RON LITTLEPAGE

WE WILL ALL MISS HIM

I will miss retiring Florida Times-Union columnist Ron Littlepage.

He made a positive difference during his time as a journalist in Jacksonville.

He mattered.

He helped our city grow bigger and better as he shared his perspective, which often bravely challenged the status quo.

I appreciated his humor, his commitment to digging behind the scenes and the work he did on behalf of our environment (which I particularly valued as a fifth-generation Floridian who has watched this state change).

Personally, I remember when all of the Democrats in Jacksonville could meet in one room in the back of a barbecue shack.

Thanks to Littlepage, we can now all meet in one of the conference rooms in a Downtown hotel!

I will miss you, Ron. And I wish you a blessed and fulfilling retirement.

The Rev. James Black,

Jacksonville Beach

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NUCLEAR POWER

WHY ABANDON IT?

It is unfortunate that natural gas has gotten so inexpensive. If it hadn’t, JEA’s investment in the Vogtle nuclear plant would seem like a good idea today.

I’m willing to bet that in the not-too-distant future when natural gas is no longer so cheap, we will regret the current push to end the Vogtle project.

According to a white paper put out earlier this year by the Nuclear Energy Institute, total U.S. nuclear electric generation cost was about 3.4 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2016 — of which about 0.7 cents is for fuel.

Meanwhile, according to a 2015 report put out by three energy organizations, the cost for natural gas in the U.S. was about 6.1 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2014.

When compared to any fossil fuel, nuclear fuel is relatively cheap.

It is the high cost of constructing a nuclear plant, combined with currently inexpensive natural gas, that has spelled the death knell for the nuclear power renaissance that began some 10 years ago.

We are nowhere near where we need to be in the renewable energy area, and this electricity is currently not inexpensive.

Nuclear power is a sensible stopgap for electricity production.

JEA’s management is probably making the best prediction it can given the cloudy crystal ball it has.

But let us hope that JEA’s decision to abandon Vogtle is the right one.

K. Shacter, Arlington

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SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS

A RETURN TO AN UGLY PERIOD?

There was a period between the 1940s and 1960s when men could be jailed just on the word of any women who accused them of rape or other serious sexual abuse.

As this scenario became more and more common — fueled by lesser accusations that generated the same results — the expanse of personal unfounded attacks grew to satisfy a desire for revenge after a broken relationship.

Eventually sanity returned, but with more scrutiny of testimony on both sides.

A recent letter writer unintentionally pointed to a return of that past period. Only this time, it is fueled by a vast range of reasons from flirtation to controlling powers and careers.

As Hillary Clinton recently stated, every woman has a right to be heard and believed until proven otherwise.

But so do the accused — unless they admit to the acts or there is photographic evidence.

So far President Donald Trump has not admitted to any of the accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct that have been leveled at him.

And some of the so-called evidence that has been presented has started to crumble due to alterations.

Are we in the same situation that ripped apart the lives of many men and women in days of yore?

Perhaps a little reminder of those days will contain the nonsense, and let the real truths prevail.

But it requires integrity and honesty.

Art Costa, Mandarin

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CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS

AN ABYSMAL RECORD

A number of African-American leaders — including "prominent icon" U.S. Rep. John Lewis — did not show up for the opening of the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Miss., to protest the appearance of President Donald Trump.

All of them are Democrats.

So what they did should not come as a surprise.

If former President George W. Bush had opened the museum’s doors, they still wouldn’t have shown up because he is a Republican.

According to the NAACP, President Trump supposedly has an abysmal record on civil rights.

Again, this is nothing new coming from that very liberal organization.

I can’t recall anything nice that the NAACP has had to say about anyone on the Republican side of the aisle.

But I can say that the NAACP has done nothing to improve the lives of African-Americans, even during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Its record is abysmal.

Trump has employed more black Americans than any "civil rights icons" ever will.

Derick Brundick, Jacksonville