Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    As Austin struggles with Project Connect, the lawsuits surrounding it and significant cost overruns in implementing the plan, perhaps it is time for the city leadership and Capital Metro to consider a practical first step that is not currently part of the plan. As a member of the community I propose that we consider the Bergstrom Spur.
    Instead of making it a walking trail through a primarily industrial warehouse area of South Austin, utilize it for what it was intended (a rail line from Bergstrom to South Austin). It all goes back to the days when Bergstrom was an air force base and needed logistical rail support. As a consequence, a spur line was built from the main Union Pacific line, just south of Ben White Boulevard to the air force base. The track with its right of way is still there.
    Obviously the track and signaling would need to be upgraded, but it would be significantly cheaper than creating a new line (years in the future) running down Riverside Drive. The Spur goes from Bergstrom along Burleson Road, underneath I-35, past Industrial Boulevard, and crosses south Congress and South First Street on its way to its connection with the Union Pacific line.
    Interestingly, it goes directly behind the South Congress Capital Metro bus station. As an inter-modal transit point, it would allow people to get from the airport to points all over Austin. At some point in the future the rail line could then be built down South Congress to downtown. Perhaps now is the time to consider this idea.

Dear Editor,
    I’ve noticed in the past couple of issues there have been ads for the church of scientology. I understand anyone can put an ad in your paper (unless I am mistaken??), but the wheels in my head have been turning … and I’ve come up with a few theories as to why. Since the I-35 expansion, and moving being expensive as we all know, especially in our beloved city. I understand y'all have bills to pay (and your paper is free, I understand you need the money). I will let it slide. Editor, whoever … are you a part of the church? And if so, how could you? From the articles you publish I would have never guessed. But alas, if anyone is going to take money from the church of scientology, I am glad it’s my favorite newspaper. Get your coin, I guess. If you don’t publish my email under dear editor I will just have to assume you are in cahoots with the church.
    That’s all I have to say and contribute.

   Associate Publisher Cassidy Frazier responds: The business model of The Austin Chronicle is advertising-based.

Dear Editor,
    The report about prisons built on properties that were formerly plantations was about as depressing as it gets ["Plantations to Prison Farms," News, June 14]. Who knew? These places are far away from all the ordinary activities most of us are engaged in, so how would we know? And I don’t hold out much hope for improvement with the likes of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton running the show. Maybe the piece should be required reading for every teenager who might be considering becoming an active criminal. Think it would make any of them have second thoughts about career choices?

Dear Editor,
    Maggie Q. Thompson’s strong story (“Plantations to Prison Farms,” News, June 14) makes it clear how Texas’ prisons incarcerate people in conditions much like slavery times. As a 19-year-old in the Sixties, I visited a young relative in TDCJ’s Ellis Unit more than once –profoundly shocking and educational experiences. More recently, I visited a middle-aged woman in Hobby Unit. Despite a serious medical condition, she worked on the hoe squad and came back covered in bites and sweat to a cell with temperatures in the 90s at night. While advocating for people in county jails located in what I called the “plantation counties,” I noticed that punitive attitudes and virulent racism seemed to be acceptable. However, wherever you get up close to the carceral world in Texas, you will see that it systematically dehumanizes the thousands of humans inside. A significant percentage of them wrongfully convicted and, in Texas, forced to work for no pay. Legal slavery.

Dear Editor,
    "Plantations to Prison Farms" [News, June 14] is (unfortunately) an excellent article about the sorry state of Texas prisons. A follow-up article on for-profit or privately operated prisons would shed some light on how much the taxpayer is investing to line the pockets of private corporations. I am certain it would also expose some interesting political connections to the atrocity we have as "leadership" in Texas.
    Keep up the great reporting!