We need to do our homework on Nebraska canal plan

Re: “Colorado’s water war with Nebraska comes to a head,” Sept. 21 news story

Farming in northeastern Colorado has never been easy, and it is getting harder. Markets are tough, input costs are up, and young people are leaving. What keeps communities in Northeastern Colorado going is agriculture, the water, the ground, and the community that ties everything together. The proposed Perkins County Canal — to carry South Platte River water into Nebraska — threatens all of it.

When you take water off farmland, the damage does not stop in crop yields. Equipment dealers, elevators, local banks, and businesses all feel it. Schools and roads will suffer. We have seen what happens to towns that lose their agricultural base, and we cannot let that happen again without a real fight.

That fight needs to be a regional one. I am asking communities across northeastern Colorado to come together and hire an independent economic consultant to assess the true local impact of this project (acres affected, jobs at risk, income lost, tax base eroded).

The Corps of Engineers will do its own analysis, but we need our own numbers. If their conclusions do not match what our communities are actually facing, we need the documentation to say so and demand they take another look.

Rural communities have always figured out how to help each other when it counts. This is one of those times. I urge local officials, water boards, farm bureaus, and civic leaders to set aside any differences and work together on this. The permit process will not wait, and neither can we.

Kimberly L. Kinnison, Ovid

Don’t let our children be ‘policy pawns’

Re: “District accused of violating Title IX,” March 14 news story

The Trump administration seems intent on the persecution of transgender children, excluding them from bathrooms, sports and school activities. Refusing to allow transgender children to participate in school in a manner consistent with their gender identity promotes the exclusion of particularly vulnerable children.

Participation in sports, access to bathrooms in which they feel comfortable, and full inclusion are critical components of healthy development for all children.

Some children are taller, faster, or stronger, have been training with private coaches or attending schools with better facilities, but the requirement of biological uniformity applies only to transgender children.

Exclusion harms children. Is this in dispute? Our children are not political pawns.

Jane Cates, Jefferson County

Don’t forget the Denver Chamber Music Festival

Re: “Classical blast,” March 15 feature story