In the June 15 Journal Star was an article ("Dusty battle nears end") about the city excavating dirt from city-owned land adjacent to the Indian Center to use on a property being developed by the Hoppe brothers.

Not only are these developers taking land from the city, but they also are taking a lot of dirt off the Hayward Park, which sits right beside the Naval Reserve land. This land, like the Indian Center land, sits low already. So it has always held rainwater when we have heavy rains.

The city is going to deed over some land next to the Indian Center to the center. Plus, they will landscape and make the area more user-friendly for the center.

So what are they giving or doing for the North Bottoms neighborhood?

They will put this park back. But its location is too far from the center of the neighborhood to be safe to send children back there.

The value of dirt at resale is in the neighborhood of $16 a cubic yard, which means the 6,885 cubic yards from the city-owned land could roughly be worth $110,000.

Why is the city giving these developers such a good deal? This parcel of land was the only open piece of land, and it should have been developed for the North Bottoms neighborhood with a small grocery or rec center.

These are some questions from an old German-Russian homeowner who takes pride in my home and my neighborhood's history.

Becky Schenaman, Lincoln

Rising expense accounts

It appears the House of Representatives found enough money for an 8 percent increase to their expense accounts in a sagging economy. Whoa.

Nebraska Republican representatives voted no. Too bad their level heads didn't prevail!

Helen Carnes, Lincoln

Turn down the TV!

So the fox will guard the henhouse? "Lawmakers let broadcasters tone down ads" (LJS, June 12).

It's deja vu all over again! This problem has been around for more than 50 years. In the past, TV stations were mandated by the FCC to serve their community. In the 1960s, A. James Ebel, president and general manager of KOLN/KGIN-TV, responded to viewers' complaints about loud TV commercials by installing technology called a "Stay Level," which established the same audio levels for both program content and commercials. It worked!

Then came deregulation. Big corporations gobbled up markets, and local stations were history. New owners maximized profits by cutting staff and services. Commercials blared once again, resulting in a crescendo of viewers' complaints.

Recently, a legislative bill was introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., to have the FCC regulate the volume of commercials. Broadcasters don't like regulations, so they agreed to monitor themselves.

We'll be listening to see whether the pendulum swings back to serving the public interest once again. If all else fails, there's always the mute button.

Leta Powell Drake, Lincoln