Letters to the editor for Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Tom Sorel says he wants to rebuild public trust and confidence in Minnesota Department of Transportation. For the governor to hire someone who is currently managing an office of 22 people to now manage an organization with 4,400 employees seems like a rather large leap of faith.

Either Gov. Tim Pawlenty has an extraordinary amount of confidence in Sorel or he is just hoping for something better than Molnau.

I want to trust MnDOT, too. And competence would go a long way toward rebuilding my trust.

AARON BLECHERT, MINNEAPOLIS

Five years too late It is an ironic measure of the poor leadership of Gov. Pawlenty that he appoints a civil engineer to head MnDOT after the Interstate 35W bridge fell down.

Why did he originally appoint a political hack to manage an extremely complicated infrastructure?

JOANNE MUNSON, MINNEAPOLIS

This unfortunate death is all the more tragic because it was avoidable. Hunter's father, Anthony Klaseus, violated one of the cardinal rules of safe hunting -- always be sure of your target before pulling the trigger. Anthony Klaseus apparently fired his 12-gauge shotgun in the direction of a rustling sound in the woods, thinking there was a turkey hidden in the long grass, not knowing it was his son.

I don't know Klaseus, his hunting experience or his knowledge of the rules of safe hunting, but, as an adult with a hunting license, he was responsible for knowing and following those rules. If he had just waited for that "turkey" he thought was there to come into clear view, he would have seen his son, and this accident would have been avoided.

Instead, a young boy has been killed, and his grieving father will regret that hasty shot for the rest of his life.

PAUL RUFFLE, PLYMOUTH

In an April 21 letter, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom reiterates the misleading commentary about the medical marijuana bill that he has repeatedly presented in testimony before the Legislature.

For a county attorney, Backstrom sure sounds as though he has a medical background. He does not. But four doctors and 10 nurses testified in favor of the medical marijuana bill; nearly 3,000 Minnesotan medical professionals have signed a statement of support in favor of its passage, and it has the backing of the Minnesota Nurses Association, the Minnesota Public Health Association and the Minnesota AIDS Project.

The two largest papers in the state have endorsed the legislation, and highly esteemed national groups like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American College of Physicians -- the country's second-largest physicians group -- have urged compassion for seriously ill patients.

Medical marijuana should be a matter of health care and not ideology. We hope both the house and Gov. Pawlenty will heed the experts' voices and pass this bill into law.

NEAL LEVINE, MINNEAPOLIS;

STATE CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR,

Misinformation In his April 19 commentary, Nicholas V. O'Hara, an inspector in the Ramsey County Sheriff's office, made three claims about the use of medical marijuana that are baseless.

•That marijuana is a gateway drug. There is sound evidence that marijuana is only a gateway drug because it is purchased from the same people who sell harder drugs. But that would not be the case with the distribution of medical marijuana.

•That marijuana may cause cancer. This may be true when smoked, but medical professionals suggest that marijuana be vaporized for safer inhalation.

•That marijuana use rose among teens in seven of the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal. Yet O'Hara doesn't provide any information that demonstrates a correlation.

MICHAEL D. MOLZAHN, WOODBURY

As someone who enjoys the utility and feel of a real book in a quiet space, I prefer the Dakota County libraries. I was in one recently, and it was like Hennepin County's used to be -- the shelves were completely full of rows and rows of real books.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, BROOKLYN CENTER

New ghost towns? Sure there are problem properties in Wright County, but fortunately most properties are just fine. The sky is not falling, and the quality of life in our small towns is fantastic.

I'm tired of reading about how bad it is in Wright County. Just looking out my window, I can tell you what's good about it: the beautiful Crow River with eagles circling overhead, a little boy on the banks fishing and enjoying the sunshine. I'm going for a bike ride in Rebecca Park tonight where I will see foxes running, ducks swimming, deer leaping and frogs croaking.

The world is OK -- especially in Wright County!