Readers Write: Wildfires, health care cuts, sports facilities

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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In February 2024 the Star Tribune published my commentary titled “10 bold initiatives for Minnesota,” which offered ideas to build a stronger, safer and healthier Minnesota while also boosting our state’s economic development.

One of the easiest ideas to implement was the purchase of the Modular Aerial Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). The MAFFS system fits inside Minnesota Air National Guard C-130 aircraft. In the commentary, I recommended the Minnesota Legislature purchase a MAFFS system for every Air National Guard C-130 in our fleet, enabling our state to attack forest fires with alacrity.

Our Legislature took no action on this recommendation.

It was only a matter of time before climate change impacted our water cycle and drought returned to Minnesota forests. With three major fires now raging in northern Minnesota, we now see the double whammy of climate change and lack of action by both political parties in the Legislature to prepare Minnesota to effectively fight forest fires.

Yet there is still time to erase this mistake. As part of a final budget bill, the Legislature should fund the purchase of the MAFFS system, thus equipping the Minnesota Air National Guard to assist state, county and local officials in fighting forest fires. We want our own systems, ensuring access to MAFFS whenever needed.

In an era where bipartisan political agreement is … hard, this proposal protects people, property and our wilderness heritage. It is an easy win for Minnesota.

Jon R. Olson, Northfield, Minn.

The writer is a retired U.S. Navy commander and was a candidate for the Minnesota Senate in 2020.

Right now, as reported in the article “Trump’s $4.9 trillion tax plan targets Medicaid to offset costs” and echoed by media outlets across the country, members of Congress are considering a budget proposal that would rip away lifesaving health care coverage, particularly Medicaid (known as Medical Assistance in Minnesota). This isn’t just unjust — it’s dangerous.

As someone who has worked to end the HIV epidemic for over 35 years, I know firsthand what’s at stake. Medicaid is the single largest source of health care coverage for people living with HIV. In fact, it covers 40% of people living with HIV in the United States. This includes a growing number of older people who are aging with HIV and often face complex health challenges that require consistent and comprehensive care. Medicaid expansion has also been associated with an increase in the use of PrEP, a medication that is up to 99% effective at stopping people from acquiring HIV.

Because of decades of advocacy, scientific breakthroughs and improved access to care, HIV is no longer a death sentence for those connected to treatment and support services. HIV has become a manageable chronic disease — one that cannot be transmitted sexually when a person is connected to care and on effective HIV treatment. Without Medicaid, people with HIV will lose access to lifesaving medications that can help them live long, healthy lives and prevent transmission of HIV to others. Without Medicaid, more Minnesotans with HIV will fall through the cracks and experience health challenges. And without Medicaid, more Minnesotans will acquire HIV.

We can’t allow our representatives to trade away our health. Medicaid is essential. Cutting it will cost lives.

Terri L. Wilder, Minneapolis

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Our veterans are dying by suicide at alarmingly high rates, and it’s long past time we treat this as the national crisis it is. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans are 72% more likely to die by suicide than civilians — a staggering figure that should alarm every Minnesotan and every American.

While Minnesota has made progress in providing veteran support services, too many veterans — particularly those with other-than-honorable (OTH) discharges — are still excluded from accessing mental health care through the VA. Many of these discharges result from behaviors linked to untreated trauma, yet we continue to deny care to those most at risk. This is not only unjust, it’s deadly.

As a Marine Corps veteran and current Master of Social Work student, I’ve witnessed firsthand how stigma, institutional red tape and a lack of culturally competent care push people away from the help they desperately need. We must expand eligibility for VA mental health services, increase staffing and telehealth access, and integrate anti-stigma programming into military leadership training.

Leaders in Washington have a unique opportunity to lead on this issue. But lasting change also requires public will. Let’s stop making veterans prove they’re “deserving enough” and start treating access to mental health care as the right it is.

Jennifer Honan Abarquez, Bloomington

The Minnesota Legislature has been tasked with making budget cuts across industries. Critical pieces of legislation that will impact disability service providers throughout Minnesota are being considered. As we make tough budget decisions, we must prioritize services that support people with disabilities.

We are tired. We are underpaid. But we care.

It takes heart to show up every day when the starting pay at McDonald’s is $1 less than ours. To take away any resources we do have that allow the strong-minded to want to keep helping others in this field would be diabolical and inhumane. Where’s the progression? Services being cut will result in the decline of people with disabilities — physically, mentally, financially and every other way imaginable. That’s regression. The fact that staff need to make “sympathetic letters” to prevent further decline in the disability field enrages me. It makes me think the government putting people with disabilities back in hospitals rather than homes is not far away.

I’m 24. My generation will riot. It is not a threat, it is inevitable.

Imagine this. You walk into your workplace at 6 a.m. Upon arrival, the previous shift leaves and you and the other staff on shift with you sign your life over to four to eight people for the day. You are providing medical treatments. You are passing medication; you are getting everyone up, showered, dressed and ready for the day just like you would want to start yours. You oversee poop, pee, vomit, blood, mucus, stomach acid and everything else that is in a person.

Done, right? Sounds like what we would get paid for. No, that’s the first two hours. Next, you are cooking, cleaning, stocking and reordering. Then, you drive to outings and appointments, speaking with health professionals and guardians. Then you get back to the workplace to do more cooking, cleaning and everything else in between. I’m the assistant program manager. This scenario is only half of my job, and the full-time job of a direct support professional.

$1 more than McDonald’s. Do what you want with this information.

Talasia Riley, Inver Grove Heights

When the newest billionaire owners of the Timberwolves come to us with demands for hundreds of millions of free public money to build a new basketball palace, we ought not give in as easily as we have in the past. No! Instead, we the people of this fine state need to extract a concession from the NBA in exchange for our hundreds of millions: No Timberwolves tipoffs later than 8 p.m. on weeknights during the playoffs. That’s actual tipoff time; not the fake listed tipoff time, not the fake first countdown tipoff time, not even the second fake tipoff time. The actual, honest-to-goodness ball-in-play time.

After all, us working stiffs need to be up early in order to produce more economic output for the billionaire owners to extort from us on pain of losing our (now) beloved Timberpups.

Mathew Keller, Circle Pines

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I laughed out loud upon reading in Rochelle Olson’s May 9 column that the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority opposed the use of bird-safe glass in U.S. Bank Stadium because of “aesthetics.” That building is surely the ugliest building in Minnesota, and possibly in the whole country. Aesthetics indeed.

Susan McCallum, Minneapolis