Trash the garbage tax idea

Trash tax idea should be sent to the curb

Regarding “Taxing the trash” (March 29), if one were to zero-base civic priorities, wouldn’t health and sanitation be awfully high on any city’s list?

I can stretch my imagination to perhaps exclude commercial properties, but it seems that the leaders of America’s Finest City could directly provide for the most basic of community needs.

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Perhaps some feel that it’s more important for the various revenue streams to support an ever-expanding convention center, scores of “Welcome to” monuments and other more dramatic allocations.

Ray Velchek
Mission Valley

Apparently 125 words is more than enough

Perry Thompson’s funny rant (“Hard to make a point in just 125 words,” April 5) against the 125-word letter limit took 125 words to say this: “125 words is often not enough to clearly express an opinion on a complex matter. I’d rather slog my way through my own unnecessarily dense and repetitive word mass than read a tweet-length letter.”

Ruth Hargrove
Ocean Beach

Make Obama prove his case this time

The Obama administration promise of a presidential lobbying campaign (“Obama defends Iran framework,” April 6), comparable to that for the Affordable Care Act, should make all of us very worried.

Remember, in that one, where he told us repeatedly that if we liked our insurance plan and doctor we could keep them and would save $2,500 per year in the process. Let’s challenge his promises a little this time people.

Jim Mallen
Lake San Marcos

Cruz a hypocrite for taking Obamacare

Sen. Ted Cruz is signing up his family for health care coverage under Obamacare (“Cruz to buy Obamacare insurance, despite call for repeal,” March 25) while he has been saying how he will repeal Obamacare if he is elected president.

What gall of him to now use the program because he doesn’t want to pay full price for health insurance on the open market, or do without, as more than 10 million Obamacare applicants have done this year.

Tables are turned on him and his family, and there he is, sucking up to a government program he doesn’t like.

Nancy Witt
Sunset Cliffs

Police need training in dealing with dogs

As a lifelong resident of Pacific Beach and a former pit bull owner I am appalled at the outcome in “SDPD calls fatal dog shooting last resort” (March 19). I believe everyone is at fault, except the dog.

Pit bulls have a bad reputation, but thinking that a dog is vicious due to its breed is a myth. My mom used to teach dog training classes and would take me along. It’s all in the owner properly communicating with the pet.

The police should have been properly trained in handling dogs. Because of the untrained officers, an animal lost its life.

Maira Vierheller
Pacific Beach

Stadium plan looks too big to succeed

I have some concerns about Councilman Scott Sherman’s stadium proposal (“New stadium site income projected at $1.8B,” April 2).

First, once most of the 166-acre site is developed into apartments, condos, offices and a hotel, would 15,350 parking spaces be enough for a 65,000-seat stadium on game days?

Second, where would the water to supply 5,926 apartments and condos, etc., for perpetuity come from? For that matter, where would the water just to build the proposed stadium and all of the surrounding development come from?

Larry Hennessee
Rancho Bernardo

Sea lions are not as sweet as some think

Regarding “Sea lion attacks man on boat,” April 5): This shows how violent the sea lions can be.

I have seen them swimming 60 miles per hour on a violent attack to get fish from fisherman before as well. They are very dangerous animals.

Robert Fletcher
La Jolla

SeaWorld whales may not have it so bad

Wild orcas constantly forage for food, they often fight other whales at mating time, if sick, injured, or trapped by discarded fishing nets they may experience an agonizingly slow, painful death.

Runoff from farms, septic tanks, and man-made chemicals kill thousands of sea mammals yearly. Our continuous trashing of the ocean negatively impacts all kinds of sea life.

SeaWorld orcas are fed, given needed medical treatment and don’t fight to mate. Areas are restricted, but the water is clean.

A safe life at SeaWorld beats the challenges of trying to exist in today’s dangerously polluted ocean.

Judythe Roberts
Pacific Beach

Study may not prove what it appears to

Regarding “Income relationship to brain size” (March 31): I hope it occurred to the researchers that the corollary to their conclusions might be that people with smaller brain size get lower paying jobs.

Paul Sims
Solana Beach