Your Opinion: Creating access for trouble

Dear Editor:

A recent shooting and killing in the City of Jefferson involved out-of-town people. Investigations are continuing. We may learn more about their motives later.

Out-of-town people come into our city often by way of the highway system. We are midway between two large urban areas.

Interstate highways would make it easier for more such people to come into town.

At the risk of being repetitive, I will draw our readers attention, once again, to a front-page feature article, in the Wall Street Journal, several years ago, concerning interstate highways and vagrancy. Cities on interstate highways had higher levels of vagrancy than those without the benefit of such highways. Out-of-town panhandler types found it easier to go from city to city in search of greener pastures with the help if interstate highways.

The people involved in the shootings do not appear to be vagrancy types. Might we consider them to be trouble-maker types? Would interstate highways make it easier for more such individuals to make their way into our fine city?

Some of our leaders are pushing for an interstate highway through the City of Jefferson. They cite numbers out of studies. The alleged need for an interstate highway has approached the level of a dogmatic religious belief. If you are against interstates they may imply that you are against Jefferson City progress.

I am all in favor of economic progress. My admonition is let's do it very carefully. We must ask ourselves questions.

How do we invite the good guys in and the bad guys out? How can we create entertainment districts while allowing long-time residents to sleep at night? Can we have economic growth without population growth?

I congratulate our law-enforcement people for apprehending those who appear to be the bad guys. I admonish our leaders to proceed very carefully. An unexamined plan is not worth following.

One of these centuries they may learn to be thankful for those who question their ideas.