Sunday, May 5, 2002
Biased coverage misleads readers about Mideast
EDITOR:
I was extremely disappointed in your coverage of the Israel Solidarity Rally held at the Jewish Community Center on April 25. The focus of your coverage was the counter demonstration held outside, and the photographs which accompanied the piece were inflammatory, to say the least.
The article made no mention of the positive program held inside the Jewish Community Center, but focused on the Palestinian perspective of the story. The reporter neglected to mention the wall of rememberance which commemorated the 470 lives that have been lost to homicide bombers since the beginning of the intifada. Nor did the article mention the letters read from family members in Israel describing the fear that they live with daily and their resolve to not give in to terrorism by changing their daily routines. Another letter described the anguish felt by one community member's cousin when he learned of the death of a friend's teenaged son who has the same name as he did.
Your article focused on the loss of Palestinian life and their frustration with the situation. It failed to discuss the incredible loss of life by Israeli citizens, many of whom were teenagers at pizza shops and discos, and average citizens attending a Bar Mitzvah or Passover Seder. It is important to remember that Israel is fighting terrorism and trying to protect its citizens. She deserves our support, and your paper's one-sided coverage of this story was disgraceful.
KARIE NEWMAN
Girard
Paper boy has a reasonto run on his route
EDITOR:
We have a great paper boy. When he started running track this spring, we all got a note explaining that because of his participation, our papers might be late at times.
As he delivered, we'd ask him how he was doing and he'd modestly say, "I'm working hard."
Imagine our delight when we saw his picture on the front section of the April 25 sports page winning the boys high jump competition at the Mahoning County track and field meet held the day before in Austintown. As an added surprise, he's signed the picture personally.
Richard Okello is a great kid -- polite, good-natured, and now I know why he runs his paper route, instead of walking it.
He tackles everything with a great attitude and we are so proud of him! I know he will accomplish every goal he sets for himself.
KAREN MATTHEWS
Youngstown
New pet store agrees that puppy mills are disgusting
EDITOR:
As one of the owners of the new Petland that is coming to Boardman, I would like to commend Dr. Allen for his strong stand against puppy mills. We share his disgust with the continued existence of these facilities. We believe it is our responsibility to deal only with reputable breeders and strive to do so. Over half the puppies we place in our store come from the local community. The puppies our customers want that cannot be found locally are purchased from breeders across the United States. We are careful in our selection and visit the breeders facilities whenever possible.
Our new store will be a beautifully state of the art facility, with one third of our display kennels dedicated to local humane agencies for the placement of animals needing homes. We will have a Veterinarian visit the store weekly to insure our pets are healthy and of high quality.
As a lifelong resident of the Youngstown area, I am very excited about our upcoming opening. Petland Boardman will be a 8200 sq. ft. full-line pet store with over 6000 gallons of fresh and salt water tropical fish, a large selection of birds, reptiles and small animals.
SHARON WINSLOW
Youngstown
X The writer is owner/manager of Petland Boardman