday. But how reassuring is a 1 in 9,400 chance of injury from this one satellite, multiplied by the thousands of other pieces of space junk working their way back on us?

The odds of winning lotteries, getting hit by lightning, randomly shot, smacked by a golf ball, or not surviving a tornado direct hit are far longer, but they occur and claim lives each year. We have lived through meteor showers for thousands of years, but space junk is of our own doing. Perhaps the world should consider self-destructing mechanisms for anything spacebound. Another alternative would be to require recovery of the junk in space. Doing nothing, this could get much worse, given the flood of satellites added each year.

In the meantime, hard-hat sales may soon become the rage, decorated with every imaginable creative artistic flare, replacing the billions of COVID masks adorned in recent years. Watch out below!

Michael Tillemans, Minneapolis

Thinking about the crazy, often negative world we live in, I found the article on local food scene influencer and advocate Sue Zelickson ("The original social network," Variety, Jan. 6) refreshing, positive and so well-deserved. Honoring those who have done so much for others is exactly what we need today. Thank you for providing a little sunshine into a world that so needs it. Sue has given so much to so many and it never hurts to recognize her, say thank you and remember what is really important — people!

Joanie Clausen, Golden Valley

Every other Wednesday morning, the "Minneapolis Recycles" truck makes its way down our alley to empty the blue bins that dot the edges. Before we spot the truck, we hear it. So does our dog. Ears perk up. Game on. "Bandit! It's Wednesday! Go, go, go!" Dog runs like nobody's business to back door and comes to a practiced halt. Human clips the long lead to dog collar and throws open the back door. Dog sprints to the finish line — the edge of the backyard. Dog waits. And wags his you-know-what. Humans stand frozen in anticipation of what comes next. Smiling driver of the big white truck pops out of the rig and approaches dog. Tail wagging breaks all speed records. Driver donned in neon green vest tosses dog a treat. SCORE! Happy dog. Happy humans. Happy Minneapolis residents! Thanks to one-sort recycling that makes recycling easier than ever, we all get a treat.

Janet Johnson, Minneapolis