Death be not two-wheeled: Regarding Jeff Stratton's October 14 story, "A Pain in the Bike Lane": Anyone who could possibly think that the five-foot lanes aren't necessary is out of his or her mind. I have been riding A1A for the last six years. Once, I was hit by an elderly driver who said that I shouldn't be on the road with my bike. Luckily, I didn't need medical care. I have seen other people hit. And a friend's daughter was killed on A1A in Ocean Ridge a few years ago. We need bike lanes for everyone -- end of discussion.
I am a 57-year-old avid bike rider who lives in Ocean Ridge and hopes that the state will do the right thing and pass the recommended five-foot lanes as suggested in state law. We all have interest in this beautiful stretch of road, and everyone should be able to have the use of it
Bob Webster
Ocean Ridge
Watch out for Ralph: I have been following the bike lane issue for years in the paper and at the hearings, and Jeff Stratton's story was the most comprehensive, factually accurate, and best written of them all. Keep it up!
I would like to note, though, that there was one glaring factual inaccuracy. Ralph Clemente was definitely NOT asked to attend nor permitted to attend the meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee.
Jeffrey Lynne
Boca Raton
Max-ed Out
A tip for Tipmore: Please make sure you inform us readers in your current downtown lunch reviews (which I loved; right on point about Max's, by the way!) that Max's charges for drink refills BY THE GLASS. ("Luxuriant Lunch," D.B. Tipmore, October 14). That kind of policy makes for a very high-priced bill, especially with the overly salted food. Patrons end up paying much more than a mere $3.99 for lunch.
Josef Palermo
Oakland Park
Lorrie, We Hardly Knew Ya
Kids, we luv ya: I'm not a regular reader of the paper, but I happened across this week's issue today, and the front page caught my eye. I didn't know Lorrie Tennant, although from everything I have heard and read about her, I can see that that was my loss ("Requiem for a Murdered Poet," Jeff Stratton, October 7). I did, however, have the good fortune to know her sons, Keion and Dylan, who attended the same preschool as two of my three children. I only knew Lorrie and her mother by sight when we dropped off or picked up our children at the same time. We exchanged polite hellos, and occasionally a word or two about the children.
Keion and Dylan are wonderful boys. They are friendly, kind, and gentle, and very bright. My children absolutely adore them. When this horrible tragedy happened, I just cried and cried for those babies. It is unimaginable to me, losing a parent at such a young age in such a horrible fashion.
The bottom line is that I wanted to applaud you for your moving article. The more I read about Lorrie, the more I admire her, making the story all the more tragic. She was an amazing young woman.
Richele Faris
Davie
Bushwhacked
But free to speak: I wonder what the repercussions would be for the average American to get involved by speaking of the Bush Regime's war crimes ("Bush's Crimes," September 30). Perhaps we will be taken to the prison camps and tortured if we do. Has the power of this 21st Century führer infected all steps to the Democratic process? And how must we influence our media to report on such things?
Wanita Vest
Yulee
Censored in Kansas
But free in Floreeeeeda: Thanks to Wyatt Olson for a great story ("The Hospital on the Hill," September 9). Finally, other people know what the Veterans Administration is doing to us vets. When I read the story, I could not believe that the editor granted him the right way to do it.
Here in Wichita, Kansas, the Wichita Eagle has not printed anything about the way the veterans in this city are being treated. I personally wrote one of the editors about this, and I got an e-mail back stating that The Wichita Eagle does not indulge in these type of stories. I stopped buying their newspapers. The situation described in Olson's story is the very reason that we the vets will never get a fair shake.
Yes, Congress knows what is going on, but very few representatives will get involved and demand changes. Yes, the House of Representatives and Senators will listen to you because this is an election year, but after November 2004, if re-elected, deaf ears will prevail for another four years.
Again I say thank you for this story.
Marvin Lynch
Wichita, KS
Old and International
Lots o' problems: This letter is in regards to your "Jamaica Yes Problem," article (Jeff Stratton, September 2). I am a gay Chinese-Jamaican living in Jamaica and to a lesser extent, Florida.
Homophobia is a really bad problem in Jamaica, and the entire English-speaking Caribbean including Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados carry the same laws on sodomy (10 years imprisonment). A major problem adding to this is that young children are being fed a diet in Jamaica of intolerance and ignorance.
We should have protection and the right to live as we are on my so-called Democratic island. Jamaica, I believe, will eventually be a more gay-friendly country as J-FLAG and Amnesty International and a British group, OUTRAGE, force it to implement laws and rights for homosexuals. I love Jamaica, but my fellow citizens are just closed-minded morons and I certainly do not care about what they think of me. Thank you, Mr. Stratton, for publishing this horrible truth on my island nation.
Mike Lee Singh
Lake Worth
