To the editor:

Headline in the June 5 Journal-World: “At Last! 31st and Iowa Work Ending! Construction that began in September should be done Friday.”

June 7: Turning the corner at 31st Street and Haskell Avenue of the ersatz South Lawrence Trafficway, a sign proclaiming “Road Closed to Thru Traffic.” At the intersection at 31st and Louisiana streets another sign reads “Road Closed.” Traffic was being funneled up Louisiana to wait in the long line of cars turning onto the neighborhood street at 27th Street, which had now become the detour for the South Lawrence Trafficway (Folks, 31st Street has been that way for years now).

Is there any wonder why citizens get irritated and upset with both the media and government? Lying and deception has become acceptable in our modern society. Look at the scramble by the glut of “news outlets” to procure an audience mostly by emulating the tabloid-style talk show models. Self-proclaimed “Truth Detectors” and “No Spin Zone” fabricators have become the model for the modern media, and the real victim of this fraud is indeed the truth.

As for the road project, well, is there enough integrity left in the city government to enforce contracts and penalties to deter this type of deplorable (but seemingly acceptable) performance? Or is it like the demise of the “truth,” just another mark of integrity in our society that is swept away in the maddening, headlong rush to get… where?

Fred Whitehead,

Lawrence