Lettuce Pray


Squid, I revere your talent with the ink (“Extra Helping of Squid,” posted March 4). Just not sure if this Taylor building is “the effect” for Oldtown. What happened already is that a busy parking lot is gone, which caused several Oldtown businesses to suffer, notably Salinas Valley Fish House. Tony DiGirolamo had a first-rate restaurant, home of killer cioppino, prawn pasta with vodka sauce, amazing grilled seafood combo, the best BBQ oysters. I could go on. The loss of nearby parking was a precise hit, and put them under their minimum margin after 10 years.


You might have noticed that deliberate urban planning is not a long suit for our fair city. – Jamiedillon | via Web


Wharf, Rats


I want to publicly express my extreme disappointment with the Monterey City Council’s decision to accept Tanimura & Antle’s proposal for the train depot (“Monterey City Council’s lesson in the political pull of money,” March 7-13). Council members disregarded their own staff and sub-committee’s support of the Trailside Café in favor of deep pockets and illusions of grandeur. They also dismissed the strong support from community members as emotional and not realistic. 


I do not wish Tanimura & Antle’s Wharf Marketplace ill will, but I can’t say that I will run out and support them either. As a local, I do not want to do my grocery shopping in our busiest tourist area, especially in summer! I would also be hard pressed to recommend the Wharf Marketplace to my visiting friends and family, as they did not go on vacation to peruse fresh fish, vegetables and flowers that they have no use for while away from home. 


With a fat checkbook, I think Tanimura & Antle will do a wonderful job of refurbishing the depot and creating a big splash. However, I just don’t see longevity in such a grandiose idea. The council made a terrible mistake! - Merideth Canham-Nelson | via Web


Small But Mighty


Drones are a horrible thing in the hands of horrible people (“Small group protests NPS drone research,” posted March 5). Absent malice, they would be hunks of metal rusting somewhere. - Colin Gallagher | via Facebook 


Drones are part of the police state, Orwellian world we’re quickly turning into. They are going to be surveillance tools for the American people, plain and simple. - Alessandro Guzman | via Facebook 


Yes, Big Brother is watching you, and he is armed with big guns and little accountability. - Colleen Ingraham | via Facebook


I just want to make sure my son is always wearing clean underwear. Stop judging me. - Crystal Cox | via Facebook


East Side Story


Salinas police officers, and most of us, would not disagree with [Francisco] Estrada’s statement about the need for “intervention so that our kids have more things to do. Busy children have little time to go astray.” (“Some East Salinas residents worry more cops could mean harassment,” posted March 5.) Thank you for reporting that “several residents” at this meeting cited concerns about police abuse, and others spoke of intimidation. That is important to acknowledge. And were you to ask additional Salinas residents, you’d start hearing many stories of appreciation for Salinas PD. That would include stories of the PD’s own expressions of concern about kids having healthy things to do.


Keep in mind our county has the highest youth homicide rate in California, for the second year, with much – though certainly not all – of that due to gang activity in Salinas. While a variety of community efforts need to be made, some of those need to be by Salinas PD. And we can’t ask Salinas police to do more to reverse this youth homicide rate with fewer resources. Even a front-page story in The New York Times acknowledged they were “fighting gang violence on a shoestring” budget. - Mary Lynch | via Web


Instead of worrying about children’s intervention, how about give parenting classes? Involved parents tend to equal well-behaved children. - Jenny Mac | via Facebook


(Editor’s note: Monterey County, which held the No. 1 place for youth homicide in the state for two years in a row, has dropped to No. 3, according to figures released last week.)


Bagging the Ban


Pacific Grove has a fiscal crisis that can be fixed, namely its pension fiasco (“Pacific Grove prepares to follow Monterey and Carmel with plastic-bag ban,” Feb. 28-March 6). Despite sound citizen initiatives to fix this problem, city officials continue to spend time on pet projects like the bag ban instead of what really needs to be done. - binkyseller | via Web


Well Shoot


While I applaud Mr. Dyer for his due diligence in citing sources all the way back to 1990, his short-sighted, mediocre writing and simplistic view of anti-government conspiracy theorists are pedestrian. (“Why is it that people die when we talk about gun control?” March 7-13). His “elephant in the room” is what exactly? That we the people need to go back to bed because our government has everything under control?


The first step in a tyrannical bloody rule is to take the weapons out of civilian hands. You can go ahead and fear Timothy McVeigh – I’ve got my eyes on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Mohamed Morsi and the ever weakening U.S. Constitution at the hands of the “Big Government” Democrats and Republicans currently running the show.


The gun control debate is about control for sure, but firearms are just a speed bump to a much more heinous future. When a tyrant takes control of our country, it will be made possible by tiny but steady exchanges of our freedoms for the greater good. I fear for the world my daughter will one day inherit. I know President Obama has good intentions. The road to hell is paved with them. - Anonymous | via Web


Thank you for the matching photos of David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh and Wiggles all in the same spread. - Robert Trezise | Big Sur


(Editor’s Note: Wiggles, the pup featured in the Peace of Mind Dog Rescue ad, has never been accused of acts of violence.)


Burning Books


I’m glad the turtle is OK (“Fire shuts down Steinbeck Library; upwards of $15,000 in damages possible,” posted March 7). I bet the cause was a cigarette – another good reason to oppose smoking! - Celia Bosworth | via Facebook