Thank you to the hundreds of Lincoln residents who expressed their concern for Nine Mile Prairie and the areas surrounding it. Thank you to the Lincoln Electric System board members for listening to us. We appreciate the fact that the LES board voted to change the route of the proposed power line (with its 10-story-tall power poles) away from the western boundary of the prairie. Now, however, the proposed route runs along the southern boundary of the prairie. While this is an improvement, it still presents aesthetic and management challenges.

Nine Mile Prairie, an area somewhat like Pioneers Park, can become a distinctive and attractive natural feature for Lincoln that cannot be duplicated. We can take pride in such an area. Residents and visitors to Lincoln will want to see it because of its historical significance. Certainly Nine Mile Prairie needs to be made more visitor friendly and have its boundaries protected from coming residential development. We need to work together to reach this goal.

Wachiska Audubon encourages the LES board to continue to look for ways to lessen the damaging effect of the power line on Nine Mile Prairie before the final decision is made. Alternatives should be found that move the line off the prairie so we may safely conduct periodic burning which is essential for the health of the prairie. If the eastern route cannot be modified to be moved away from the prairie, then routes not adjacent to the prairie should be considered. Speed in construction is not what is called for here but rather attention to the long-term best interests of the citizens of Lincoln.

Elizabeth A. Nelson and Ernie Rousek, Lincoln, Wachiska Audubon members

Poor response time

Saturday evening’s full-house performance of “Blast!” was interrupted by a fire evacuation after their first number. It seems the stage smoke effects set off the alarm system (although hardly the first time such effects have been used).

The staff is to be commended for the swift and orderly move of the 2,400 or so to the streets where all stood around for more than 20 minutes before two fire department trucks finally showed up. Any alarm from a public building should have resulted in an immediate and substantial response. I understand that only the fire department can reset the alarms.

While it was a false alarm, the slow fire department response reminded me of FEMA. Lincoln police were not even dispatched until the audience was returning to their seats. Many did not return at all. Mayor Coleen Seng, who attended this performance and did return, needs to investigate this serious breakdown in emergency procedures. This Lincoln fire and police response was pathetic and would have been disastrous had it been a real fire.

William R. Ramsay, Lincoln

Safety should come first

The last time I checked, the 30,000-plus students who attend the Lincoln Public Schools are considered residents of the city of Lincoln. As residents, they are entitled to the same protection as anyone who lives within the city limits of Lincoln. I did not realize that once they walked through the schoolhouse doors, they were no longer afforded the same protections as the other residents. The population of the high schools in Lincoln is larger than many of the communities of this state. Why should they not have police protection as they walk down the halls?

I am not sure why one public entity should charge another public entity for services. Isn’t it all our tax dollars? I guess they suffer from the me, me, me, my, my, my, mine, mine, mine syndrome. They are more concerned about their budgets and lose sight of their mission.

There has been a great deal of discussion in the past regarding the presence of emergency personnel at football games. I would think that most firefighters would enjoy the opportunity to watch a football game and be proud to offer a service to the youth of Lincoln. I would suggest that most law enforcement officers would feel the same.

Who is responsible for the safety of those same students during the months of June, July and August? In a perfect world we would forget the bitter budget debates and fulfill our missions, “Protect and Serve.”

Frank Hoefling, Lincoln

Democrats: Get real

To truly understand the sad state of the Nebraska Democrat Party, one only needs to suffer through the petulant little excuses being tossed around by people such as Dan Griffith (letter, Oct. 12), who seem to feel that the only reason Matt Connealy doesn’t have an office in the Longworth Building is because of some campaign contributions by Tom DeLay.

I hate to be the one to break this to Griffith, but the First District congressional race was not a nail biter, a heart stopper, or even a photo finish — Matt Connealy was whipped by an overwhelming and demoralizing 11 points.

But, if one was to accept Griffith’s ridiculous theory that 140,000 Nebraskans were hoodwinked into voting for Jeff Fortenberry because of the campaign contributions from Tom DeLay, how then does he rationalize the editorial boards of the Lincoln Journal Star, Omaha World-Herald, Norfolk Daily News, and the Sioux City Journal all endorsing Fortenberry over Connealy? Unless DeLay’s money was printed by the same company that sold Jack his magic beans, I seriously doubt that those contributions were able to cast a mystical spell over these newspapers ensorcelling them into zombie-like compliance.

But before Griffith is firmly ensconced in his saddle atop his high horse, he should remember that it was Connealy who enthusiastically accepted campaign money from the Sierra Club, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and the Council for a Livable World, an organization whose lone existence is to dismantle the U.S. armed forces.

Jennifer K. Matheny, Roca