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Nation should pay more attention to the needs of the poor

We need to take an important lesson from the horrors we see on television in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: Many, many people in this country are living on the edge, and just one event can push them over that edge.

The problems of the poor are invisible until the winds literally blow the veil of indifference away. Many people who remained along the Gulf Coast when Katrina hit were those who could not afford to leave. People who have no security net - no savings to allow them to rent a car or buy an airline ticket to leave - also can't afford to miss a day of work if the hurricane misses the area, can't afford to risk that the rent won't be paid. In short, they couldn't afford to gamble on saving themselves and their families.

Statistics show that the top reason for bankruptcy is medical bills. Yet we talk about how irresponsible people are with credit, not how to provide medical care to everyone at a reasonable cost.

We need to help lower income people to sustain themselves, through public work programs or whatever means necessary, so that adults can work productively, afford decent housing, and take care of their families. We need to provide reliable public transportation that actually meets their needs for getting to work, getting medical care, etc.

Most of all we need to care.

Porter is getting off too easy

I cannot believe Jennifer Porter is going to escape the consequences of her actions and get no more than a measly three-year sentence. And on top of that her attorney wants her to go back to teaching!

Anyone who can hit four children and drive off, should not be allowed to enter a classroom and be responsible for the welfare of students. Hit and run accidents are taken far too lightly in our state and should carry a 10-year minimum prison sentence for first offenders and a life sentence for repeat offenders.

If I ever enter a classroom my child is attending and see Ms. Porter at the blackboard, I will immediately withdraw him from that school, because she is an inhumane monster.

She deserves some compassion

Re: Hit-run case resolved with one word: guilty, Aug. 31.

I am extremely proud of Jennifer Porter for the courage she has demonstrated in taking ownership of her involvement in the tragic hit and run that took two children's lives. I know that many in the community feel that she is getting off light for what they see as a serious crime, but I disagree. Three years in a Florida prison is no "camp cupcake" and this gentle and soft-spoken former elementary school teacher is likely to suffer terribly in a correctional facility.

I am foursquare in solidarity with Porter's attorney in requesting that Judge Emmett Lamar Battles be merciful when applying his discretion in sentencing. Porter fell victim to hysterical fear, poor judgment and parental misguidance, and while accountability is necessary, incarceration is not. Porter already has lost much as a consequence of her actions on March 31, 2004. Her career as a public school teacher has come to an end and her once sterling reputation is in ruins. Moreover she will carry the invisible "Scarlet Letter" of a convicted felon for the rest of her life.

Remember that Jennifer Porter is a beloved child of God like the rest of us and for that reason alone deserves some compassion.

Rules are different for some

Re: Jennifer Porter.

I am a retired white female. I am so appalled at the slap on the wrist that this young woman will apparently receive for killing two black children (dragging one 150 feet) and injuring two others.

I live in a very upscale part of town. I have seen the wealthy, white people get away with a lot of terrible injustices over the years, but this one takes the cake. If pretty, soft-spoken Jennifer were a young, uneducated black man, he would probably have been convicted already, if not sentenced to death.

Her family has "protected" her by washing the blood and human tissue off her car and gone about their lives. Whatever happened to "aiding and abetting" a criminal? Is this the very best our state attorney can do?

No matter the outcome of this case, I hope that Jennifer no longer is allowed to teach young people. What would she teach them, ethics?

Mother is not without blame

Re: Hit-run case resolved with one word: guilty.

Is everyone asleep out there? Yes, Jennifer Porter hit four children and left the scene of the accident. Yes, the mother of the children who died probably can't sleep nights. But maybe that's because she knows she should have had her children at home getting them ready for bed, not out at that time of the night crossing a busy street in the dark. A 2-, 3- and an 8-year-old in the care of another child?

Porter left the scene and two children died. She will take whatever the court decides, but a lot of people think that the mother of the children should also face charges of child neglect.

A shelter that takes pets

To the readers concerned about not being able to take pets into shelters if required to evacuate their homes, it was recently reported that Hillsborough County now has a pet-friendly shelter at the Burnett Middle School, 1010 Kingsway Road, on the corner of U.S. 92 and Kingsway Road North, just south of I-4 in Seffner.

This will be the first Hillsborough County shelter to welcome pets and their guardians (100 dogs and 100 cats, no other types pets allowed at this time.) The shelter will be funded and operated by the Hillsborough County Department of Animal Services. The county emergency services helped lobby for this facility as well, so please thank all these people!

If someone is seeking a pet-friendly place of safety in other counties, FloridaPets.net has a pretty complete listing of pet-friendly shelters throughout Florida.

The erosion of a helping government

Re: Destroying FEMA, Aug. 31.

Those of us who are following closely the policies of this administration and the effect they have on ordinary citizens, are not surprised by Eric Holdeman's revelations outlined in this article. While most of the public will undoubtedly rally around the president in his apparent rapid response to the victims along the Gulf Coast, the realities of the Republican mantra of lower taxes and less government are being felt by the people who depend on them the most.

As we watch the tragedies unfold, let us not forget that the institutions that have been established to protect and aid us in our time of need are being eroded. We can only hope that the national response to this tragedy will highlight our need for a strong and compassionate government.

[Last modified September 5, 2005, 01:15:10]