As a resident of Moss Street, I am writing to thank the City of Victoria workers who did an absolutely amazing job cleaning our street after Saturday’s Paint-In. The event itself was a tremendous success, and a pleasure to attend.

By Sunday morning, the street was spotless — just as if the event had not occurred. Thanks should go to the organizers and participants, who respected the fact that the event was on a neighbourhood street.

But too often we take the contribution of public servants for granted and I think they deserve special thanks for the careful work the public realm team and their colleagues did with this event.

Not every city has the excellent level of public services we do in Victoria and the workers deserve to be acknowledged, and thanked.

David Miller

Victoria

On Sunday I was southbound on Blanshard, north of Hillside, travelling the speed limit, in the middle lane. An e-scooter with extra fat tires came flying up behind me, swerved around me, gesturing and yelling, then pulled into my lane and went flying off down the road, doing perhaps 20 km/h faster then I was going.

Like everybody, we see quite a few of those things. In the bike lane, they appear out of nowhere literally in the blink of an eye.

So, they travel much faster then bikes or kick scooters, and have nothing to catch your attention from a distance. Many riders don’t have helmets. There is little to identify a fast motorized scooter over a slow kick scooter.

They need headlights or some other identifier to show they are exceptionally fast vehicles.

Mix late-afternoon sun and treelined street shadows for mottled lighting and skinny little things travelling at high speed on those roads or bike lanes, I’m surprised there are not a lot more accidents and or fatalities like on the highway.

The lack of safety requirements for those devices is pretty shocking. And it’s most likely many would first say its the car at fault. I disagree.

Gordon Olafsen

Victoria

As a child in school, we were taught about the “Four Freedoms,” one of which was freedom of the press. (Do they teach that any more?)

“Press” included the media who deliver our news. They have a responsibility to keep the public informed.

As we watch the circus playing out with our neighbours to the south, we should all take note of how at risk that vital freedom is.

Prominent media being sued by the most powerful person........

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