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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

About “Get Off Our Lawn,” Toby Sells’ story on a group seeking to keep parking off Overton Park’s Greensward …

The argument from the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park should be, “stop playing golf on my lawn.” The zoo is a treasure for the city, as is the park itself, and it is a good thing that it is so well visited. If you consider land usage density per area of Overton Park as a measure of success, it would seem that the best uses of land are the new playground, the dog park, the zoo, and the Greensward. The most inefficient use of land is the golf course.

Judging by Google Earth, the golf course is roughly three times larger than the Greensward. At most, it can accommodate 30 to 40 players at a time. That is a very poor usage density. The time has come to grow the Greensward and eliminate the golf course. Then the occasional overflow zoo parking won’t be such a nuisance. Mark Mazzone

About Bianca Phillips’ story, “For the Birds and Dogs,” regarding a law tightening restrictions on dog- and cock-fighting …

I predict that if this passes the General Assembly of Tennessee Hillbillies, cock-fighting will first be stripped out of it so as not to offend them that brung them to the General Assembly dance.

Jeff

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Editor’s Letter regarding red state versus blue state dependency on the federal government …

One only needs to look at Mississippi’s current budget for 2014 to see how dependent they are on the Feds to take care of them. The general fund budget from the state was $5.03 billion. The federal government sent $7.89 billion to the state.

Charlie Eppes

About Toby Sell’s post, “Victims of Serial Rapist File New Lawsuit Against Memphis, Shelby County” …

The statue of limitations is very important when talking about lawsuits for negligence and lack of due diligence in regard to rape and what harm the women say it caused them because of it.

oldtimeplayer

OTP seems very, very focused on the “statue (sic) of limitations.” Why is that?

Hadji

I think he’s referring to a bronze likeness of himself, “The Statue Of Limitations,” that sits next to his Dell PC.

Dave Clancy

About Jackson Baker’s post, “Reporter at Judge Joe Brown’s Post-Jail Press Conference Was a Plant” …

She did not violate any journalistic ethics. She asked questions. You can’t decide who can ask questions and who can’t. I don’t remember seeing her questions aired on local media, only on the campaign page. I think she did a good job … I know that’s not a popular opinion here, but I think you guys are beating a dead horse. You have a very weak argument. She wasn’t pretending to be anything. She wasn’t wearing any fake credentials, didn’t claim to belong to any news outlet. She asked questions that are probably on the minds of a good many Memphians. You are not the gatekeepers of media. Get over yourselves.

Indy Lucy

Indy Lucy, ya think? Journalists should:

—Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.

— Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

— Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office, and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

— Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

— Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

— Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

— Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.

And that’s just some of ’em.

Mia S. Kite