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Letters to the Editor

We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here

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Leopold Finishes What Burton Started

Dear Bay Weekly:

Bill Burton’s April 6 [Vol. xiv, No. 14] column regarding Fort Smallwood Park requires a response.

At a recent candidates’ forum in Annapolis, attended by Bay Weekly. I stated my position regarding a public boat ramp: There is an undeniable need for such facilities, and, if elected county executive, I am committed to finding them, after thorough consultation with all interested parties, including residents, boaters and county and state officials.

If “checking which way the wind blows” means listening carefully to one’s constituents, representing their interests and building a sustainable consensus, I cannot fault the observation.

As Mr. Burton is well aware, I have led the ticket in our legislative district the past three elections (1994, 1998 and 2002) because the voters believe that I have been accessible, responsive and effective for 20 years.

—John R. Leopold, Delegate, District 31

Maryland Senators on the Side of Animals

Dear Bay Weekly:

On behalf of The Humane Society of the United States and our 208,000 members and constituents in Maryland, I commend Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes for their leadership and support of animal welfare issues considered by Congress.

Sens. Mikulski and Sarbanes were honored for receiving perfect scores of 100 on the Humane Scorecard for 2005.

Last year, Congress considered numerous animal protection issues. The Humane Society scored legislators on the issues of protecting horses from slaughter, cracking down on animal fighting, providing better oversight at mass dog-breeding puppy mills, stopping the sale of downed livestock too sick or injured to walk and funding for enforcement of animal welfare laws. The full Humane Scorecard is available at www.hsus.org.

To pass humane laws, we need humane lawmakers. We are tremendously grateful to Sens. Mikulski and Sarbanes for supporting the protection of animals who desperately need our help.

—Michael Markarian, Washington, D.C.; Executive Vice President:

The Humane Society of the United States

Bay Weekly Works for You

Dear Bay Weekly:

Carrie Steele wrote a great story on Riverkeepers [Lone Rangers in Powerboats: Vol. xiv, No. 16: April 20]. I have had at least a dozen people call and say how much they liked it.

—Bob Gallagher, West and Rhode Riverkeeper

Dear Bay Weekly:

Thanks for Carrie Steele’s [Building Utopia: Vol. xiv, No. 14: April 6]. The lecture was a big success. We had 60-plus people there and may try building our own Eco Village.

—Richard Crenshaw, Shady Side