17-02-2025
Letters: Why Palm Springs Airport expansion is a must
Palm Springs International Airport is vital to the Coachella Valley's economy, ensuring our tourism-driven community thrives. Events like Coachella, Stagecoach, Modernism Week, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and Palm Springs Pride bring billions into our local economy, supporting hotels, restaurants and cultural institutions. As demand grows, PSP must expand to keep Palm Springs competitive.
More direct flights from key markets will make travel easier, reducing reliance on LAX and San Diego. Limited flights and high fares deter visitors, impacting local businesses. Expansion – through additional gates, improved facilities and enhanced international connections – ensures Palm Springs remains a top-tier destination.
Tourism fuels local tax revenue, funding public amenities like parks, art and infrastructure. Without continued growth, these resources could suffer. Concerns about noise and the environment can be addressed through smart, sustainable design, making PSP more efficient and eco-friendlier.
Palm Springs has always evolved – from a celebrity retreat to an LGBTQ+ haven and cultural hub. Expanding PSP is the next step in securing our future. This isn't just about more flights – it's about investing in the heart of our community and ensuring Palm Springs remains a world-class destination.
Mitchell Battersby, Palm Springs
This past Saturday, Feb. 8, we had the pleasure of experiencing the new theatrical offering at the Revolution Stage Company, 'Avenue Q.' This paradoxical and fun musical comedy uses Muppet-like puppetry to tackle relevant social issues with songs that are hilarious and is well worth your time.
'Avenue Q' was the winner of the 2004 of Tony for best musical, with original music from Robert Lopez who brought you 'The Book of Mormon,' 'Frozen' and 'Coco.' The cast at Revolution Stage Company aptly pulls off a treat for the audience. Everyone in the cast is excellent but some key standouts are Joseph Portoles, (Princeton) and Candace Coe (Kate Monster) – both performers have strong capable voices that take this show to another level.
This was my first experience seeing a show at the Revolution Stage Company and I will be back. Sometimes the best theater experience is a stripped-down approach that allows the performers to showcase the material and their talents. I think the director of this production, James Owen, totally understands this approach to putting on a production.
The show continues through this weekend and if you have a chance to grab a friend and see this show you will not be disappointed.
Garrison Rios, Palm Springs
I note in the Feb. 2 edition under "Rents Soar" that the 60-unit complex developed by Monarch Homes in Palm Springs cost $40.8 million. That comes out to $680,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Pretty pricy.
Al Lewis, Rancho Mirage
Trump is executing his slash and burn spending cuts half backward or putting the cart in front of the horse! While it is proper for the president to eliminate any government waste, the proper way to do this is to have Musk evaluate the different government agencies and come up with recommended area where fraud, abuse and waste can be identified and to make recommendations to the president and Congress where savings can be constructively made.
Instead, Trump and Musk or going after this task backward by laying off and cutting people and positions before evaluating the efficacy of such actions. In the meantime, they may be causing irrevocable damage to valuable government services that serve an important public and international service to our nation. This kind of haphazard, irresponsible leadership on the part of Trump shows that while he may know how to win an election, he does not understand how to responsibly manage our country. While all this is occurring, where is our Congress, who is ultimately responsible for determining government spending priorities, not Elon Musk?
Harry Sauberman, Rancho Mirage
Judging by the high proportion of letters criticizing the new administration, it is evident that Trump derangement syndrome is alive and well. While I understand some people may not like the president personally or his mannerisms, I don't understand why they oppose deporting illegal criminals, increasing energy production to bring down inflation, limiting the "Green New Deal" which has only increased our energy costs, eliminating DEI which only disadvantages, in many cases, qualified individuals, halting taxpayer payment for sex changes for criminals in our prisons, and forbidding men in women's bathrooms, locker rooms and women's sports. Hopefully he's geared up to do much more. The majority of Americans have spoken and it's time to get behind the changes that will only make America better.
Karen Knowles, Palm Desert
In response to Mr. Jackson's Feb. 4 letter to the editor, 'Trump haters should stop catastrophizing…'
I truly believe Donald Trump is unfit for the office. He is mentally, ethically and philosophically bankrupt. However, you have mistaken my vote… "my choice" for hate. It's not hate – he's constantly proving to me that he isn't capable of being a leader. He doesn't unite people; he pits them against each other.
I have never questioned any president's loyalty to serving our country and its citizens to the best of their ability, until now. He had a meeting with a white supremacist in Florida. Told the Proud Boys to stand by and claimed the 2017 Unite the Right (Nazi & KKK ) rally in Charlotteville was attended by 'good people.' He accuses legal Haitian immigrants of eating people's pets. He accuses two election workers of stuffing ballots.
He has vilified our military personnel, particularly those who were captured in combat calling them losers and suckers. He threatened General Milley's life. His former chief of staff, General John Kelly called him a fascist and a threat to democracy. I find his words demeaning and his promises empty. His leadership during the pandemic was a failure. He took classified government documents that were not his when he left office in 2020.
All of this and more is why he didn't deserve my vote. But it wasn't hate. It was that he failed to meet even the minimum expectations for a decent human being much less a president of the United States.
Chip Lidicker, La Quinta
I'm sharing today's letter to my Republican Congressmember, hoping to motivate people to make some noise!
Stop Coup #2! Take the advice of the American Bar Association: 'No American can be proud of a government that carries out change in this way. Neither can these actions be rationalized by discussion of past grievances or appeals to efficiency. Everything can be more efficient, but adherence to the rule of law is paramount.'
Elon Musk's visit to the Oval Office for a 'press conference'/propaganda session was horrifying and humiliating for all Americans. This quote from Musk says it all: 'If the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?' Says the non-elected bureaucrat with no transparency.
He is making your job obsolete. How can you be a lawmaker if laws are ignored and there are no consequences? There is no separation of powers if our last guardrail, the judiciary, can't enforce the law. We need a few Republican lawmakers to make history and honor their oath to the constitution. Please be one of them and end the D.C. crime spree before it's too late.
Fiona Carroll, Mission Viejo
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Letters: Why Palm Springs Airport expansion is a must
