Dear Editor: As Alderman of the 2nd Ward of the City of Chicago, I support the Christopher D. Wheatley Memorial Foundation license plate, as presented in House Bill 1214 of the Illinois General Assembly.

Dear Editor: Quick, how far do you have to travel before you get to your nearest grocery store? What measure of distance did you come up with? A block? A mile? Well, for thousands of Chicagoans living in “food deserts,” or communities with limited access to healthy food options, the answer is about two to three miles.

If you were out and about in Chicago one Wednesday last month, it quickly became obvious that it was Ash Wednesday. In many parts of downtown and on the CTA system, many people bore that traditional ashen cross on their foreheads — the ancient reminder that Lent had begun.

The election this November will be one of the most important in the lives of today’s workers. As CEO of a company that employees more than 5,000 people, I know that the outcome will affect each and every one of them.

Dear Editor: Imagine you have a potentially fatal disease, but your doctor tells you that you have a clean bill of health because the cost to treat what ails you is deemed too expensive by your insurance company.

Dear Editor: The Maxwell Street Foundation is dedicated to preserving Maxwell Street history for future generations. In response to the editorial and the letters to the editor in the August edition of the Gazette, the foundation wishes to address the historic significance of the Gethsemane building in the Maxwell Street neighborhood on the site of the Newman Center’s proposed development which would demolish the building, and explain the building’s relevance to its mission.

Dear Editor: CPS [Chicago Public Schools] has the bad habit of ignoring the maintenance of its buildings for several years (or decades) in a row and then arguing that “it will cost too much” to save that building when it decides to tear it down.

Dear Editor: I am writing in rebuttal of your editorial on July 6, 2012. I find your point of view misguided, wrong, and flat-out reckless because you failed to discuss the real issue, whether the Newman Center is the right fit for the immediate community that will be mostly impacted.

Dear Editor: Thank you for covering the Newman Center proposed development on Union Street. We, with our four children, live on Emerald Avenue and are in support of a five-to-six story Newman Center development.

Dear Editor: We are experiencing a very serious drought and young trees in our parks and on our parkways and in our yards and building plazas are dying. The City of Chicago and Chicago Park District need your help. They also will be watering.