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Letter to the editor

Today's Letters: Anderson should have kept quiet

Re: Weaver purchase not a good idea letter, Sept. 16

Anderson should have kept quiet

I was very disappointed in state Rep. Tom Anderson's letter to the editor. Opportunities to preserve valuable waterfront property for the use of Florida citizens and guests are rare and should be explored to the fullest.

Our Dunedin city commissioners are in the early stages of evaluating this opportunity. To have a member of the state House of Representatives make comments such as his at this point adds little value to the process and tends to polarize the community.

Perhaps this was his goal!

Kent Hermes, Dunedin

Re: Weaver purchase not a good idea letter, Sept. 16

Budget concerns? Please get real

I am deeply touched by Rep. Tom Anderson's concern for Dunedin's budget and the "seniors, students and children in our community."

Is there, perhaps, a developer or two assisting him in writing his letter to the editor?

"Dunedin already has very substantial parkland," says Anderson.

Can any town in this overbuilt state have too much natural beauty?

E.L. Mott,Dunedin

Re: Weaver purchase not a good idea letter, Sept. 16

Anderson's input is welcome here

As a Dunedin citizen I am thankful that Rep. Tom Anderson maintains his concerns for our city. When the high school band director made the outrageous decision not to allow our pipers to attended our own Highland Games a couple of years ago, I, along with many other citizens, contacted all our city commissioners, the mayor and Tom Anderson.

Every commissioner replied to e-mails, many on more than one occasion. On the other hand, our mayor failed to acknowledge e-mails and made no known attempts to rectify the serious situation. It was Tom Anderson and many city commissioners who worked on the eventual reversal of such a bad decision.

Thank goodness we have Mr. Anderson to use his "inappropriate political influence" (Mayor Bob Hackworth's words). Mr. Hackworth could use a little tutoring on appropriate political influence from both our commissioners and Rep. Anderson.

Lyndee Dolan,Dunedin

Re: Man dies in duplex shooting story, Sept. 19

Why run victims' criminal records?

Why is it that every time there is a shooting or some kind of crime and the person has a criminal background, you have to print the negative?

It's not all about the wrong things that someone did. What gives you the right to put someone's personal business in the paper for someone else to mock and judge?

You didn't know Joey (Joseph Shaw, killed in a home invasion on Sept. 18), or Rat Rat (Julian Kaigler, gunned down in the first homicide of 2007 in a North Greenwood complex), who also had a criminal record.

One thing is always assumed: that it is "drug-related." Is this because they are young, black men and they are automatically stereotyped into the drug dealer category?

Kamiyah Frazier,Clearwater

Feeding wildlife not a good idea

I saw the picture called In flight meals Sept. 10. The picture shows a man feeding seagulls.

I have been to numerous national parks and every one of them has a fine for feeding any wildlife. From the squirrels, to the birds, to the bears, there is always a fine for feeding the wildlife.

Many people think they are doing the animals a big favor, but it doesn't help the animals one bit and it makes them aggressive toward people. This also causes the birds to go through people's bags while they are on the beach looking for food packages they recognize.

At Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, the seagulls have attacked my 4-year-old brother while he was eating his lunch. They will do anything to get into people's bags and steal their sandwiches or rip open a bag of chips.

When I was at summer camp on the beach, we all went off to play Capture the Flag, but we had left a giant bag of chips on the table under a tent. When we returned, there wasn't a chip left in the bag. The seagulls had torn a foot-long gash in the bag and had not left a crumb. Another time I was eating my sandwich and one of the seagulls came in and knocked it from my hands. The rest of them dive-bombed it and it was gone within five seconds.

I think that the state of Florida should make a law that is similar to that of the national parks. They also need to educate the public about how aggressive animals may become toward humans because of being fed by them.

Mark Traester, sixth-grader, Palm Harbor

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 22:43:36]