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Here's a Taser guideline to live by

Re: Good guidance on using Tasers, editorial, Sept. 27.

Pepper spray may cause respiratory distress, Tasers may cause cardiac arrest, a nightstick will cause blunt force trauma and a police officer's sidearm may result in a fatality when discharged. All of these potentially catastrophic instruments of law enforcement can be rendered ineffective and harmless in one easy-to-follow step:

Don't break the law!

The majority of us manage to understand and live in harmony with this concept. Our men and women in law enforcement shouldn't be placed in harm's way because of an individual's failure to exercise personal responsibility.

If, on the other hand, you find yourself "on the other side of the law," you have little to worry about if you do not attempt to resist arrest, harm yourself or others, and most important, attempt to harm the officers who are only doing what they are sworn to do.

Phil Oropesa, St. Petersburg

New Taser policy makes sense

I applaud St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon's new Taser policy for the city. Too many citizens in the United States have been Tasered because of policies that are too liberal. I agree with St. Petersburg's new policy because it prevents innocent people from being Tasered. A police officer should first try to apprehend a person with physical contact before using a Taser, and that is what this new policy states.

I also believe it is important to not use Tasers on people who are not physically violent or who are fleeing. According to Amnesty International, more than 150 citizens in the United States have died after being Tasered by the police. Out of all the Taser policies that I have read about throughout the country, St. Petersburg's new policy is one of the best. I hope more cities and counties adopt St. Petersburg's policy.

Julie Taylor, St. Petersburg

Humane Society needs a closer look

Re: Humane society is on the mend, editorial, Sept. 20.

I would have liked to see the St. Petersburg Times look into the background of the Pinellas Humane Society's new executive director before jumping on board with the current choice of the board of directors. It seems to me it would be helpful to know why she has worked at so many shelters in a relatively short period of time. What were the reasons for her departure, what types of shelters did she run, what is her shelter philosophy?

There has been one constant through all of this, both before and after the departure of director Rick Chaboudy. The board of directors - the same board that chooses to hide from its members, donors, staff and volunteers the bylaws under which they govern. How can they now be trusted to make the right decisions?

Kim Trimmer, Seminole

Those are bus fares, not riders

Re: Buses bulge, even in summer, Sept. 27.

It seems as if everyone at the Times writing about the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is committed to vastly inflating the number of riders, as in this story, which repeatedly tossed around figures in the millions for the number of "riders."

Unlike counting attendees of La Boheme at the Paris Opera or the fans at a Bucs game, there is no way to identify the number of riders on this bus system. Fare boxes total the number of fares paid. One rider making a daily round trip pays some 730 fares in a year, 1,460 if he has to transfer, but you are showing the single person (and others like him) as "millions" of "riders."

The figures may still be impressive, but if these were actually "riders" they would be hanging off the tops of the buses.

John Royse, St. Petersburg

Stop Treasure Island concrete walk

The city of Treasure Island is actively considering a proposal to pave the beautiful natural public beach from one end to the other with a concrete beach road complete with a 3-foot wall and boardwalks through the fragile and environmentally protected sand dunes.

This concrete road and wall will stop the dwindling number of endangered sea turtles from nesting on the beach and drive many of the shore birds away.

The sand dunes contain many federally and state-protected beach plants like sea oats, beach sunflower and beach morning glory, and are home to nesting birds.

This is the first step in commercialization of the beautiful beach. Soon there will be vendors along the beach as in Coney Island or Venice Beach, Calif.

People from all over the world visit this fine, wide, white sand beach for its pristine beauty and we should keep this little part of the world free from concrete.

Please visit www.naturaltibeach.com to help us protect this valuable natural resource.

Thomas A. Larson, Treasure Island

A strange way to impress people

For all of those people out there who think that swearing makes you sound cool, I just want to thank you for broadening my vocabulary. Who needs a dictionary when you can just communicate with four-letter words, and taking the Lord's name in vain. Please, by all means, keep doing it.

If this sounds just a little sarcastic, it is. Nothing is more disgusting and annoying than trying to have a decent meal at a restaurant and have to listen to the people at the tables on both sides of you use foul language.

It was a recent Saturday night at a restaurant on Fourth Street in St. Petersburg. It's a nice restaurant that has fine food, but somehow this girl found her way in there. She sat at the table behind us and cussed a blue streak. It really made our evening enjoyable.

So, when you want to go out and impress somebody with your education, or lack thereof, please by all means use four-letter words.

I actually felt sorry for the people around us who had kids and were trying to explain those words. "Kids, these are not words we use. Only illiterate folks use them."

Deanne Kimmitt, St. Petersburg

Bromeliads, the mosquito's friend

Like many others, I have had to limit my outdoor activities because of the onslaught of mosquitoes, even during the day, especially if one perspires a lot.

Then I heard or read a report that bromeliads are a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I looked into the center of my bromeliads and found a small amount of standing water with mosquito larvae inside.

Well, those 10 bromeliads were in the trash can within five minutes. Subsequently, the mosquito attacks dropped noticeably.

I would like to see more public announcements made either in print or electronic media to move homeowners to pull up their bromeliads from their gardens and trees. I now know, from firsthand experience, that the program works.

Steven Noeltner, St. Petersburg

[Last modified October 1, 2006, 08:26:54]