Letters to the Editor

Dangerous curve

We were very excited to learn of the change in ownership of Mimi's restaurant, which is to be the new Boathouse Restaurant. We wish the new venture well.

The old establishment created nightmarish problems of access to the restaurant and customer parking along Harbor View Road. Specifically, the restaurant is located on a dangerous curve before James Island Creek, and the on-site parking is woefully inadequate for the number of customers and employees.

It is difficult to understand why a governing body approved the restaurant's original size and even more difficult to understand why it allowed expansion with a deck and exterior seating. It would seem on any given busy day or night that fire or emergency vehicles would have difficulty accessing the building.

We hope the new owners will immediately address the parking issues and help prevent a tragedy. It is only a matter of time before an accident, attributable to the restaurant's access or parking problems, results in death or serious injury.

BUD HAY

Romney Street

Charleston

Bicycle rules

A recent, very well-considered letter to the editor addressed the issue of bicycles on our public streets. I would amplify one view of the letter writer. She states: "It's my understanding that S.C. traffic rules and regulations apply for any vehicle using public rights of way; not so in practice." Riders need to realize that a bicycle is a vehicle. That means that they should ride on the right with traffic, not against traffic.

Some seem to think that because pedestrians walk facing traffic that bicyclists are just pedestrians on wheels. Not so. Bicyclists are drivers of human-powered vehicles. If they obey common-sense rules, as the writer states, accidents would be reduced.

It does not help protect a bicyclist or assist a driver of a car attempting to go around a bicycle if it is coming at the car.

On a somewhat related note: The growing number of drivers using golf carts should be a major concern. These vehicles are not made for downtown streets. Trendy mothers who use them to cut costs while driving their kids around are putting them in danger.

I shudder every time I see kids in a golf cart on a city street. It's worse if the young people are driving.

This trend needs to be stopped immediately.

THE REV. TITUS FULCHER

Charleston Melkite Catholic Community

Our Lady of Mercy Church

America Street

Charleston

Word is 'torture'

Regarding the editorial about intelligence gains: I am railing at your term "stressful interrogations" used in a Nov. 19 Post and Courier editorial. The correct word is torture. Let's call a spade a spade.

I admire Sen. John McCain's forthrightness for standing up against this illegal activity, and thank God the Pelosi Democrats are demanding "trophy heads."

The terrorist threat has only increased under President Bush and members of his intelligence agencies, both of whom have been focusing on the wrong country.

PATRICE KATSANEVAKIS

N. Shem Drive

Mount Pleasant

I-526 expansion

I am very concerned about and opposed to the expansion of I-526. Our community has imminent growth needs that must be addressed, but the solution must be comprehensive and effective.

There are smarter, cheaper, more effective and longer-term solutions to our growth needs than simply building a monstrous highway. Building this highway is too expensive, too permanent and too short-term oriented.

The I-526 expansion only postpones the inevitable and substantial changes that are needed in our community, including enhancing intermodal transportation and encouraging smarter growth with more thoughtful zoning laws. By doing so, we consider more than just another way to get around in a car — we consider the community as a whole.

I was gravely disappointed when I presented these ideas recently at an SCDOT I-526 informational meeting. I was told such a comprehensive solution would require an unachievable level of cooperation among city, county, state and federal governments. As a result, the "no-build" alternative is viewed as failing.

I ask my fellow Charlestonians whether Charleston should accept inadequate infrastructure because government agencies can't work together. The completion of the I-526 expansion will make this question irrelevant.

We have little time. We must tell SCDOT to stop. We must demand that our elected officials come up with a solution that is less parochial and more effective and meaningful.

JOSH MUELLER

Oxbow Drive

Charleston

Smooth voting

In response to a letter to the editor regarding the Mount Pleasant voting location for Precincts Six and Seven: As a clerk at this location for the past 20-plus years, I also agree that we could have voted faster, but it would have required a change in voting laws.

All who entered were offered a chance to vote. Even if 15-year-olds had wanted to vote, they could have voted a challenge ballot. It would not have been counted, but they could have voted.

You were not there with us at 7 p.m., but you would be glad to know there was no one in line to vote. Also, you should have noted that all 10 of the voting booths were full all of the time, and there was a line at each registration location. It is true that I had time to give out "I voted" stickers because everything was running smoothly.

The exceptions were voters who did not understand South Carolina's laws.

Ours was one of the few voting locations with more than 2,300 voters that closed at 7 p.m.

LOU MINTZ

Joyce Avenue

Mount Pleasant