Readers Write: The Twins, Trump and women voters, measles, languages

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Chip Scoggins was right on the money in his Sept. 29 column, “Time for the Pohlads to get serious or sell the Twins,” when he wrote, “What a lousy message to send to fans, and to the players.” But there’s one group Scoggins forgot to mention: taxpayers. To build Target Field, Hennepin County instituted a 0.15% sales tax, which everyone pays, whether they’re fans or not. What’s more, according to an article by Northeastern University, sales taxes are regressive because they take a larger share from low-income people than they do from high earners. Minneapolis’ poverty dashboard shows that more than 100,000 people in Hennepin County are below the poverty line. So for Joe Pohlad to take money from even the poorest people in the county and act like he doesn’t even care is unconscionable. He told Athletic reporter Aaron Gleeman repeatedly that he thinks of the team as a business, and not a community asset. Well, if it’s a business, he owes something to his investors. That’s us. So, I’d like to amend Scoggins’ suggestion: Pohlad should get serious, sell the team or pay back every cent of taxpayer money that helped build Target Field.

Elizabeth Sowden, Minneapolis

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Hear, hear!

Chip Scoggins’ call for the Twins to be sold to an owner that recognizes the bargain the team has with its fans and community is spot-on (“Time for the Pohlads to get serious or sell the Twins,” Sept. 29).

The Pohlads completely abdicated their responsibility by fielding a team that was AAA at best for most of the season. They need to be reminded that the reason the team plays in one of the best venues in Major League Baseball is the commitment made by the state, Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis. Apparently they have forgotten this and played the fans for chumps.

The most glaring example of this disregard was the irresponsible behavior surrounding the loss of TV coverage for two-plus months. They knew of the impending conflict between Comcast and Bally and did nothing to mitigate the loss of coverage. They took the money and ran.

As for the team, Manager Rocco Baldelli and staff, while navigating injuries and subpar talent, failed by every measure to arrest the collapse and provide the leadership necessary to motivate and inspire the players.

If I hear the term “good at-bats” one more time I’ll scream. How about looking up from your charts and getting in the face of the players that just seem to think a .225 average is OK.

It is sad that an entity so important and beloved by many in this state is being treated like an underperforming profit center.

Sell the team to someone who respects the fan base and gives a rip.

Joe Carr, Eden Prairie

Former President Donald Trump tells women that if he is elected president, we will “No longer be thinking about abortion,” because he will “protect women at a level never seen before. [Women] will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe and secure” (”Trump aims pitch at women,” Sept. 29).

What is this — a marriage proposal? Good grief. Trump is suggesting that if he is elected, we wouldn’t have to worry our pretty little heads about anything, least of all our own reproductive health. Get real.

Plus, he tries to scare women about immigration, but we know better. Trump single-handedly tanked the bipartisan bill that would have poured $20 billion into immigration enforcement, providing thousands more asylum claims evaluators, hundreds more Border Patrol agents and helping stop the flow of fentanyl. Trump killed this bill for one reason only: So he could continue to spread lies about immigrants (like the one about Haitians eating pets in Ohio) and the number of illegal border crossings, which have actually decreased dramatically because of President Joe Biden’s executive action.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has solid policies, not platitudes, to cut taxes for the middle class, grow small businesses, protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, make homeownership more attainable, reduce gun violence and crime, and tackle the climate crisis. She is promoting the bipartisan border bill and would sign it into law if elected president.

Lisa Wersal, Vadnais Heights

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I appreciated the Sept. 29 article “Trump aims pitch at women” and felt compelled to respond. The recent posting on social media by Trump (cited in the article) proclaiming that he will protect women and that we will miraculously become more hopeful, healthy, safe and free under his watch was, at best, hypocritical, callous and disingenuous. It displayed an unmistakable lack of respect for all women. Has he not made it definitively clear that he intends to take, take, take our freedoms away? For example, he and his archaic running mate have campaigned on the premise to limit women’s reproductive rights and our right to choose what is best for our health and have the audacity to criticize us for wanting to remove ourselves from abusive marriages. How dare they presume that our well-being is reliant on being controlled by them! We are not amused, and we will not be fooled by their deceptive strategies. My message to the Republican presidential candidates: Please, do continue to spew your irrational and dangerous rhetoric. It will only remind us women that our only choice at the ballot box is to end your political careers once and for all!

Joan Treppa, Blaine

While I appreciate Star Tribune coverage of the measles outbreak and the belief that it “could’ve been worse,” I would like to point out that in most years we have a couple cases. In 2024 we are over 50 cases and counting (“In measles cases, rapid response is paramount,” Sept. 29).

This is a preventable disease that mostly impacts young children. The fact that most of the cases are in the Somali community, which has been targeted with misinformation about vaccines and autism, is not a reason to minimize an outbreak that is already more than 12 times the usual case count.

We need a 95% rate to help create the herd immunity necessary to protect children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Current vaccine rates in our elementary schools have fallen below safe levels. We should encourage all parents to vaccinate their kids and eliminate nonmedical exemptions from this required school shot.

Matt Flory, St. Louis Park

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It is disheartening to observe the significant cases of measles and the adverse effect in Minnesota. A strict enforcement of a requirement that all students attending public and private schools be immunized is necessary. Experience has demonstrated that when parents realize that their children will not be able to attend school without being immunized, they will comply with the requirement. As in California, very limited exceptions should be allowed to the immunization requirements. Parents deciding not to immunize their children can home-school their children.

Mitchell Trockman, Golden Valley

The writer is a retired interim and associate superintendent at the Minneapolis Public Schools.

I chuckled when I read Anton Treuer’s opinion piece on languages (“The troubling movement to suppress diverse literatures and languages,” Sept. 29) where he described the Norwegian-speaking neighbor he worked for when he was young. I spent the last couple of years working to learn Norwegian, the language of my ancestors, in preparation for an extended trip to Norway.

Learning a new language is extremely difficult, especially English, which is, I guess, why some use it as a convenient lever to exclude groups with a high number of nonnative speakers.

Almost all Norwegians speak English well, but still, they greeted my efforts with appreciative smiles. I came home to my south Minneapolis home with a new plan: to learn Spanish.

Bob Victorin-Vangerud, Minneapolis