Letters to the Editors

Convenience store safety rules arose from tragedy

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000

Editor: My attention was guided to an article in your newspaper this week regarding the murder of Lee Ann Larmon in 1987 by Todd Mendyk. He is asking the federal court to set aside his death sentence.

I never knew Lee Ann or her family, but because of her senseless death, I had to do something. If that had been my daughter, I would have been devastated. Contacts were made concerning safety rules in convenience stores. At that time I was appalled at the lack of security.

My friend Georgia Kimble and I started meetings, hoping we could get them to pass stricter guidelines, mainly pushing for security cameras, clear windows and a two-clerk ordinance at night. Until Lee Ann's murder, I never realized help for her was practically zero.

Meetings and debates went on in the months to follow, but at the end of it all, Brooksville City Council passed a very strict ordinance. I was so proud of them for stepping up to the plate. We lost with the County Commission by a very close vote, but in 1990 the state mandated the security measures be in place in counties where there had been a killing.

I understand that in the years following Lee Ann's murder, her family moved away. The memories were too painful.

I always hoped they knew that their daughter's life was not lost in vain. People did care and in some way wanted to do something to rectify a gross injustice to another human being.
-- Julia Jinkins,Brooksville

Owners and authorities need to control cats

Editor: I know that my neighborhood is probably not the only one that is blighted with a plethora of wild felines, and I am certain others have been confronted with the same disdain exhibited by their local authorities.

The beginning of this problem lies with those who have cats as pets and allow their cats to wander freely so that they are not confined indoors continuously.

While this appears humane, it is dangerous because cats are frequently run over by automobiles. Another problem is that a vast majority of people who own cats do not have them altered so they are incapable of reproducing. Due to this, the obvious result is that cats will reproduce over and over if they are free to roam the outdoors, and many areas will be deluged with stray cats that will continue to reproduce ad infinitum.

It is the responsibility of those who own cats to keep them indoors unless they are incapable of reproducing, especially those who own female cats. The area where I live is supposed to be a bird sanctuary, so letting cats loose who could hunt birds presumably is illegal. And, in the case of neighborhoods that are infested with brood upon brood of cats, local authorities also should have the responsibility of controlling this problem.

All of us must voice our concern about this rapidly growing problem and bring this situation under control before it becomes impossible to correct. It is our responsibility to see that this growing problem is solved before there is no answer except the slaughter of helpless animals.
-- Roy McMillan,Spring Hill

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