Letters to the Editor

Volume VI Number 24
June 18-24, 1998

Long-Distance Reader; Long-Ago Memories

Dear New Bay Times Weekly:

I found M.L. Faunce's Reflection on Bobby Kennedy [June 4-10] touching and evocative of the times that helped to define our generation. I remember so well the sense of hope that I felt when Kennedy entered the race for the nomination. Then the politics of assassination reared its ugly head again, and I remembered again the pain and anguish I experienced when I heard that Martin Luther King had been assassinated. Reading the article made me experience the same emotions I felt 30 years ago: hope and idealism, despair and sadness. We've lived longer lives than JFK, Bobby and Martin.

-Dan Blessington, Albania

Editor's note: Blessington, an e-mail reader, is director of the Democracy Project in Tirana, Albania

To the Bay Community from SACReD:

The $50.2 million defamation suit brought against South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development, SACReD, ended last Thursday evening when a jury at D.C. Superior Court found that we had not questioned the land dealings of Pointe Properties with any malice of intent, nor had we intentionally defamed developer Dominic Antonelli or his associates.

We are relieved. We are pleased. And we want you all to know that we could never have come through this dark period without your generous financial and emotional support, including that of New Bay Times itself. We still have more money to raise to pay the cost of the trial, but we now have confidence that we'll find a way to raise it.

The trial took its toll on us, particularly our individual defendants, Mike Bevenour, Weems Duvall and Brett Joseph. But the lawsuit also brought our Bay community closer: Never have so many neighbors and friends, old and new, offered so much help and taken so firm a stand to save this ecological treasure we know as Franklin Point.

Thankfully, this chapter is ending. Our next task is to put differences aside and work together to make public ownership of Franklin Point a reality. The time is now - we will never have another opportunity like this one. Mr. Antonelli set this process on the right track by asking the state to consider acquisition. The South County Land Trust has come forward to try to work out the details. Gov. Parris Glendening is said to favor a state park and County Executive John Gary has offered a portion of the money to buy the Point if the state government puts up the remainder. These are extremely positive signs.

But we are a long way from victory.

In the weeks ahead, you will be needed more than ever. A plan for public acquistion will have to be finalized --and soon, if we are to succeed. There should be no illusions, however. Moving government in the right direction requires people power. The same public outcry heard in Annapolis against development of Franklin Point will now have to be raised again, this time in favor of public purchase.

Saving Franklin Point is not easy. But standing together, we can do it. The trial is over. But much serious work -- and its rewards -- are just ahead! Heartfelt thanks

-From all the people who make up SACReD, Box 205, Churchton, Md. 20733

Dept. of Corrections

In Health is Wealth on June 11-17, the month's featured healer, Martin Berger, was incorrectly identified. The handwriting analyst is in private practice in Annapolis. Reach him at 410/268-3364.

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