Short Sale on Sentinel?

AS A CAREER journalist who has spent a third of a century covering Northern California, Tom Honig's story on the ongoing decline of the Sentinel ("The Daily Grind," Cover Story, Dec. 3) struck a chord with me. The big question remaining is whether there are investors in the Santa Cruz area willing to wrest the paper back from the control of MediaNews and support reporting that is in harmony with the needs of the community. With MediaNews currently facing huge debt payments, I suspect the paper could be had for a song. 

 Tom Murphy,
Founder & Editor,
RedwoodAge.com

Bring the Sentinel Back

THIS IS a great article ("The Daily Grind")! I was horrified to hear about outsourcing to India! I remember when the Santa Cruz Sentinel lost its Santa Cruz office. How can the Santa Cruz Sentinel be in Scotts Valley? It is illogical. The staff doesn't even eat lunch in downtown or hear a protest as it happens live. I used to be the basketball coach at UCSC. I still read the Sentinel online and have noticed more AP stories. Bring it back--old school style.

Laura Mitchell,
Malibu

Where's DeCinzo?

IT IS DISAPPOINTING to open Metro Santa Cruz and find a strange cartoon in DeCinzo's customary place. I hope this is temporary. Are there problems with DeCinzo's contract? Hope the independent Metro Santa Cruz has not caved to anybody. I am among a group which furnishes fodder for DeCinzo, but I believe he is brilliant and enjoy his work.

Jack Wooldridge,
Santa Cruz

'Bike-Friendly' Good Enough

IT WAS GREAT to see you print safety tips for riding a bicycle on Mission Street in Nu_z ("Two Wheels and a Prayer," Nov. 26). Though we have hosted "bicycle awareness" rides on Mission in the past, the ride you referred to in your article was not a "protest ride on Mission" but a joyful and celebratory bike parade on King Street supported by the King Street Neighbors. Our collective vision for King Street is a peaceful and quiet street to be enjoyed by bicyclists and neighbors. While this might involve diverting some cut-through trips back onto Mission, no one is suggesting that King become "bike only"--bike friendly would suit us just fine.

Micah Posner,
People Power

Doesn't Take A Scientist

THANKS FOR THE FIRST sensible article on Davenport Chromium 6 contamination ("The Shrinking School," News&Views, Nov. 26). Yes, move the school, make Cemex pay. The county makes us liable in its praise of an action plan that relies on low winds along the north Pacific coast in order for the Air Resource Board to certify "safe" levels of a nonatmospheric metal dust. The Board of Supes may settle with ARB and County Health clean air reports, but the HexaChromium just settled on all the residents and visitors and their property. We're talking years of Cr6 and mercury dust deposits, where there are required posted warnings for visitors, especially with pre-existing health problems. It doesn't take a scientist!

It's sad that, instead of asking how many tons of contaminated soil they removed, we banter if public health trumps a county jobs and tax base.

Don't want kids caught in the crossfire of that study, period.

Billy Quealy,
Santa Cruz

Send letters to the editor here.