Letters to the editor for Friday, March 7, 2008

Steve Elkins just gave the usual spin on why we should have our taxes raised ("Arguments against the override -- debunked," March 6).

Transportation has received more money every year, as has every other program in the state. Simply taxing people more is the too-easy solution. If you want to show leadership, make tough choices. The DFL has never done that.

BOB PETERSEN, BLAINE

We all know how important hockey is to the fabric of our state. Yet the State of Hockey could soon be tarnished. Bemidji State University is at risk of losing its 51-year tradition of hockey excellence -- including 13 national titles and the highest winning percentage in all of college hockey.

BSU has played Division I hockey in the College Hockey America conference for the past eight years but now has to change leagues. It has worked out a scheduling agreement with the WCHA for 2010 and hopes to officially join that conference. But in order to join the league, the school must build a new 4,000-seat facility.

The city of Bemidji, in cooperation with BSU, has purchased 127 acres along Lake Bemidji for an extensive multiuse development, including a 4,000-seat event/convention center. The city's contribution toward this project is $66 million. It still needs $22 million in bonding money (in addition to $3 million received last year) from the state for the project to become reality.

Without the arena, there will be no entry to the WCHA, and Division I hockey will end very soon at BSU.

PRESIDENT-ELECT,

BEMIDJI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Theatrical productions in bars?! Give me a break! The recent effort by some bar owners is further proof that they really don't care about the health of their customers -- only about their bottom lines.

JAIME MARTINEZ, ST. ANTHONY VILLAGE

I have a simple plan for the state of Minnesota to stimulate our economy: All Minnesotans who have not left the state during this incredibly long and miserable winter should be awarded a bonus of at least $500. We have earned it.

I read with interest the Star Tribune's March 2 editorial concerning the proposed "Castle Doctrine" law. One statement caught me eye. "According to a state police official, it's unreasonable to support laws that give citizens more authority to use force than cops."

Give me a break. How many times have we seen questionable shootings by law enforcement justified with "we thought we saw ..." or "we thought he was going for a weapon"?

WILLIAM P. FROST, FREDERICKSBURG, VA.

The editorial on influenza vaccine for all schoolchildren ("All school-age kids should get flu shots," March 4) did not provide some important information that needs to be considered before jumping to the conclusion that all school-age kids need to have the shots mandated by law.

Each year, influenza starts on the other side of the world, and then the rush is on to identify the strain of virus and to manufacture enough vaccine. Sounds like an easy process, but it is not. The rush leads to mistakes.

Couple these facts along with vaccination actually causing the deaths of people both young and old, and it's clear we need to be very careful about what we force people to do. We really need to improve the process from which the vaccine emerges.

BYRON BUTTERS, ANDOVER

Not in America The key sentence in the March 1 article on Jasmine Levy, the 12-year-old girl who died of the flu: "Jasmine, who had asthma, had not had a flu shot ... because her mother had no health insurance."

This should not happen in America. Our system of inadequate health insurance coverage is damaging families, our society and economy.

SUSAN BYRNES, PLYMOUTH