Make America Great Again? Watching CTA passengers save a man show greatness already exists

On Sept. 15, I was going home on the CTA Green Line. I had been reading the news on my phone, not paying a lot of attention. Suddenly, I heard this woman yell out. We pulled into the California station, and the woman walked up and stood in the door so the train couldn't move. She was yelling and waving her hands at the conductor.

Another passenger then ran out of the train car toward the conductor. I looked toward the end of the car, and there was a guy slumped over and a hypodermic needle on the floor in front of him.

A third passenger, an older man with white hair, took the guy's pulse, announced that he was still alive and started trying to rouse him. A CTA employee then showed up with Narcan. The man with the white hair administered the nasal spray and continued to try to rouse the limp passenger while the CTA employee was on the phone trying to get an ambulance.

Eventually, the guy who overdosed stood up and paramedics came.

What was most interesting to me about this experience was that we have a man running for president, who constantly tries to divide us, who tells we should be afraid of people who look different from us.

But on that day, I saw a young white guy overdose on drugs, and it was three Black passengers, who never had met him before, who knew exactly how to respond in a crisis and save his life. I will never know who these passengers were, but kudos to the three of you for saving a life.

Popping balloon use

The organizers of the recent Walk to End Alzheimer's deserve a breath of gratitude from everyone who's ever seen balloons stuck in a tree after floating away from a memorial of bereaved relatives or a celebration, because these Alzheimer's supporters considerately chose flowers instead for this walk.

Balloon releases don't do anything for the person lost or feted. The plastic skins float off to become someone else's problem, or worse, fall into the lakes or oceans, where unsuspecting turtles can mistake it for their normal jellyfish prey. These party staples can't be digested; they never biodegrade.

Further, microbits and nanobits of plastics have made their way into our own bodies — our lungs, brains and blood. Plastic pollution is a problem everywhere, and we should not be adding needless trash to the world's lands, waters, or us.

Maja Ramírez,

Kudos for NDLSD redesign explanation

This is simply a note of praise for Nik Hunder's detailed investigation of the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation's proposal for the renovation of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. It is great for Chicagoans that the Sun-Times supports the work of an environmental policy analyst and public transit advocate willing to read the fine print and explain it to subscribers.

In this regard, I have an additional question regarding how parkland is calculated vis-à-vis highway. A great deal of the "improvement" of the parkland along the stretch of the lake shore from Montrose to Hollywood seems to consist of widening roads and adding parking spaces. Does this additional asphalt east of NDLSD count as parkland acreage or as highway?

It is great that more families have access to the city beaches but the result is that adding roadway and parking spaces within the park causes incredible traffic jams during peak hours, with more noise and exhaust. Adding parking spaces reduces green space.

Thanks again for the excellent coverage and publishing such an informative op-ed.

Don't let deadbeat city workers slide

City workers owe over $18 million in parking tickets, utility bills, administrative hearing debt and other fees. The city is facing an almost $1 billion budget deficit in 2025 and it now has a partial hiring freeze.

City workers are not above the law, including the Chicago police detective who owes $23,000 in unpaid water bills or the CTA bus driver who owes $53,000 in administrative fees. They should be treated like everyone else. Garnish their wages, put liens on them or maybe they should not be employed at all.

Bike riders can't cycle over road rules

I agree with Sun-Times reader Tom Sharp about the imbalance concerning drivers who are way overburdened with all the responsibilities connected to "sharing" the road with bike riders while bike riders break all kinds of dangerous laws.

I drive almost every day, and I observe bike riders blowing stop signs and traffic lights, cutting dangerously in front of drivers, hogging the road and generally behaving dangerously all the time.

Recently, very suddenly a bike rider cut right in front of my car, and I slammed on my brakes with everything I had so this ignorant person could peddle on their irresponsible way.

Unfortunately, not everyone's reflexes are as good as mine. I agree that bike riders should have to pass a rider test and they should be ticketed when they ride irresponsibly and dangerously. Both drivers bike riders need to share the road responsibly.